The Scrivener Timeline feature is so intuitive, it’s hard to believe that it wasn’t one of the first things developed back in version 1.0, but it didn’t become a thing until version 3.0. It was worth the wait. Here’s how it works.
Label Your Chapters
The first step is to label your chapters/sections/folders (whatever unit of your story you want to work with, really, but for this example I chose chapters). Do this by right clicking the name of the chapter (not the icon), and choosing the option for “label.” It should look something like this:
Now, you can use the colors provided there, or you can click edit and make those colors represent anything you want. Maybe you have four POVs in your story. Maybe you jump around in time. Maybe you have alternate universes in your story, or you move from planet to planet. Who knows. It’s your story.
Point is, you can change the labels. For this example, I’m going with POV. Here’s what it looks like once I’ve edited the labels to represent the four POVs of my story:
It’s important to note that you won’t see any sign of those pretty colored labels in the binder unless you go to VIEW > USE LABEL COLOR IN > BINDER. Then it’ll look like this (see image on the left there).
And this is kind of neat and all, but where it really gets useful is when you click to go to corkboard view. To do that, you can either click the little icon at the top (just right of the header bar) that looks like a waffle…
OR you can cherry pick the items you want to work with (COMMAND-click on my mac), then click the icon at the bottom right of your screen to display those items in the corkboard.
Now, if I zoom out a bit, you can see how this looks with all of my chapters lined up by whose POV they’re told from:
Looking at it like that I can see that my story starts out with more of Sam’s POV, then kind of shifts to more of Alex’s POV. Maybe I intended that, maybe not.
A Few Cool Things to Know
You can change the size and spacing of the cards which really helps a writer see all their cards in whatever space they happen to have. I like my little laptop screen, but I know some writers work on big ‘ol screens, and this feature works for both. To do that, click the little icon that looks like 4 note cards in a square formation, them adjust as you like:
If you move a card around (say from one timeline to another, or to a spot earlier or later in the story) it will move accordingly in your binder. Even the color will change automatically.
You can add research to your timeline. Say you’re writing a historical novel and you want to lay out the actual historical timeline next to your story, simple create documents in your research folder for each event you want on the timeline, and label them something like “historical.”
Doesn’t work for Windows…. Such a shame that this program is really for Mac users first
Hi, Carlos, yes, that’s true, but I know the folks at Scrivener are working on making a version for Windows that has the same functionality. Fingers crossed.
it works perfectly in Scrivener for Windows
Pretty cool, April! I shifted my WIP out of Scrivener a year or four ago and have 3.2.2 but didn’t realize this was in there. They used to have another product, I think it was called Anon, or something, that did timelines but this looks far better. I may program the boxes from Shawn Coyne’s Hero’s Journey 2.0 into this new product and use it as an extra tactile tool. Many thanks again, and best wishes to you are your writing!
–Donny Claxton, The Grammatic Artist
Hi, Donald,
I didn’t realize they had a previous product. In truth, I ended up using the timeline very little, but it was helpful when I was first trying to get my head around my project.
Good luck with it.
Cheers,
April
Hi April,
Wonderful info!
The time line produce is a separate software called Aeon Timeline.
It syncs with Scriveners.
I have used Aeon Timeline for several years and its nice when the project is not too complicated.
But it does have issues.
For example, while it is a timeline, unless the user is marvelously aware and careful, the dates change.
In other words, at the moment, it is not possible to set a firm date for an event and trust that it will remain solid when other items are added.
Also, the designers created it for a wide array of uses. Consequently, the terminology they use is not necessarily fiction-friendly.
And, for reasons that surpass understanding, a term called “property” in the master setup part of a project is called “value” in the Inspector part of a project. The Aeon Inspector is like the Scriveners Inspector.
The good news is that the guys who devised the software tinker with it, update it, and ask users for feedback.
Its very good for individuals whose basic character is 1) patient, 2) willing to master a steep learning curve, 3) willing to make a serious study of the details in the software, AND, who have a novel series that lasts over one hundred years.
Hi Emily,
Great summary there. I’m always on the lookout for anything that makes writing easier. I didn’t know about Aeon. How cool that it synchs with Scrivener.
Thanks for sharing.
Cheers!
I was a little surprised to see a pretty unflattering description of Aeon Timeline. My experience as a new user (I’ve had it a week and a half) has been entirely positive, with one exception that I’ll mention at the end.
I suspect the comment was about version 2. In version 3, they’ve solved the issue with dates changing, in three powerful ways:
First, in the Spreadsheet view you can enter items without assigning them dates — and simply drag them to where they would fall in your story.
Second, once you do assign dates, you can lock the dates to prevent accidental changes.
Third, and most amazing, they’ve provided a Narrative view where you can place events in your story out of time sequence, and even omit some events (such as backstory) if you want.
I’m writing my first novel (as part of a multi-novel YA fantasy series) and I’m loving it. The Narrative view syncs perfectly with Scrivener in both directions, so changes in Scrivener are reflected in Aeon Timeline, and vice versa. I actually have both programs open when I write. I can move things around or make writing changes in either program.
Sure, like any good plotting software (including Plottr, which I previously used), it takes some time to get to use it. In my case, I was plotting in under an hour and after a few days, I feel I’ve mastered it.
I do not agree with the comment that we’d have to have a novel series that lasts over a hundred years. I know that this was a bit rhetorical but honestly, I’d use it for a single novel that takes place in a smaller unit of time. In my case, I do have a bit more complexity, as my main character ages one year per novel. The whole story (not counting the backstory) takes place in seven years. I can plot the entire series in one place and, using the software, ensure I don’t have plot holes and that I’m hitting my story beats effectively — in my case, I’m using the Save the Cat! Writes a Novel approach. I use its Story Arc feature where I can isolate a particular beat or beats or, for that matter, look at any kind of arc I want to, such as the main character’s transformation across all seven novels.
I do think that the Scrivener timeline feature is useful, but to me it’s a bit limited and two-dimensional. I want to see my story from lots of perspectives and if I can do that in complete sync with Scrivener, so much the better.
The only downside is that the Aeon Timeline developers don’t really engage very much with the users — it can take days to hear back from them. But then again, they engage a whole lot more than the Scrivener developers.
I hope my differing perspective is helpful.
You might be thinking of Aeon timeline? I think it was a separate software (if I’m remembering the same one as you).
So far I’ve only really used the timeline as a way to track the “spacing” of my two POVs, to make sure things don’t get too bunched up or spread out.
Hello,
How do you perform that on the windows version ?
Thanks,
I don’t think this feature is available in Windows yet, but I know Scrivener is working on updates. You can check out their website for more info: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/
Hi April,
This is excellent, especially how you’ve used the screenshots to illustrate each point.
I can’t use this great info right away, so I’m bookmarking it while I twiddle my thumbs until 3.0 appears for us Windows users . . . so, as I look at these screenshots, you might say I’m window shopping.
Thanks.
Ahhhh, yes. They say it’s coming…
This was a very helpful tip on a hidden gem. Thank you
Thanks Matthew. So glad it’s helpful. Cheers.