This is an actual screenshot of the current story I'm working on, in Scrivener software.
This is why I love Scrivener so much. On the left is all the files in the "Adventure" project -- each story is its own file. The current story I'm working on shows sub-files for each scene. I title the scene by what's going on -- such as Talk to New Client. The middle section is currently set in corkboard view, where each scene has a notecard. I can put on the notecards the main things that happen in the scene -- or character names introduced, memorable facts stated, etc. I include the month -- and sometimes an actual date -- that each scene takes place, so I can track passage of time. I can also tag each card with a color -- yellow means the scene is in Hutch's point of view, blue means it's in Starsky's. I can move the cards around all I want, if I want to rearrange the order of the scenes, and in the binder at the left, the associated files will automatically move around likewise. One can also view the cards in an outline mode.
I can click to document view for any scene, and it'll be the actual composition screen to write the scene. If I click on that view in the main story file -- not a scene file -- then it'll show all the scenes in the story, with a dashed line separating each scene.
The section on the right is for metadata -- for each scene, or the story overall. This can include research or comments, etc. For example, as I'm writing, if I want to make sure I don't forget to include a certain fact later in the scene, I can quickly type something to remind myself in the comments panel. If, say, I have a link for a website that has information on a certain type of injury, I can include that in the metadata. (There's also a way to incorporate the actual webpage into a separate Research section.)
I've been a linear writer for decades. The last story I wrote was the first time that I felt I could write scenes out of order, because Scrivener keeps things organized. It's so freeing to know that I can write the scenes for a certain plotline all at once, and then go back and write scenes for other plotlines. The corkboard view is such a great tool to grasp what's going on in the story overall. I can also indicate on the cards that scene is complete, in process, or still needs to be written, etc.
That's the main features of Scrivener. It's got tons of other bells and whistles to fine tune things. And it only cost fifty bucks, which feels like grand theft. It's the most wonderful discovery I've made in the realm of my writing career.
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