Using Styles in Scrivener (It's not the same as WORD)
This article should not exist. You should be writing. But since you are using formatting and styles as an excuse to avoid finishing your manuscript, I have to intervene.
You opened Scrivener, stared at the blank page, and immediately tried to style it exactly like Microsoft Word. Now your document is a chaotic mess of competing fonts, your chapter headings are acting possessed when you compile, and you are ready to throw your laptop into a river.
The problem is not Scrivener. The problem is that your brain has been poisoned by decades of using Word. It is time to wipe the slate clean. I’m going to strip away the chaos and show you how to use styles properly in Scrivener.
The Scrivener vs. Word Paradigm Shift
To understand Scrivener, you must unlearn Microsoft Word.
In Word, what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG). You use Styles to format every single paragraph. If you want your body text to be Times New Roman, 12pt, double-spaced, you set the “Normal” style to those exact metrics.
This will not work in Scrivener. Trying to apply a Style to every paragraph in Scrivener like you do in Word is a great way to go insane. Every time you hit Enter/Return, Scrivener will intentionally boot you back to “No Style.” If you want to setup your “body” formatting in Scrivener I already went over this here:
Just trust me. Leave your body text as “No Style” and only use Styles for the exceptions.
Now unlike Word, Scrivener does not care what your text looks like while you type. Scrivener operates on a massive paradigm shift: The editor is just for you. The compiler is for the reader.
Formatting in Scrivener is purely visual. It is how you prefer to look at the words while you write. You can write your entire book in neon green Comic Sans if you like. No judgement here… Okay maybe a little. 😆
Using Styles in Scrivener is like tagging your text with special formatting. In other words, you’re telling the app, “Hey, this specific sentence or paragraph is a Block Quote,” “Verse,” or “Text Message.” The key thing to remember is that stylized text is for exceptions where the formatting is intentionally different from the rest of your book.
Anything clicking yet? No? Well, maybe it’s time we consider why you should care about styles... and perhaps why you shouldn’t.
Why you should (probably) use Styles
Let’s be brutally honest. You don’t actually need to use Styles.
That’s right. You can write an entire novel without touching them. They’re supplemental. Optional. You could ignore this entire article and your life would, probably, be fine.
Using them, however, is investing in your peace of mind. Styles will save you from a future filled with formatting-induced rage, especially if you export to Vellum or (may god have mercy on your soul) Microsoft Word. Even within Scrivener itself, they’re a lifesaver. Here’s why you should care:
Consistency Without Thinking: Styles are your secret weapon for making sure your formatting exceptions (verses, block quotes, character thoughts, etc…) all look the same without you having to remember the specific font or spacing you used 87 pages ago. It’s like having a tiny, obsessive-compulsive robot do your formatting. Set it, apply it, done.
Surgical Strikes for Edits: Want to change every single block quote in your 500-page manuscript? Instead of a soul-crushing search-and-destroy mission, you just edit the “Block Quote” Style. One change, and boom 💥 everything updates. It’s the closest you’ll get to a “Fix It” button for your formatting.
Find Stuff Instantly: Use Styles to tag things that don’t even look different, like a character’s internal monologue. Then, instantly find every instance of that monologue. It’s a search-and-rescue team for your own ideas.
Effortless Exporting: When it’s time to compile, Styles do the heavy lifting. Tell Scrivener to treat your “block quote” Style one way for an e-book and another for a PDF, all without touching the original text. It’s formatting magic for people who hate formatting.
In short, Styles are for writers who would rather be writing than messing with formatting text. They save you from yourself, prevent your manuscript from looking like a ransom note, and make future-you very, very happy.
Setting Up and Customizing Styles
Still with me? Good. To those who stopped reading, enjoy your formatting headaches. To the rest of you, here’s how to build custom Styles in Scrivener without losing your mind.
