Storyist User’s Guide

  1. Welcome to Storyist
    1. Product Overview
    2. Installing Storyist
  2. Understanding the User Interface
    1. Project View
    2. Toolbar
    3. Template Chooser
    4. Workspaces Window
    5. Inspector Window
    6. Backups Window
    7. Fonts Window
    8. Colors Window
    9. Preferences Window
    10. Keyboard Shortcuts and Shortcut Menus
  3. Getting Started
    1. Creating a New Project from a Template
    2. Opening an Existing Project
    3. Importing a File
    4. Getting Around
  4. Working with Text
    1. Editing and Formatting Text
    2. Creating and Applying Styles
    3. Working with Links
    4. Adding Elements to the Outline
    5. Inserting and Resizing Images
    6. Adding and Displaying Comments
    7. Bookmarking Frequently Viewed Text Locations
  5. Working with Story Sheets
    1. About Story Sheets
    2. Customizing Story Sheet Fields
    3. Adding Images to Story Sheets
  6. Working with Outlines
    1. Adding Outline Elements
    2. Moving Outline Elements
    3. Editing Outline Level Properties
  7. Working with Storyboards
    1. Adding Items to a Corkboard
    2. Specifying the Layout of Corkboard Items
    3. Adding Items to a Collage
    4. Adding Section and Scene Sheets to a Collage
    5. Resizing Storyboard Items
    6. Changing the Representation of Storyboard Items
    7. Color Coding Index Cards
  8. Working with the Project View
    1. Adding Items to the Project
    2. Adding Outline Elements to Project Items
    3. Grouping Project Items
    4. Deleting Project Items
    5. Editing Project Item Preferences
    6. Searching the Project
  9. Working with Workspaces
    1. Splitting Views
    2. Changing the Orientation of Split Views
    3. Opening a New Project Window
    4. Creating a New Workspace
    5. Managing Workspaces
  10. Tracking Word Count and Writing Time Goals
    1. Setting Project Goals
    2. Setting Session Goals
  11. Saving and Backing Up Your Work
    1. Configuring Storyist to Save Your Work Automatically
    2. Configuring Storyist to Back Up Your Work Automatically
    3. Manually Backing Up Your Work
    4. Reverting to a Backup
  12. Exporting and Sharing Your Work
    1. Exporting Project Items
    2. Exporting Project Items as Text and Image Files
    3. Exporting Project Items as a Single eBook
    4. Creating and Using Export Presets
    5. Sharing Project Items Over a Local Network
  13. Glossary

Working with Story Sheets

About Story Sheets

Story sheets are customizable forms tailored for novel writing and screenwriting. They help you keep relevant information about story elements (such as plot, character, and setting) readily accessible while you are writing.

You can use the story sheets to record information such as a character’s physical description, details about a setting, or notes about what happens in a particular section of your story.

About Section/Scene Sheets

A section/scene sheet is a story sheet that contains your notes on a section of your manuscript or a scene in your screenplay.

The Synopsis Area

The Synopsis area holds your summary of the section.

The Section Details Area

The Section Details area contains context-sensitive fields to record section-specific details. There are three standard fields:

  • POV Character—This character field identifies the point-of-view character (or characters) in the section. Try this: Place the cursor in the POV character field and type “Pro.” Notice that Storyist auto-completes the character named “Protagonist.” Now type a new character name and press return. Notice that Storyist has created a new character and set up a link to the character’s page.
  • Setting—This is a setting field for tracking the location(s) in which the section takes place.
  • Conflict—This is a text field for a brief note on the central conflict occurring in the section.

You can add new fields or replace the existing ones. For more information, see “Editing a Field.”

The Section Notes Area

The Section Notes field holds any additional notes on the section you want to make.

About Character Sheets

A character sheet is a story sheet used to organize notes on a character. The sheet has four sections:

The Summary Area

This summary section is used for entering a high-level summary of the character. This summary is displayed in the sheet itself and also in the Outline view and in the Storyboard view.

The Physical Description Area

This section provides context-sensitive fields for you to describe the physical aspects of the character. You can add or replace fields by clicking the field name and selecting from the menu that pops up.

The Character Development Points Area

Many writers like to track a character’s “arc” through the story. This section allows you to specify the points along the arc where your characters learn and grow (or not). To create a new character development point, click the character icon and select Add Character Point. When you know where in your manuscript this arc occurs, right-click the section link to assign it to the appropriate section.

The Notes Area

The Notes section can be used to record additional character information.

About Plot Sheets

A plot sheet is a story sheet for notes on a plot point. It has four sections:

The Summary Area

This sheet, like all story sheets, has a section for entering a high-level summary of the story element. This summary is displayed in the sheet itself and also in the Outline view and in the Storyboard view.

The Section Area

This area allows you to assign a plot point to the section sheet for the section of the manuscript where the plot point occurs. Depending on your writing style, you may want to assign the plot point to a section as you are writing, or wait until you’ve fleshed out your various plot threads to make the assignment. In either case, you can assign the plot point to a section by control-clicking or right-clicking the Unassigned link and selecting the appropriate section.

The Plot Point Details Area

This section provides context-sensitive fields for you to describe the details of the plot point. You can add or replace fields by clicking the field name and selecting from the menu that pops up.

The Notes Area

The notes section can be used to record additional plot notes.

About Setting Sheets

As with other story sheets, a setting sheet has several sections:

The Summary Area

This summary is displayed in the sheet itself and also in the Outline view and in the Storyboard view.

The Setting Details Area

The Setting Details section allows you to record specific details about the setting. Feel free to edit the fields to suit your needs. Note that any fields in the setting sheet are also available in the storyboard.

The Notes Area

The Notes section can be used to record additional setting notes.

Customizing Story Sheet Fields

Each story sheet provides a set of default fields you can use to record information about story element. In a character story sheet, for example, the default fields are Age, Gender, Eye Color, Hair Color, and Build.

Want to customize the default set? You can add, rename, and delete fields. You can even add your own fields to a story sheet to track the information you want to track.

Adding a Field

To add a field to a story sheet:

  1. Click a field label (for example, “Age:”). A menu appears.
  2. Choose a field to add from the Add Field submenu.

Renaming a Field

To rename a field on a story sheet:

  1. Click the field name that you want to change. A pop-up menu appears.
  2. Choose Rename Field. A dialog appears.
  3. Enter the new field name in the Label: field. You can select a field type from the list or just leave it as Text. You can also add a comment to describe the new field.
  4. Click OK. The field is renamed.

Removing a Field

To remove a field from a story sheet:

  1. Click the field name you want to remove. A pop-up menu appears.
  2. Choose Delete. The field disappears from the story sheet. (The field data remains in your project, however. If you add the field back to the sheet as described above, the data reappears).

Adding a Custom Field

To add a custom field to a story sheet:

  1. Click an existing field name. A pop-up menu appears.
  2. Choose Add Field > Custom. A dialog appears.

Enter the name of the new field in the Label: field and click “Add Custom Field.” The new field appears on your story sheet.

Saving a Field List as a Template

After you’ve customized the fields on a story sheet, you may want to save the list as a template for other sheets of the same type.

To save a field list as a template:

  1. Click one of the fields in the list that you want to save as a template. A dialog box appears.
  2. Click Save as Template.

The next time you create a story sheet of the same type, your list of fields is used in place of the default list. The template applies only to new story sheets of the same type. Any sheets you have already customized are not affected.

Adding Images to Story Sheets

For additional inspiration while you work, you can add images to your story sheets. For example, you might have imagined a particular actor starring as your protagonist. Storyist allows you to import an image of the actor into the Character sheet for that character. The image appears both on the Character sheet and on the corkboard for all the characters.

To add an image to a story sheet:

  1. Open the sheet where you want to add an image.
  2. Select the image you want to add in the Finder.
  3. Drag the image onto the sheet and hold it over the image box (for example, the drama masks on the character sheet) until a little green circle with a white cross appears.
  4. Release the mouse. Your image appears on the sheet.
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