This year marks the 25th anniversary of NaNoWriMo, a global phenomenon that has inspired countless writers to take on the challenge of writing a 50,000-word novel in just 30 days. What began as an informal gathering of 21 friends in 1999 has blossomed into a worldwide event, drawing hundreds of thousands of writers from around the world each November. Over the past quarter-century, NaNoWriMo has fostered a dynamic community, empowering writers of all levels to overcome their inner critic and put words on the page.
Storyist is proud to have been part of this community for the last 18 years, beginning with the beta testing of Storyist 1 during NaNoWriMo 2006 and serving as an official sponsor for over a decade.
As NaNoWriMo celebrates this milestone anniversary, it continues its mission to champion creativity and make writing accessible and fun for everyone—whether you’re a seasoned author or embarking on your first novel.
Congrats, NaNoWriMo! Here’s to 25 years of turning ideas into stories and stories into novels.
Storyist 4.2.6 for macOS is out with enhancements for right-to-left languages, strikethrough, and compatibility with Apple Books.
Storyist 4.2.6 for macOS is out with enhancements for right-to-left languages, strikethrough, and compatibility with Apple Books.
Right-to-left languages – Storyist now shows a Writing Direction menu item in the Format > Text menu that lets you specify the direction for a paragraph. Note: This menu item only appears if the “Preferred languages” list in the Language & Region system preferences pane includes a right-to-left language like Arabic or Hebrew.
Strikethrough – To add strikethrough to selected text, choose Format > Font > Show Fonts, click the Strikethrough button (3rd from left), and select the desired strikethrough appearance.
Apple Books – ePub exports with ampersands and other restricted HTML characters in the title or author metadata fields no longer cause warnings when read in the Apple Books apps.
With a new toolbar and sidebar, and updated icons, Storyist 4.2 feels right at home on macOS 11 Big Sur.
Support for macOS 11 Big Sur
With a new toolbar and sidebar, and updated icons, Storyist 4.2 feels right at home on macOS 11 Big Sur.
You can now set the sidebar text size. Just open the Appearance tab in the Theme pane of the Storyist Preferences window and set the sidebar size to Small, Medium, Large, or System.
Also, the split controls have moved from the main toolbar to the navigation bars. To split a view, click the right-most button. Holding the Option key changes the orientation of the split. You can close the split by clicking the x-mark next to the split button.
Runs Natively on Apple Silicon
Thinking about getting one of the new Apple Silicon Mac? Storyist 4.2 runs natively on the M1. We’ve had an Apple Silicon Mac in the lab for months and love it.
Versions Across Devices
If you store your projects in iCloud, you can now see previous versions created on your other devices.
Other enhancements include the new file size and cloud status columns and a Share button that lets your export your previous versions (comments and all) using the standard macOS sharing services. You can, for example, send a version via Mail and Messages.
Window Tab Enhancements
Like window tabs? You’ll love the enhancements that version 4.2 brings. New “Open in Window Tab” commands let you quickly create new tabs for items within the project. Tabs now display the selected project names, so you know at a glance what’s open in each tab.
Storyist 4.1.1 for macOS is out. If you’ve upgraded to macOS 10.15 Catalina (released last week), please also install this Storyist update. It has some important changes for Catalina.
Support for notarization – macOS 10.15 Catalina brings a number of under-the-hood security enhancements. Starting in Catalina, all apps distributed outside the App Store need to be notarized by Apple in order to run on your Mac. Storyist 4.1.1 is notarized, and includes support for Catalina’s Hardened Runtime features.
Compatibility updates – The first release of Catalina (10.15.0) has a couple of non-backwards compatible changes that require changes to Storyist.
Storyist 4.1.1 includes some other enhancements, including support for a new, iOS-style cursor. You can find the full release notes here.
It’s been quiet around here. Maybe too quiet. Let’s change that. I’m happy to announce that Storyist 4 for macOS and Storyist 4 for iOS are currently in beta testing and will be available soon. Here’s a peek at what’s coming.
Storyist 4 for macOS
Dark mode on Mojave
Storyist 4 for macOS sports a beautiful new content-aware dark mode when running on Mojave. Many apps only support dark mode when your Mac is in dark mode, but Storyist 4 takes it a step further. Dark mode is available even if your Mac is running with the Light appearance and you can choose either dark text on a light background or light text on a dark background.
Dark mode with blue accent color.
Dark mode with purple accent color.
Dark mode with pink accent color.
Dark mode with orang accent color
Dark mode with purple accent color and light text.
Quick navigation
Getting around your project has never been easier. You can use the new Go To command to get to any project view with a few keystrokes.
Search can find items even if the letters aren’t adjacent.
Locating sections and notes related to chapter III.
Locating a character using initials.
And More…
Storyist 4 for macOS supports High Sierra and Mojave and includes many other enhancements, including
Additional workflows for exporting PDF files and books.
Increased performance for large files.
Updated user interface elements.
Storyist 4 for iOS
Files App Support
The Storyist home screen is now based on the Files app, so you can:
Store project files where you want and edit them in place.
Use 3rd party cloud storage solutions like Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive.
Share files with others over iCloud using iCloud file sharing.
Organize your files using nested folders and tags.
View recently-edited files stored across multiple cloud storage providers.
Open recent files from the home screen.
Storyist home screen when using the light theme.
Storyist home screen when using the dark theme.
iPad home screen showing recently edited Storyist files.
New Themes
Storyist 4 for iOS includes several new interface themes, including both a light and a dark mode. Like the original theme? No worries, it’s still there. Tap the More button on the home screen and choose Themes to see the complete list.
Text editor in the light theme.
Folder view in the Light theme.
Text editor in the dark theme.
Folder view in the Dark theme.
Text editor in the Classic theme.
Folder view in the Classic theme.
Updated User Interface
Storyist 4 for iOS requires iOS 11 or later. The UI has been updated and includes new icons, animations, and usability enhancements.
Commands are organized in a simplified More menu on each screen.
Expanded keyboard shortcuts include cut/copy/paste and undo.
The text and index card editors take better advantage of larger screens on X model iPhones.
Free Trials and Upgrade Discounts
Both Storyist 4 for macOS and Storyist 4 for iOS are free to download and offer 14-day free trials so you can test all the features before purchasing. Both versions also offer upgrade discounts for owners of previous versions!
Want to Help Test?
Storyist 4 will be out of beta later this quarter, but if you want to help test, there are still some slots open for both the macOS and iOS versions. If you’re interested in helping, please send an email to support@storyist.com and indicate which platform(s) you’re interested in.
Storyist for Mac 3.5 is out! This release adds support for a very popular feature request: Creating PDFs for Print.
Print-Ready PDFs
Starting in version 3.5, you can use the book templates in Storyist to turn your manuscript into a print-ready PDFs. The new book editor lets you add front matter (like a table of contents); specify verso/recto pages; and set trim size, margins, and bleed.
Blurb Trade Book Templates
Storyist has partnered with Blurb, a popular self-publishing platform, to provide you with book creation and distribution tools that make it easy to print and sell your work. Use the included print-optimized templates to quickly build beautiful Blurb Trade Books.
Storyist for Mac 3.4 is out, and adds support for the Touch Bar on the 2016 MacBook Pros.
Apple describes the Touch Bar as follows:
The Touch Bar replaces the function keys that have long occupied the top of your keyboard with something much more versatile and capable. It changes automatically based on what you’re doing to show you relevant tools you already know how to use — system controls like volume and brightness, interactive ways to adjust or browse through content, intelligent typing features like emoji and predictive text, and more.
Here is the “and more” that Storyist 3.4 brings to the table:
Text Bar
The text bar, active when you’re using the text editor, adds Touch Bar shortcuts for:
Choosing styles
Setting text color
Bold/italic/underline
Setting text alignment
Managing lists
Text Bar
Styles Popover
Text Color Picker Popover
Alignment Popover
List Popover
Outline Bar
The outline bar, active when you’re in outline mode, adds shortcuts for:
Adding chapters/sections/scenes
Choosing a background color
Outline Bar
Add Item Popover
Color Picker Popover
Storyboard Bar
The storyboard bar, active when you’re in storyboard (index card) mode, adds shortcuts for:
Adding chapters/sections/scenes
Settings the zoom factor
Choosing an index card color
Storyboard Bar
Add Item Popover
Color Picker Popover
Project View Bar
The project view bar shortcuts for adding files and folders to your project.
Project Bar
Have a new MacBook Pro? Download the trial version and take it for a spin.
We’re currently looking for a few more adveturous souls to particapte in the beta program. If would like to help test the beta, please send an email to support@storyist.com.
Storyist
