Blog on Storyist

Setting up Storyist for NaNoWriMo

Thu, 03 Oct 2024 19:38:55 +0000

So you’ve downloaded Storyist for macOS, read the Users Guide, and spent time planning your novel. Great! Here are some additional suggestions to help you get the most out of Storyist during NaNoWriMo.

Enter Your NaNoWriMo Word Count Goals

Storyist for macOS can track your daily word count and progress towards the magic 50k word goal. To set this up:

Open your project (or create a new novel project from the Novel template).
Click the Goals button in the toolbar.
Enter your word count goals in the Project Goal and Daily Goal fields.
Select the text files you want to include in your NaNoWriMo word count. You can keep your manuscript in one file or spread it over multiple files. For now, just check the My Manuscript checkbox. You can add additional files later if you want.
Click the Done button.

You can now use the Goals button to check your progress in November. The Goals popover provides three ways to see your progress: the calendar, graph, and summary views.

NaNoWriMo Turns 25!

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 21:57:12 +0000

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 for macOS 4.2.6 is out

Wed, 24 Aug 2022 22:34:53 +0000

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.

You can find the full release notes here.

What’s New in Storyist for macOS 4.2

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 18:45:09 +0000

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.

Storyist 4.1.1 and Catalina

Tue, 15 Oct 2019 01:17:01 +0000

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.

Dark Mode Tips

Sat, 09 Mar 2019 01:18:14 +0000

Dark Mode Tips

A few people have written to ask how I created the dark mode screenshots for the Storyist 4 Sneak Peek post. Now that Storyist 4 is out, I thought I’d take a moment to describe that process (it’s straightforward) and offer some tips for using dark mode on Mojave.

In short, to create the screenshots, I simply combined different standard accent colors and desktop pictures.

Choosing the Accent Color and Desktop Picture

Working with the Files Interface

Thu, 07 Mar 2019 21:04:02 +0000

Working with the New Files Interface

Don’t be surprised if the new start screen in Storyist 4 for iOS looks familiar. It should. Starting in version 4, the Storyist home screen is essentially the Files app with a few important additions. If you’re not familiar with the Files app, you’ll find information about how to use it in Apple’s tutorial.

Here are some of the new features it brings to Storyist.

Storyist 4 is out!

Tue, 05 Mar 2019 22:35:01 +0000

I’m delighted to announce that Storyist 4 for macOS and iOS are now available. As mentioned in the Sneak Peek, version 4 brings many new features and usability enhancements.

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.

Storyist 4 Sneak Peek

Tue, 15 Jan 2019 23:06:14 +0000

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.

Working with Snippets

Mon, 13 Nov 2017 23:09:45 +0000

Over the course of a draft, you probably type the same character combinations hundreds if not thousands of times. Why not let Storyist type them for you? Storyist can insert multi-line text snippets (bits of text) with just a few keystrokes.

Try this:

Make sure tab shortcuts are enabled.
Place the cursor at the start of a blank link.
Type “lorem” and then press the tab key.

When you press the tab key, Storyist replaces “lorem” with

Working with the Versions Browser

Sat, 11 Nov 2017 00:18:37 +0000

You probably know that Storyist automatically saves copies your project as you write. Did you know you can interactively browse these saved versions and grab bits of text to paste into your current version?

Try it:

Open a project you’ve been working on.
Choose File > Revert To > Browse All Versions. This opens the Versions browser (shown above) and displays the current version of your project on the left and a stack of the previous versions on the right.

What’s New in Storyist for Mac 3.5

Thu, 14 Sep 2017 20:17:06 +0000

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 is Ten!

Sun, 08 Jan 2017 17:11:23 +0000

Storyist turns ten today!

Hard to believe, I know, but it was on January 8th, 2007 that Storyist 1.0 first saw the light of day at MacWorld. I’m feeling nostalgic this morning, so I hope you’ll indulge me in a brief walk down memory lane.

The Apple community was a little different in 2007, and MacWorld really was the center of the world for all things Mac. That year, Apple featured a Developer Pavilion next to their showroom (to call it a booth would be an understatement), and Storyist Software had a kiosk there (to call it a booth would be an overstatement).

What’s New in Storyist for Mac 3.4

Wed, 21 Dec 2016 20:01:43 +0000

Happy Holidays everyone!

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.

What’s New in Storyist for Mac 3.3

Thu, 06 Oct 2016 19:09:16 +0000

NaNoWriMo is right around the corner, and Storyist for Mac 3.3 is out with some new features to help you in your month of noveling!

Updated Goal Inspectors

The updated goal inspectors are now accessible directly from the toolbar and give you more ways to track your writing goals.

You can:

Use the calendar view to get a sense of how your writing sessions vary from day to day. Dates are color coded with your progress, and the mouse and cursor keys allow you to select individual dates to view.
Use the graph view to show your progress over time. You can get daily, weekly or monthly graphs of your word count data, or even specify a custom date range.
Use the summary view to see your average and best days in a given range.
Export your writing session data to a .csv file for use with a spreadsheet application like Excel or Numbers.

What’s New in Storyist for iOS 3.3

Mon, 20 Jun 2016 17:17:22 +0000

Storyist for iOS 3.3 is available in the App Store–just in time for summer! Here’s what’s new.

iCloud and Dropbox Versions

Prior to version 3.3, you could browse and restore the previous versions (backups) of your projects that Storyist created on your iPad or iPad. Starting in version 3.3, you can access previous versions stored in iCloud and Dropbox too.

To do so:

Navigate to the Storyist home screen.
Tap Edit and then tap the Versions (umbrella) icon.

Storyist for iOS 3.2 is Out!

Fri, 15 Apr 2016 00:07:33 +0000

I’m delighted to announce that Storyist for iOS 3.2 is available in the App Store! It’s got support for dark mode, PDF title pages, and draft mode enhancements for iPhone.

Dark Mode

One of the most popular feature requests over the years (Storyist for iOS has been in the App Store since 2011), was for a dark editing mode. Storyist for Mac added the feature in version 3.1, and now it is available in Storyist for iOS.

Storyist and iPad Pro

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 00:14:23 +0000

Judging by the questions coming in to the support address, quite a few Storyist users are considering purchasing an iPad Pro to handle their day-to-day writing tasks. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions to help with the descision.

Does Storyist support the larger iPad Pro screen?

Yes. Storyist for iOS supports the larger 2732 x 2048 screen. It does not simply scale up the pixels from a standard 2048×1536 screen (something you’ll see on an app that hasn’t been updated with iPad Pro support). This means you can use the extra space for your text or for another app via Split View.

Taking Advantage of the New Keyboard Shortcuts

Fri, 09 Oct 2015 00:11:33 +0000

With iOS 9 now available and iPad Pro with Smart Keyboard on the way, it’s a great time to mention the new keyboard shortcuts in Storyist 3.1 for iOS.

As many of you know, Storyist for iOS has long provided shortcuts to make text editing with an extenal keyboard a productive experience. Version 3.1 brings a bunch more to the table. Here’s a sample.

Navigation shortcuts

Use the arrow keys to select files or index cards.
Use return to start editing a selecteded file or index card.
Use ⌘ 1 and ⌘ 2 to switch between text and index card mode.
Use ⌘ option T to open and close the project view.
Use ⌘ [ to navigate back in your browsing history.

Text Editing Shortuts

Beta Testers Wanted

Tue, 25 Aug 2015 23:42:53 +0000

Fall is approaching, which means that a new version of iOS is on it’s way. So of course a new version of Storyist for iOS is on its way too!

Storyist 3.1 for iOS is currently in beta and adds:

Support for new iOS 9 features like multitasking.
Support for variable size screens (should there ever be a different iPad screen size).
Compatibility enhancements to the RTF converters.
Support for native editing of Scrivener files with syncing via iCloud.

Should I Store My Files in iCloud or Dropbox?

Fri, 17 Apr 2015 05:04:09 +0000

Storyist 3 for iOS can store files in (sync with) both iCloud and Dropbox. Both work great, but there are some subtle differences between the services. Which one should you choose? Here is some information to help you make your decision.

iCloud

Works better with large Storyist projects. Storyist projects are zip archives. When you edit a project, Storyist saves your changes and compresses the project files into an archive for you. Unlike Dropbox, iCloud is able to tell which elements of the zip archive have changed, and sync only the parts of the archive that have changed to the cloud. If your project contains lots of images, storing your project files in iCloud could save considerable network time and battery life.

The Dark Mode Cometh

Thu, 09 Apr 2015 02:03:19 +0000

If you’re running Yosemite, you probably noticed the beautiful new dark controls in the Notification Center and (if you found the “Use dark menu bar and Dock” checkbox in the system preferences) in the menu and dock.

Did you know that the dark mode user interface controls are available to applications too?

Starting in version 3.1, Storyist for Mac can take full advantage of the dark mode controls when running on Yosemite.