StoryProject is a story outliner. It offers the non-linear tools suited to development of story structure, while providing transparent access to the linear product of your work. StoryProject achieves this in three ways: events, threading and spotlighting.
Events are the building blocks of story outlines. They form the beat-by-beat description of what happens, without most of the discoursive flavors that make the finished narrative. In StoryProject, every event must belong to a thread, even if only one, like “My story outline”.
Threads let you collect events into meaningful parts. For instance, to project your theme by gradually conveying a character’s background, you might have a thread called “Jack’s thoughts of childhood echo his dilemma”. Events belonging to the thread could then be interspersed with events belonging to other threads. On the other hand, to concentrate on the dramatic effect of the thread, you could rename it to something like “Jack deftly conceals his childhood murder”. The particular pattern of threading in your story is arbitrary and subjective, there is no “best solution”. Threads are a form of mnemonics.
The third feature of StoryProject, spotlighting, lets you display events by a keyword phrase. This means you can isolate a signifier, such as a character, to work on its consistency and change, while still working directly on your story.
In practice, threading and spotlighting are interchangeable. At one point you might have a keyword spotlight for “Jack”, at another you might need a specific reminder in the form of a thread, like “Jack is a wild and dangerous man”.
StoryProject frees you from the chapter-by-chapter paradigm of conventional outliners, and it does so without recourse to separate character lists, plot diagrams, questionnaires, etc. It narrows the gap between story outline and finished narrative, making the writing of your novel, play or screenplay more likely to succeed.
User’s Guide
StoryProject window
When StoryProject starts up, it opens the main window. The main elements of this window are the Events field where events are displayed, Insertion Bar on the left of the Events field for inserting and moving events, the Threads field listing the threads in the story, and the Spotlight popup menu listing spotlighting keywords. One story at a time can be open in StoryProject.
In addition, there are control and feedback elements in this window that help you resize it, allocate Events versus Threads space, open recent files, select events by line number, and toggle between the normal and list view. Turn on Balloon Help in the program for an explanation of each element.
Creating Events
Press Return or Enter to add an event. The Event dialog will appear, where you type the event. Click OK and the event will appear in the main window. If this is your first event, another dialog will prompt you for a thread name, with the event text as the default entry.
Inspiration & Auto-writer
If you’re in need of inspiration, click and hold on the Inspiration button (the light bulb icon) in the Event dialog. After a moment (or a few moments on a 68K Mac), a comprehensive hierarchical menu will appear with sub-menus like “Relation”, “Occupation”, “Venue”, etc. Any spotlighting keywords present in the story are listed in the “Spotlights” sub-menu. The item that you select will be placed in the entry field.
Option-click the OK button in the Event dialog and an event will automatically be written in the entry field. This is the Auto-writer feature. It uses the Inspiration menu items for its output and is programmed to get the basic grammar right most of the time. In its basic form, the Auto-writer is useful in the same way as the Inspiration menu—to jog your imagination in new directions. But if you learn how to customise its output, it can be extremely useful for those times when you're stuck with a plot. See the Advanced Notes file for details.
For faster, keyboard access to the Inspiration menu, press Command-I in the Event dialog. This brings up the Inspiration dialog, letting you select a category and then an item from that category for placing in the entry field. If you want to place a category itself (as part of an Auto-writer template), hold down the Option key when you click the Select button.
Threading
As in the main window, there is a Threads field in the Event dialog. It lists only the threads the event you’re editing is assigned to. If this is a new event, then the Event dialog lists the threads that the preceding event is assigned to, if any.
• To assign the event to a thread, click on the Threads field or press Command-T. This brings up the Assign Threads dialog listing all the threads that exist in the story. The threads that the event is assigned to appear bulleted in the dialog. The dialog also lets you create new threads. Alternatively, you can Shift-click the Threads field to create a new thread.
• To unassign a thread from the event, you can Option-click it in the Threads field or hold down the Command key and type the line number of the thread in the Threads field. To unassign all threads from the event, press Command-0 (naught).
• To swap one thread with another, Shift-Option click it in the Threads field.
In contrast, the Threads field in the main window lets you control which threads are displayed in the Events field.
• To toggle the display of a thread of events on and off, click the thread in the Threads field or hold down the Command key and type the line number of the thread in the Threads field. If you press Command-0 (naught), visible threads will be hidden and hidden threads will be shown.
• To toggle the display of a number of threads, Shift-click them in the Threads field.
• To show only one thread and hide all others, Option-click the thread in the Threads field.
• To rename a thread, Shift-Option click it in the Threads field.
Display of threads in the main window can be controlled by menu commands: “Show All/None” and “Refresh View” in the “Tools” menu.
• “Show All/None” displays all events, or hides them if all are visible.
• “Refresh View” displays events assigned to hilited threads, including any events you may have hidden. (You can hide events by Option-clicking them.)
Selecting “All” from the Spotlight popup menu shows all threads.
Spotlighting
To display only events containing a keyword phrase, either Command-click the phrase in the Events field in the main window, choose the “Spotlight…” command from the “Tools” menu, or, if you have already spotlighted events by that keyword, choose the keyword from the Spotlight popup menu. (For the sake of this feature, name characters with a one-word name, and use the name consistently.) To delete a keyword from the Spotlight popup menu, Option-select it.
To record all proper names in your story as Spotlight keywords, choose “Record All Names” from the “Tools” menu. (Use this command judiciously: it’s slow on older Macs, and may record many names you wouldn’t care to spotlight.)
Editing events
Select events in the main window by clicking them, or select one after another by pressing Tab. To select them in reverse, press Shift-Tab. To select a range of events, Shift-click them. Option-click an event to hide it. Double-click an event to edit it. You can select and delete events, or use editing commands to cut, copy, and paste.
Pasted text originating outside StoryProject is assigned to the “Pasted Story” thread. Pasted text that had been copied in StoryProject retains its threading information.
Insertion Bar
A narrow strip on the left of the Events field.
• Move events by dragging & dropping them—you will see the cursor moving along in the Insertion Bar.
• With the ClickMove option turned on in the Editing pane of Preferences, you can move events by selecting them, then clicking at the new location in the Insertion Bar.
• To insert a new event, double-click at the insertion location in the Insertion Bar.
• To insert a file, click in the Insertion Bar at the desired location, then choose the “Insert File…” command from the “File” menu. With the exception of StoryProject stories, inserted files are assigned to the “Inserted Text Story” thread. Empty paragraphs are not allowed in the Events field; when inserting files containing them, empty paragraphs are deleted.
Note Pad
If you’re using System 7.5 or greater, you can insert Note Pad contents, or export them into a text file. Note Pad pages are imported as separate threads. This means that you can use Note Pad as a faster, more convenient wordprocessor, and rename the threads after importing. Because Note Pad saves its data when it closes, you must close it before importing or exporting its contents.
Editing and assigning threads
To rename threads, choose “Edit Threads…” from the “Tools” menu. This command also lets you delete whole threads of events. Any events also assigned to another thread are not deleted.
To assign an event to another thread, select it and choose the “Assign Threads” command from the “Tools” menu (or Shift-Option-click the event). The dialog that appears also lets you unassign threads and create new ones. The threads the event is assigned to appear bulleted in the Assign Threads dialog. If you have multiple events selected, the threads that some or all of them are assigned to are starred in the dialog.
Ordering threads
As you create threads, they are added to the Threads field in the main window in order of creation. If you need to see them in order of appearance in the story, choose “Order Threads” from the “Tools” menu.
Finding and replacing text
StoryProject features basic finding and replacing commands. The “Find” command is always case insensitive; but replacing can be case sensitive. You cannot use the “Replace” command to erase text by leaving the Replace field empty. The two commands can be set to search the whole story regardless of whether events are visible or not. The “Find Again” command searches visible events only.
Information
The “Information” command in the “Edit” menu shows useful information about the open story. Most of its items are self-explanatory, but the last one is worth discussing. “Threads containing other threads” shows the number of threads that are entirely contained by another. If this number is at least 1, then the Information dialog features a “More” button. Click it to show the names of affected threads as “Containing thread: contained thread”. You can safely delete the contained thread with the “Edit Threads” command: although the thread will be deleted, none of the events assigned to it will be deleted because they’re all assigned to the containing thread as well.
Printing
The “Print” command in the “File” menu will print visible events, together with a heading listing the threads or the spotlight keyword by which the events are displayed. The printing is instant, presenting no confirmation dialog. Press Command-. quickly to cancel printing.
Scrolling and Marking
The “Tools” menu has three commands that help with scrolling the Events field in the main window.
To mark the current scroll position, choose “Mark Scroll”. To jump to the marked scroll position, choose “Jump to Marker”, keyboard shortcut Command-J. To jump back from the marked position, press Shift-Command-J.
To have the field slowly scroll down in a loop, choose “Scroll Loop”. Any non-scrolling action will stop the scrolling.
Speaking text
If you have text-to-speech system software installed, StoryProject can speak the text in the Events field. Press Command-. or Escape to stop the speech.
Exporting text
The “Export Text” command in the “File” menu lets you export the open story into a plain text file. Use it when you’re ready to start working on the story in a word processor. You can set the file type of the exported text files in the Editing pane of Preferences, or by Option-selecting the “Export Text” command.
Bullet
To make your story easier to work with, events are bulleted by default. You can toggle bullets on and off by choosing “Bullet” from the “Edit” menu. (The command requires that events be visible in the Events field.) The bullets do not appear in the Event dialog and are not copied to the clipboard, nor counted as words by the “Information” command. They do form part of the story when you print or export bulleted text.
Preferences
The Preferences command in the Edit menu lets you set editing and styling preferences of StoryProject.
In the Editing pane you can set to automatically save files when they are closed. This is useful when switching between files thru the Recent Files popup menu (or by pressing the Command-~ (tilde) shortcut). You can also set some other more or less self-explanatory options.
In the Styling pane there are two settings for the Threads field: Visible Threads and Hidden Threads. The two must have different styling for visual feedback, but share the same font and size. Therefore, their font and size can only be set if you choose Hidden Threads from the Object popup menu, not Visible Threads. As for the Events field, you can set its font and size, but cannot style it.
File linking
Events can be linked to files of any type, perhaps to attach longer pieces of writing to them or hyperlink StoryProject outlines.
To create a link to a file, bring up the Event dialog and press Command-spacebar. How the link is created is context-sensitive:
• If the entry field in the Event dialog is empty, you will be prompted with a standard open file dialog to choose a file to link to. When you have made your choice, StoryProject will first attempt to retrieve any Finder comments the file may have (set thru the Get Info dialog in the Finder).
* If the file is commented, StoryProject will place the comments and the disk path to the file in the entry field.
* If the file is not commented, StoryProject will check whether the file is a StoryProject or a text file. If it is either and is not empty, StoryProject will place the first paragraph of it (up to 16000 characters) together with the disk path to the file in the entry field.
* If the file is not commented, is not a StoryProject file nor a text file, or is empty, StoryProject will place just the disk path to the file in the entry field.
• If the entry field in the Event dialog is not empty, StoryProject will first look for a file path in it.
* If the entry contains a file path, StoryProject will offer to open the linked file in its owner program.
* If the entry does not contain a file path, StoryProject will prompt you to choose a file to link to and place the chosen file’s disk path at the end of the entry.
File links are placed between «» tags (Option-\ and Shift-Option-\). You can edit the file path manually if you like, but do not delete the tags or StoryProject will not be able to “see” the link.
To automatically select a file link in the Event dialog, press Command-F. This makes it easier to delete a link if you wish to link to another file.
If the linked file is in the same folder as the open document, the link will contain the filename only, rather than the full disk path. This feature makes file links easier to work with, but it does mean that if you move the StoryProject file containing such partial links to another folder, the links will no longer work.
You can open linked files from the main StoryProject window: select an event containing a link and press Command-spacebar. When you open files from the main window, and the linked file is a StoryProject file, no confirmation dialog appears. (Linked file opening is confirmed for all file types in the Event dialog.)
An event can be linked to one file only. If it is linked to more, all but the first link will be ignored when opening the file.
In addition to file links, “ftp:”, “http:”, and “file:” URLs are supported - if you have Internet Config installed, you can link to the internet from StoryProject. Same tags are needed as for file links, i.e. «http://www.apple.com/». It’s difficult to see how this could be of use to fiction writers, but it may be welcomed by those who use StoryProject for more general purposes.
Balloon Help and Shortcuts
Turn on Balloon Help in the program for explanation of all window elements and menus. For a list of shortcuts, choose About StoryProject from the Apple Menu and click on the Shortcuts button.
Limitations
File names and location
Do not move or change the name of the program or any of its accompanying files and folders, or StoryProject will not work correctly. The StoryProject Folder itself can be renamed and placed anywhere you like. (Don’t move or rename it while StoryProject is running.)
30K text limit
StoryProject cannot display more than 30K of text in the Events field. Most story outlines will fall well within this limit, so it will not be a problem. If you want to create very long or detailed story outlines, link them up as separate files.
Troubleshooting
StoryProject has been tested with all Systems from 7.0 to 8.5, on a range of Apple Macs from an SE to an iMac. Your use of the program should be trouble free, but in the unlikely event that you encounter a problem, the following will help you solve it.
Version incompatibility
StoryProject 4.2 can open files created by versions 2-3.6.1, but versions before 3.5 cannot open files created with StoryProject 4.2. It is best to delete older versions of the software from your computer.
Corrupted data
As with any other program, it is conceivable that StoryProject data may become corrupted. (Data can be corrupted when you cancel some of the more time-consuming commands by pressing Command-. while the command is executing. If this happens, a dialog informs you and corrects the damage.) The good news is that the corruption can only be minor and no data is lost. The best way of correcting problems is to choose “Revert to Saved” from the “File” menu. If this would entail the loss of too much work, then save the story under a different name first and try correcting the problem manually: if an event is assigned to no thread, assign it; if there is a strange thread that you had not created, rename it; and so on. In the worst case scenario, export the story into a text file, then import it into a new StoryProject document and re-thread it.
Evaluation expiry
If you let the evaluation period expire before registering StoryProject, you will not be able to save new files or change existing ones. Your existing work will not be lost, however; you will be able to open StoryProject files and export them into text files, provided you make no changes to them in StoryProject.
Error dialogs
If you get seemingly illogical Error dialogs when trying to open, save, insert or export files, then your disk directory files are corrupted. Use a program like Norton Utilities and Disk First Aid to repair your disk. This kind of problem is unlikely to occur, unless you are saving files into the same folder your Web browser uses for disk caching. Web browsers often corrupt disk directory files.
Window resizing
Resizing of the StoryProject window is memory-intensive. If you find that you cannot resize the window beyond a certain size, try restarting the program. If the maximum size that you can set it to is unusually small, there may be a conflict between StoryProject and a system extension. Two such extensions are Custom Menus and ATI MPP Manager. They fragment StoryProject memory and thereby disable the window resizing feature. Restart your Mac with Extensions turned off to see whether this is the cause of the problem. Under normal conditions, StoryProject allocates enough window memory to let you resize the window to at least 800x600 pixel size, providing your monitor is large enough.
Color
StoryProject is not colored on 68K Macs for the sake of speed. It will not be colored on PowerMacs either if the memory allocation of the program is set low (thru the Get Info dialog in the Finder), or the monitor is set to display less than 256 colors or greys. On a PowerMac, you may find StoryProject will run more reliably if you reduce its memory allocation to just below the color threshold.
The background of the main window can be greyed to lessen the white glare of it by Option-selecting the Preferences command from the Edit menu; Event dialog by Option-clicking the Cancel button. Useful on 68K Macs where StoryProject is not colored.
System conflicts
If StoryProject consistently crashes, freezes, or fails to launch, the likely cause is a system extension conflict. Follow the usual procedure for locating the errant extension. (Read the Macintosh Guide in the Finder for details on how to do this.)
Bugs
If something does not work as it should and the remedies described here do not help, then you may have found a bug in StoryProject. Please email me at <kdolenc@kagi.com> with details of what happened, what action led to the problem, and what your computer setup is. No warranties can be given, but all steps will be taken to offer a speedy solution.
Version History:
4.2:
• When deleting more than one thread of events, the reported number of events not deleted was sometimes incorrect. This has been fixed.
• Fixed the bug that meant registered users could not open the About StoryProject window when the Event dialog was open.
• Website expanded.
• Other minor improvements.
4.1:
• Edit menu commands now work as expected in Find and Replace dialogs.
• Record All Names command no longer records any colon that may follow a name.
• When spotlighting events by Command-clicking a keyword in the Events field, a confirmation dialog appears as it did in versions before 4.0.x.
• Fixed an intermittent "jamming" problem with dragging & dropping events in the Events field.
• Fixed a problem with color on some of the first-generation PowerMacs.
• Minor interface improvements.
4.0.3:
• Fixed the quick double hilite of buttons in Find and Replace dialogs, a cosmetic bug with no effect on the functionality of the program.
4.0.2:
• The background of the main window can be greyed to lessen the white glare of it by Option-selecting the Preferences command from the Edit menu; Event dialog by Option-clicking the Cancel button. Useful on 68K Macs where StoryProject is not colored.
4.0.1:
• Fixed the problem that meant StoryProject would fail to launch on some Macs running MacOS 8.5.
4.0:
• The new Recent File Popup Menu lists up to 50 recent files. Recent SP files now also show up in Apple Menu if the option is turned on in the Apple Menu Options control panel.
• Toggling between two recent files possible with Command-~ (tilde) shortcut.
• Events can now be viewed as a list, making their manipulation easier.
• Information command no longer counts bullets as words.
• Line numbers of selected events can be displayed in the new line number boxes, from where events can be selected too.
• New shortcuts created for the new functionality, listed in a new online window, accessible thru the About StoryProject menu item in the Apple Menu.
• Events can now be drag & dropped to a new location.
• Moving of events by a single mouse click is turned off by default, but can be turned on in Preferences.
• Startup preferences can be set in the Editing pane of Preferences, as can state of selection in Event dialog, exported text file creator, and automatic saving on close of file.
• Event field can no longer be styled.
• Scrolling with up and down arrows now moves the Insertion Bar position cursor. Scrolling with page down/up, home/end, Option-arrow, and Command-arrow behaves as before.
• When nothing is selected, tab or shift-tab now select first or last event of visible screen, not at start or end of story. If Insertion Bar cursor is visible, tab selects the event next to it.
• Left and right arrows scroll the Event field to show the selection, if text is selected.
• Option-clicking an event in a multi-event selection hides the clicked event but retains selection. A workaround way of non-contiguously selecting events.
• The main window can now be dynamically resized, Events versus Threads space allocated with the Divider Bar. Window preferences removed.
• Program self-configures on startup regarding color. Color schemes and preferences removed.
• Find and Replace dialog resources now part of StoryProject itself, no longer in SPP Resources folder.
• Inspiration menu in Event dialog can be accessed from keyboard with Command-I, custom Auto-writer template with Command-P. Option-Select in first Inspiration dialog to place category instead of choose item.
• "Spotlights" can now be used as random element of custom Auto-writer template.
• Chosen Inspiration items now properly replace selected text. They no longer insert spaces of their own.
• Escape key de-selects texts or exits boxes in main window.
• Events can now be linked to files of any type. Files can be opened from main window or Event dialog. Command-spacebar sets or opens file link, Command-F selects it in Event dialog.
• Deleting a thread by Shift-Option clicking it in the Threads field and returning empty in the renaming dialog no longer results in corrupted data.
• Numerous subtle improvements and fixes. Program code thoroughly checked and tested, more robust overall.
• Documented at last: in Event dialog, Shift-Option-click of OK button speaks Auto-written output continuously, tab & shift-tab select words in entry field, Option-arrow moves cursor by word, Command-arrows same as page up and down.
3.6.1:
• Show All Threads command in Tools menu renamed Show All/None: it now hides all threads if all are visible.
• In the main window, pressing Command-X where X is a number 1-9 toggles the display of the thread in the corresponding line of the Threads field. Pressing Command-0 (naught) inverts the display of threads.
• In the Event dialog, pressing Command-X where X is a number 1-9 unassigns the thread in the corresponding line of the Threads field. Pressing Command-0 (naught) unassigns all threads.
• In the Event dialog, pressing Command-T brings up the Assign Threads dialog.
• Registration details made clearer in the Read Me file and this Manual updated.
• Fixed the bugs that meant pasting and inserting operations could enter events unassigned or in the wrong line.
3.6:
• Registration payment now handled by Kagi. Some pricing details adjusted to their payment model.
• Web site improved.
3.5.2:
• Users now have the full evaluation period available, regardless of whether they have used a previous unregistered version of StoryProject or not.
3.5.1:
• Fixed an annoying bug introduced with the new thread renaming mouse shortcut in version 3.5: when Shift-Option clicking a thread in the Threads field in the main window, the Events field was scrolled to the top. The scroll is now not affected when a thread is renamed in this way.
3.5:
• Shift-Option clicking a thread in the Threads field in main window lets you rename the thread.
• Shift-Option clicking a thread in the Threads field in Event dialog lets you swap-assign the event to another thread.
• Text files with a DOS file extension have converted automatically when opened or saved.
• Note Pad pages now import as separate threads.
• Some characters, like ±, were previously disallowed - this is no longer the case. Commas are now allowed in threads.
• Evaluation period increased to 31 days.
• StoryProject website created, new email contact details.
• Other minor improvements.
3.0.1:
• Thread creation in Event dialog improved. Maximum length of default thread name increased to 254 characters and ending period deleted if entry not truncated; except commas, other types of punctuation not deleted.
• A mistake regarding contact details corrected in the Registration Form.
3.0:
Changes and new features:
• One “fat” program released for Macs with 680x0 and PowerPC processors.
• Help Mode replaced with Balloon Help support.
• With some exceptions, menu items are now dimmed and activated according to context.
• All dialogs can be dismissed by pressing Command-. and Event, Find, Replace and Preferences also by pressing Escape.
• Bulleting feature added; events bulleted as default.
• After you delete a thread of events, a dialog displays the number of events deleted, and, if applicable, the number not deleted because they’re assigned to other threads.
• In Assign Threads dialog threads already assigned are bulleted if one event selected, or starred if multiple events selected.
• Option-Shift-clicking an event in the main window selects it and brings up Assign Threads dialog.
• Keyboard shortcuts added: Scroll Loop is Command-K, Bullet is Command-B, Revert to Saved is Command-R, Save As is Shift-Command-S (doesn’t appear on the menu), Insert File is Command-\, jumping back to scroll position before the jump to marker is Shift-Command-J.
• Keyboard shortcuts changed: Replace is Command-H.
• Registration reminder at startup and at end of printout during evaluation period, afterwards saving, printing, exporting, copying disabled if unregistered.
• Revamped Inspiration menu in Event dialog, now with fewer categories but more entries.
• Only entries, not categories, of Inspiration menu can be edited by user.
• Auto-writer feature, based on Inspiration menu, added to Event dialog, invoked by Option-clicking OK button. User can set one of its elements or a whole template.
• Option-clicking Inspiration button brings up menu of Inspiration categories only, for setting custom Auto-writer template.
• Command-clicking Inspiration button puts user’s custom Auto-writer template into entry field for repeated action.
• When creating new thread in Event dialog, event entry text now used as default entry for thread name.
• Export Text command writes thread names and spotlights at the top of exported file, followed by events. Option-selecting the command lets you set the export file type.
• Pressing tab key in Preferences dialog flips through the three cards.
• Pressing tab key in Event dialog selects words from cursor position, Shift-tab in reverse.
• Scroll Loop command now stopped by any non-scrolling action.
• Speak Text command: as well as Escape, pressing Command-. stops the speech.
• Cleaner interface with more usable space, larger Event dialog.
• Some tasteless color schemes removed.
• Expanded and re-organized documentation.
• Sample file provided.
• Other minor improvements and changes.
Bug fixes:
• Replacing an existing file with Save As command now works correctly. It’s also no longer possible to replace open story with exported text or Note Pad file.
• Select All now works in dialogs if chosen from menu.
• Exporting Note Pad no longer erases empty paragraphs in resulting text file, which now also has page headings for each exported Note Pad page.
• Information command now accurately calculates threads containing others, regardless of context.
• Assign Threads command no longer beeps if attempting to unassign the last thread a selected event is assigned to; beeping could become excessive is many events selected.
• Record All Names command now doesn’t record “Name;” if “Name;” appears in your text. It records “Name” as it should.
• Double-clicking in empty Events field in the StoryProject window could result in bad entries. Now StoryProject just beeps.
• Other minor bugs fixed.
2.0.1:
• Minor bug fixes.
2.0:
• Designed and programmed with entirely different features, but kept the name. Shareware.
1.2:
• Minor improvements.
1.1:
• Minor improvements.
1.0:
• First release of what was then a freeware brainstorming program for writers.
