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 Outlines

Storyist lets you work with your project items (manuscripts, scripts, notebook entries and story elements) in outline form.

To edit a project item in outline form, navigate to the item, and then do one of the following:

  • Click the View as Outline button in the navigation bar.
  • Choose View > as Outline.

Adding Outline Elements

You can add items to an outline using the Action button or the keyboard.

To add items to the outline using the Action button:

  1. Select the outline row where you want to insert an item.
  2. Click the Action button in the control bar at the bottom of the Outline view. A shortcut menu appears.
  3. Choose Add from the shortcut menu, and choose the item you want to add from the submenu that appears.

The item appears in the row after selected row at the outline level appropriate for the item.

To add items to the outline using the keyboard:

  • Press Command-Return to add a default body text or story element item.
  • Press Command-Slash (/) to add a default heading or group.

The default body text item is that which is specified as the body level style in the outline definition (for example, the Section style) and the default story element is that which is specified as the preferred contents of the enclosing collection.

To see exactly which items will be added by the keyboard shortcuts, click the Action button and view the Add menu items.

Moving Outline Elements

You can rearrange your outline by simply dragging items to a new location.

Editing Outline Level Properties

When you add an outline element to a text file (for example, a chapter to a manuscript), Storyist uses the file’s outline level properties to determine the appropriate style to apply for the outline level. This way, headings are formatted correctly when you switch back to the Text View.

To edit outline level properties:

  1. Select the appropriate text file in the Project view.
  2. Choose Project > Edit “” Preferences.
  3. Click the Edit Outline Elements button. A preferences window appears.
  4. To change a level name, double-click the name and type a new name.
  5. To change the default style, select a style from the list of available styles in the Default Style pop up.

Note: Only styles having an outline level equal to that of the level you are defining are available in the Default Style pop up.

To define level properties for a new outline level:

  1. Select the appropriate text file in the Project view.
  2. Choose Project > Edit “” Preferences.
  3. Click the Edit Outline Elements button.
  4. Click the Add (+) button.
  5. Edit the properties as above.

Note: Outline level properties are created in order: body text first, then outline levels 1-9. The Add button is only enabled if Storyist finds a style for the next outline level (that is, a style with the outline level set to the next available outline level).

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