COLLABORATION TOOLS

[lmfields]

While Storyist seems to have all a writer could ever dream or want, it seems collaborating tools are not part of it. Maybe I just haven't found the answers? We need a way to be able to export the storyist file, choosing only that which has changed, and keeping the same Storyist file format so it can be opened and added into another Storyist file. A copy / paste routine of text might work just fine for most novel collaborations but we are writing fantasy so there is a lot of world-building, character, creature, and plot developing over and above the actually novel writing. These pieces are perhaps some of the most important works that we must have done to set a solid foundation before our writing can begin. All these things must LOOK and READ the same.

 

So if I am correct and there truly aren't any collaboration tools including in the software then please add them then let me know ASAP when it's available. If it is already there then I would appreciate any help I can get so I know how to access and use it. Thank you!

 

L M Fields

[Steve]

Hi LM,

 

You're correct that Storyist doesn't currently have the ability to export a subset of a project.

 

Collaborating this way would probably be cumbersome, though, so why not use a free service like DropBox (http://www.dropbox.com) to store the project files in the cloud and jointly edit those? A side benefit would be that your projects would be automatically synced between machines and you'd even have automatic backups.

 

-Steve

[lmfields]

I looked at Dropbox and though it looks like a great tool, sharing the files is not the issue for collaborating when both writers are using Storyist. The problem my friend and I are having is being able to export / import the files so that we both have the same working Storyist files without having to re-send all the photos again, without sending things that are already done and have not been edited, etc. We just need to send that which has been changed, added, or updated, keeping the same "look" while keeping it a Storyist file. We share our files without an issue just by emailing to each other so I am not sure how Dropbox will help? I am missing in regards to Dropbox?

 

I wanted to add this last thought... half of what is needed is already there in the export section of Storyist. Is there a simple way to add the Storyist file format when exporting and importing files? If so, then whether someone is working with another person OR a writer wants to copy older Storyist information into a new working Storyist File (like that needed for a series going from Book I to Book II without having to start at square one with all the section sheets...etc) you could do just that. The Storyist file extension is (***.story) right? Couldn't this be done?

 

L M Fields

[orrenm]

I am missing in regards to Dropbox?

 

I'm not sure, but you might be. From what you're writing, it sounds like you're current idea for how to collaborate is:

1) You have a Storyist file on your hard drive

2) Your partner has a Storyist file on his/her hard drive

3) You send "stuff" back and forth between your two hard drives.

 

The whole point about Dropbox, as Steve was explaining, is that you work on the same exact file so there is no import/export happening. This is possible because the single file you are both using doesn't sit on your or your collaborator's hard drives at all. You access your joint document over the internet.

 

If you've never done this before, this can be quite a conceptual leap, so here is an example. Imagine that you and your friend are collaborating on a painting named "Fantasy." You and your friend walk into a building named "Dropbox" with your paints and you both paint on the canvass you originally both brought into the building. You may paint on Fantasy Monday morning, and he Monday night. Or maybe both of you Monday morning, or you on Monday, and your friend on Thursday. But when you leave the "Dropbox" building, nobody takes Fantasy home. The painting stays inside the building, and whenever either of you want to paint, you just go into the building, and there is Fantasy, and the canvas has all the work both of you have done, since both of you have only ever painted on the single canvas.

 

In this case, however, the "building" is a server accessible over the internet, so no physical travel is required, although the "Dropbox building" both of you are entering may be thousands of miles away.

 

Hopefully that makes some sense!

 

Orren

[marguerite]

I looked at Dropbox and though it looks like a great tool, sharing the files is not the issue for collaborating when both writers are using Storyist. The problem my friend and I are having is being able to export / import the files so that we both have the same working Storyist files without having to re-send all the photos again, without sending things that are already done and have not been edited, etc. We just need to send that which has been changed, added, or updated, keeping the same "look" while keeping it a Storyist file. We share our files without an issue just by emailing to each other so I am not sure how Dropbox will help? I am missing in regards to Dropbox?

 

I wanted to add this last thought... half of what is needed is already there in the export section of Storyist. Is there a simple way to add the Storyist file format when exporting and importing files? If so, then whether someone is working with another person OR a writer wants to copy older Storyist information into a new working Storyist File (like that needed for a series going from Book I to Book II without having to start at square one with all the section sheets...etc) you could do just that. The Storyist file extension is (***.story) right? Couldn't this be done?

 

L M Fields

Hi, LM--

Welcome to the forums.

 

I'm struggling just a bit with exactly what the holdup is, because although you cannot track changes in Storyist, and you cannot (yet) export a single chapter or set thereof, there are some Storyist features that can help you—in addition to Dropbox, which I know nothing about (Orren is stepping in there).

 

For example, if you want to incorporate information from an older Storyist file (although in Storyist v2, you can keep several books in one file if you like), the way to do that is to save the older file as a template (File > Save as Template) and use that as the basis for your newer file. All the characters, etc., remain in place. The template is a regular .story file and lives in a folder called ~/Library/Application Support/Storyist/Templates (where ~ is the name of your home folder).

 

Another helpful feature is that you can export individual characters, plot points, and settings, so if you are working at that level, you could export just the characters who have changed and send those back and forth. At the moment you can't export a plot outline as an outline, but you can (I think—I don't do this often) export the individual plot points. You can also set up the outline and take a screen shot of it, if you just want a list of the plot points (this also works with a storyboard full of index cards). Those individual characters, etc., can then be imported into Storyist by dragging them onto the project or via File > Import. Either way you specify on import what kind of sheets they should be. You may have do a bit of cut and paste when you get them into the file, but it works.

 

Another option would be to save the complete Storyist document under a new name, cut out what you don't need this time around, and e-mail that.

Does any of that help?

Best,

Marguerite

[lmfields]

To everyone who has posted so far to try and clear things up for me as well as give new ideas on a collaborating problem, I just want to say thank you. I am going to look further into all the ideas and instruction and see what works for my friend and myself. They all sound like good ideas. We both love Storyist and we're just trying to find a way to make it work for our collaborating project and those to come. I'll get back and post again when I know how things worked out.

 

Thanks!

Linda