dennis7490 Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 Am i the only guy using this forum? My list of questions is embarrassing. anyway, new topic, new project, a novel I imported 6 chapters of a novel from Word. went well. Highlighted the chapters and identified them as chapters, etc. So, now i have: >Manuscript >chapter One Untitled What is the "untitled"? it comes up on it's own after every >chapter. If i delete it, the entire chapter gets deleted. thanks, dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 Am i the only guy using this forum? My list of questions is embarrassing. Some months are slower than others. But we have our share of lurkers. Note that there have been over fifteen thousand posts so far. (15,621 as of this one.) This compares favorably to other software product forums of similar age. What is the "untitled"? it comes up on it's own after every >chapter. If i delete it, the entire chapter gets deleted. "Untitled" is the temporary name Storyist supplies when it (or you) creates something but you have not yet named it. Take care. -Thoth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennis7490 Posted February 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 Well, thank God for the users. i was getting paranoid. And by the way i know I'm slow on the uptake with this kind of stuff, but terrific program. And dirt cheap, too. I've spent hundreds on programs that don't do what this one does. And with much less support, I might add. I know the untitled is an "untitled" item that is waiting for a title. (You might want to call it Godot) BUT, why is it when i delete it, my entire chapter gets deleted? Under the "chapter" heading, what is the function? To get me to a specific place within the chapter? Thanks, Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 ... I've spent hundreds on programs that don't do what this one does. And with much less support, I might add. You and me both. I know the untitled is an "untitled" item that is waiting for a title. (You might want to call it Godot)... "Godot". Hmm. Perhaps you could make a feature request. BUT, why is it when i delete it, my entire chapter gets deleted? Under the "chapter" heading, what is the function? To get me to a specific place within the chapter? Yes, clicking on a Section name (the names listed under a Chapter name) take you to a specific place in your document: specifically the top of a Section. In the text, Sections are identified by a "#" at the end of their text. All Sections must end with a "#" or they are considered part of the next Section. In effect they are merged. Deleting one deletes both. (Clicking on a Chapter name BTW takes you to the top of a Chapter. Chapters are completely composed of Sections.) What I suspect is happening is that you are missing a "#" at the end of the Section above the Untitled Section. One other possibility, though rare, is that you're looking at a single name. You may have, somehow, inserted a break in the name. Select the name and see if the selection extends to the Untitled Section. If so, simply rename it to your original name. Are their other possibilities? Probably. But that's all I can think of at the moment. "A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants" - Chuckles the Clown 1975 -Thoth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marguerite Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 Thoth, I think the problem is more basic than that. Dennis, chapters in Storyist are folders. They themselves don't hold any text. The text is held in one or more sections (the equivalent of files). When you import a document from Word, Storyist recognizes the word chapter as indicating you want to create a new chapter (folder) at that point and creates one section (untitled, by default) to hold the text for that section. Delete the section, and the text goes bye-bye. Add a section under the same chapter, and deleting that section deletes only the text associated with the section, not the whole chapter. Delete the chapter, and all the sections go with it. You don't see that on the screen, because the chapter appears to be part of the text, but it is simply a named folder (CHAPTER ONE). All the text in the chapter is actually held in Untitled, the section that you can rename. If you want to see for yourself, rename "Untitled" under chapter 1 (so you can keep track of it) and drag it to chapter 2. Make sure the chapter ends with # centered on a line by itself before you drag, or it will merge with chapter 2. Go back to chapter 1 and see what shows up on screen. Then drag your section back into place. Best, Marguerite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennis7490 Posted February 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 M, Yes. That is the answer. I'm a very basic guy. Now, my assumption is that if i want to separate my chapters (6 of them so far) that I put a centered # on a line at the end of the chapter. Chapter One text # Chapter Two text # Etc. - When i continue to write, i write in the "Manuscript section" which holds all of the text of all of the chapters, and in order to create a new chapter I end the previous one with a # sign in the middle of an empty line, and then designate the next CHAPTER SEVEN as a chapter title. I am still unclear of the purpose of the "untitled" folder. But, if I get it all rolling with the above, then it's close enough for government work...for now. Thanks, Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marguerite Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 Dennis, Many people have more than one scene (section) per chapter. Most of my chapters have three or four, as I change points of view or time passes or the emotional mood shifts, but not in a way that creates a large enough break to justify a new chapter. Other people write many short chapters, each containing one scene (section). If this is your style, then yes, you write a scene, you end it with # on a line by itself (choose Section Separator from the styles menu if necessary), then write CHAPTER X and style it, if necessary, as Chapter Title, to start a new chapter. If you use the first method, though, every time you type # on a line by itself and center it or style it as Section Separator, you actually create a new section, capable of holding another scene. At first, it too will be called Untitled. But if you name the sections, you could end up with something like this: My Book Chapter 1 Hero appears Hero eats lunch Hero has no money Chapter 2 Hero has to wash dishes Enraged chef attacks Chapter 3, etc. And if you then decided that the chef should attack while the hero was still munching, you could drag that section to a new location in Chapter 1, because the text is associated with the section, not the chapter. See the difference? Best, M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennis7490 Posted February 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 M, thank you so much. i can only hope my novel is as thorough as this program! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.