New User Questions, Etc.

[garrickstaggs]

Hi Everyone-

 

I'm a little new to Storyist. I've mostly been using Scrivener, but I would like to use Storyist as I can use it on both my MacBook Air and iPad. But... I find it's ease of use a little difficult. For example, it seems that you are forced to work a certain way, or format a certain way without any real freedom on setting up your book the way you want it to look. For example, I would like to have my CHAPTER NAME have a SUBTITLE and for both to appear in the Project view and ultimately the Table Of Contents when exported to eBook format. I can do this simply in Scrivener but there seems to be no way to do it in Storyist. For example:

 

Chapter One

The Big Divide

 

and have both of them export out into my ebook so that when people see Chapter One they don't have to click on it to find out what the actual name of the chapter is. The only way to do this that I can find is to name it like this:

 

Chapter One - The Big Divide

 

but then it ends up appearing on the page exactly like that instead of like this:

 

Chapter One

The Big Divide

 

which is how I would want it to look.

 

Does anyone know how to make this happen?

 

Also, is there a way to get a manuscript set up without all the predefined styles set up in it? Like a truly true blank canvas?

 

I can see how the software is geared towards novel writers wanting to publish to a publisher, but what about those of us who want to self-publish to ebook? All these predefined styles and makeup make it difficult for someone to visually set things the way they want it to appear.

 

Any help would be great thanks!

 

Thanks!

[marguerite]

Hi Everyone-

 

I'm a little new to Storyist. I've mostly been using Scrivener, but I would like to use Storyist as I can use it on both my MacBook Air and iPad. But... I find it's ease of use a little difficult. For example, it seems that you are forced to work a certain way, or format a certain way without any real freedom on setting up your book the way you want it to look. For example, I would like to have my CHAPTER NAME have a SUBTITLE and for both to appear in the Project view and ultimately the Table Of Contents when exported to eBook format. I can do this simply in Scrivener but there seems to be no way to do it in Storyist. For example:

 

Chapter One

The Big Divide

 

and have both of them export out into my ebook so that when people see Chapter One they don't have to click on it to find out what the actual name of the chapter is. The only way to do this that I can find is to name it like this:

 

Chapter One - The Big Divide

 

but then it ends up appearing on the page exactly like that instead of like this:

 

Chapter One

The Big Divide

 

which is how I would want it to look.

 

Does anyone know how to make this happen?

 

Yes. It takes a couple of steps, but it's not that difficult. Make sure that The Big Divide is on a line by itself (it will appear as Section Text), then do the following:

1. Click on The Big Divide to select it. Apply whatever formatting you want through the Inspector (center the text, remove the 0.5 indent, add space below, etc.).

2. With The Big Divide still selected, click on the paragraph marker in the Inspector. You will see a list of styles, and Section Text will appear with a red triangle next to it, indicating that you altered the formatting. Click on the red triangle and choose Create New Style from Selection. Name the style and make sure the check mark is in the box marked Apply new style.

3. Click on your new style in the Inspector and choose Edit Style from the drop-down menu. Make sure the outline level (at top right corner) is set to Heading level 1. You will see The Big Divide appear in the Project View, and it should be listed then in your table of contents when you export to e-book (see below).

 

In this case, Storyist will treat your chapter subtitle as an entity equal to the chapter title. If you don't mind having the subtitle listed below the title in the table of contents, then set the outline level to Heading 2. The table of contents will then say Chapter 1, but it will also list "The Big Divide" as a subheading. This is probably neater.

Also, is there a way to get a manuscript set up without all the predefined styles set up in it? Like a truly true blank canvas?

 

You need certain styles to make sure that your outline operates properly. Chapter Title lets you start a new chapter just by typing Chapter 1 (say). Section Separator is essential to separating sections and must always be # (you can get around that for final export if you want, but while you're working on the novel it's best to leave it alone). Section Text can be formatted anyway you like, but it's just the equivalent of Body Text or Normal in Word. So it would be better to reformat than to delete those. The only other preformatted style is Header. You can delete it from the style list in the Inspector if you like, but surely you want page numbers, at least, in your manuscript.

 

You can also add whatever styles you like of your own and ignore the preset ones, with the exceptions of Chapter Title and Section Separator.

I can see how the software is geared towards novel writers wanting to publish to a publisher, but what about those of us who want to self-publish to ebook? All these predefined styles and makeup make it difficult for someone to visually set things the way they want it to appear.

 

Any help would be great thanks!

 

Thanks!

 

e-books have very limited formatting. Storyist converts the chapter title, section text, and section separators when exporting to ePub and MOBI and retains your style overrides (italics, bold, alignment in most cases). You can't WYSIWYG an e-book. Even with an outfit that's set up for more complicated formatting, like Folium Book Studio, a lot of the fancy formatting disappears on the e-readers themselves. You can edit the ebook file with something like Sigil (free), and Steve gives lots of directions and even a tutorial on how to do that. But you can't set fonts, for example.

Welcome to the forums!

Marguerite

[garrickstaggs]

Hi Marguerite-

 

Thank's for your response! Right after I sent this I stumbled upon Steve's video about setting up levels and it totally fixed what I was trying to do. I think now I am going to LOVE Storyist!! Thanks again!