Organic Writing View (vs. Output view)

[Steakpirate]

So I understand why the novel template is formatted the way it is, and I have no problem with that. But I feel like the manuscript format stifles creativity. I prefer to work in serif fonts like Baskerville and Hoefler Text, which are much more elegant, double spaced, with fancy chapter titles.

 

Rather than simply modifying the default style fonts and formatting, like I usually do (thus ruining the formatting advantage for using Storyist), I thought it would be cool if we could customize how the document appears to us while writing, without distorting how the document is formatted when we print it to send it off to be read.

 

The way I imagine it, instead of a stale courier, the user experience would consist of polished graphics like you'd see on an iPhone app. Ideally, the user would be able to switch between the aesthetic and manuscript views, to check that there are no formatting issues.

 

By freeing yourself from the industry standard formatting, you can create a much more attractive application experience.

Chapter titles could be more ornate, section breaks could be replaced with attractive graphics, the page could have a textured, paper-like background. Basically, a WYSIWYG text editor that interprets Storyist-significant symbols like "#" graphically, and shelters you from what's under the hood, unless you ask to see it.

[Steakpirate]

Sort of the same idea behind emoKid's post

[Steve]

Hi Steakpirate,

 

Thanks for the request. Good to hear from you.

 

You can sort of do this now. Set up your formatting the way you want it to be and write away. When you're ready to format it to send out, use the Format > Style > Replace Styles command to map the styles in your current manuscript to the ones you want the word to see.

 

-Steve