Revision marks

[marguerite]

Problem: You're typing along in a fever of creative activity, and you realize that you've headed off on a tangent. Some good stuff, there, that may be useful, so you don't want to nuke the whole section, but definitely it needs work. Still, the Muses being the flighty critters they are, you don't want to stop and deal with it now. What do you do?

 

Solutions offered by Storyist (non-exhaustive list in no particular order):

1. Add a quick note set off in some way otherwise not found in your text. I use >, sometimes in bold to catch the eye: >

 

2. Hit Command-T or choose Format > Fonts from the menu bar to summon the Mac OS X Fonts Palette. You'll see a series of small boxes across the top of the palette. The first governs underlining (single, double); the second strikeout (ditto); and both let you specify the color of the underlining or strikeout. Editors usually use double underlining to mark insertions and strikeout for deletions; bright red usually works to get your attention (unless you can't see red). You can also specify a text color in the third box from the left, if you want to mark something as needing work without specifying what kind.

 

3. For anything that involves whole paragraphs, create new styles in Storyist. Assign the characteristics (underline, strikeout, color) you want to the text using the Fonts Palette, then choose Format > Style > Create new style from selection. Give the new style a name, tell Storyist to assign it on creation to your selected text, and from then on, you can click on the list of styles at the bottom of the Main Window or choose Format > Style > Apply style from the menu bar. As yet, we don't have character styles, so if you want to mark words or sentences but not paragraphs, you need to use option 2.

 

4. If you know what's wrong with the passage, create a link to a note where you can briefly record your impressions. The easiest way to do this is to type the name of the new note in [[double square brackets]] like this: [[Fix that puppy!]]. Storyist will create the new note and the link simultaneously, and you can record your impressions on the fly: Help! Where is this going? You can also use the Links Palette (Command-L or Edit > Insert > Link), but then you first have to create the note you want to link to.

 

Then you click on the blue link to get to the note, record your impressions, click back to the section you were working on and go on. The link appears blue and underlined in your text, so there's no danger you'll overlook it next time you go through.

 

5. Copy the suspect text to the Notebook in a note of its own (I keep a Note Group called Saved Text, just for this purpose). It's not gone, and you can copy it back into the manuscript at any time (it retains all its formatting). You can also link to it as described above. Here the note contains the text, and the manuscript just has [[hero's backstory here—rework]]. (The words in [[square brackets]] would then be the name of the note holding the text.)

 

So, lots of options. Thoth, I know, uses a variant of 1. I prefer 1 and 5, with 3 and 4 in specific instances. Any other ideas?

 

Christina, you're welcome to steal any or all of these for the manual.

Best,

Marguerite

[Steve E]

Brava! Well done, Lady Marguerite.

 

I would only add that when I use #1 I like to keep these "pseudo-bookmarks" handy by doing a Search on the prefix (<<) which lists them all in the Storyboard. Then just one click gets me to the one I want. When I use #4 I always include one of these "pseudo-bookmarks" in the linked Note so it too will show up on the Storyboard.

 

Again, a wonderful list.

-Thoth.

[marguerite]

Brava! Well done, Lady Marguerite.

 

I would only add that when I use #1 I like to keep these "pseudo-bookmarks" handy by doing a Search on the prefix (

 

Again, a wonderful list.

-Thoth.

I should also mention, vis-à-vis #3, that you can specify underlining, single or double, and color within the style definition, without having to summon the Font Palette first (you do need to summon the Font Palette for strikeout). Just click on your text, create a new style as described above, then choose Format > Style > Edit current style and change the attributes however you want.

 

Also, with #5, you can edit the text in the Notebook before you decide to copy it back to the manuscript, so if you decide half is great and the rest garbage, you can nuke the parts you don't want (or store them in a second note if they have any redeeming value and/or as insurance) before reintroducing them to the rest of the text.

 

Thoth mentions the search feature, which is, IMHO, one of Storyist's best features. The ability to type something in that window and see every instance of it in both text and notes is great (and humbling, when you realize you used "smile" or "sneer" 58 times in one chapter). Search also finds (some) alternate forms of words: a search for "sleep" picks up sleepy, sleep-inducing, etc.

 

Thanks for the kind words, Thoth!

M

[Steve E]

Thanks for the kind words, Thoth!

I speak only the truth. And with all that smiling and sneering going on in your work I am sure it is anything but sleep-inducing.

-Thoth.