Steve E Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Hello All, Storyist provides a number of places to put thoughts and general notations. There are Section Notes, Plot Notes, Character Notes and Setting Notes, each in their appropriate Sheet. (No Group notes yet but give Steve time.) So, you may wonder, why do I need the Notebook Sheets? What can I use them for? I'd be interested in knowing your answer to that question. Here's mine... Dialog - Ever think of a great bit of dialog but you aren't exactly sure which characters it should be between or exactly where you should put it? I put it in the Notebook in a Note Group I call Dialog, for safekeeping. When I'm a little more sure about it I might move it to a Plot Sheet Note or a Character Sheet Note. (Character Sheet Notes are also good for storing catch phrases, dialect notes and a character's verbal mannerisms.) Research - You might not use all of the 2000 words of research you compiled on the 2007 Harley-Davidson FLSTC Heritage Softail Classic but aren't you glad you saved them on a Notebook sheet? Also, remember that you can drag the address of a Web page from your browser onto a Notebook sheet, creating a link. Some of my Notebook sheets are just lists of links. Title Page - The Notebook is a good place to store your title page. Endnotes - Not many fiction writers have this but some do. Citations - Ditto. Bibliography - Ditto. Glossary - Ditto. Surprisingly common in fantasy novels thanks to J.R.R.Tolkien (1892 - 1973). Outline - I know. I know. The story outline should be on Plot sheets, but I find that I need to see the main points all together in a single hierarchy. (Yes, Steve, Storyboarding Plot Sheets or Section Sheets are good, but I still think Storyist could benefit from a more flexible outliner. Greedy, greedy me. But I find I need to write a little and outline a little before I can set up a fleshed out set of Plot Sheets.) Anyone else use Notebook? Let's hear from you. -Thoughtful Thoth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carve Posted December 19, 2007 Report Share Posted December 19, 2007 I use Notebook as a repository for bits and pieces of chapters that I've removed during revisions but I'm not sure that I want to dispose of yet. I create a group for each original chapter and within that store the discarded / saved fragments. This also gives me a good way to go back between individual versions of the .story files to see what I removed. carve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marguerite Posted December 24, 2007 Report Share Posted December 24, 2007 I use Notebook as a repository for bits and pieces of chapters that I've removed during revisions but I'm not sure that I want to dispose of yet. I create a group for each original chapter and within that store the discarded / saved fragments. This also gives me a good way to go back between individual versions of the .story files to see what I removed. carve I use Notebook for this too, but also for organizational purposes. For example, I have a list of changes my protagonist has made by the end of the novel followed by a list of traits she has to demonstrate at the beginning in order for the ending to work. These then give rise to the character development points for the character sheets but allow me to view these in a more succinct way. (In reality, they often substitute for the character development points, as I prefer to use my time to write rather than fill in all the blanks on the sheets.) I have groups of notes to stash ongoing ideas for story points, off-the-cuff ideas on characters and their motivation, chunks of text that I'm not sure what to do with, facts I've looked up (how fast a horse can travel, say) that aren't large or important enough to put into files of their own--all kinds of miscellaneous ideas. It's one of the most useful features of Storyist, in my view. Marguerite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carve Posted December 24, 2007 Report Share Posted December 24, 2007 I use Notebook for this too, but also for organizational purposes. For example, I have a list of changes my protagonist has made by the end of the novel followed by a list of traits she has to demonstrate at the beginning in order for the ending to work. These then give rise to the character development points for the character sheets but allow me to view these in a more succinct way. (In reality, they often substitute for the character development points, as I prefer to use my time to write rather than fill in all the blanks on the sheets.) I have groups of notes to stash ongoing ideas for story points, off-the-cuff ideas on characters and their motivation, chunks of text that I'm not sure what to do with, facts I've looked up (how fast a horse can travel, say) that aren't large or important enough to put into files of their own--all kinds of miscellaneous ideas. It's one of the most useful features of Storyist, in my view. Marguerite I really have to start using more of the Wiki functionality that it supports. Up to this point I've been working in more of the folder hierarchy fashion. But I'm thinking that the Notebook would be far more useful if I leveraged more of the Wiki features. This is where I wish the Notebook was HTML rather than plain text so that I could embed images and have greater control over the format of the pages. carve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted December 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2007 I really have to start using more of the Wiki functionality that it supports. Up to this point I've been working in more of the folder hierarchy fashion. But I'm thinking that the Notebook would be far more useful if I leveraged more of the Wiki features. This is where I wish the Notebook was HTML rather than plain text so that I could embed images and have greater control over the format of the pages. carve I find that using a Notebook sheet for a list of links (for research) to be pretty useful. -Thoth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marguerite Posted December 30, 2007 Report Share Posted December 30, 2007 I find that using a Notebook sheet for a list of links (for research) to be pretty useful.-Thoth The Notebook just saved my bacon, actually. While plotting out my ending/beginning for revisions, I made a series of notes in the Notebook. Yesterday, still scratching my head about what was missing--I knew something was, but couldn't for the life of me figure out what--I went back to make a few adjustments and found the note where I'd sketched out an essential conflict between hero and heroine that I'd forgotten to bring into the story. It's reading much better now! So, three cheers for the Notebook and yet another round of thanks to Steve. Marguerite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 Hello All, Storyist provides a number of places to put thoughts and general notations. There are Section Notes, Plot Notes, Character Notes and Setting Notes, each in their appropriate Sheet. (No Group notes yet but give Steve time.) So, you may wonder, why do I need the Notebook Sheets? What can I use them for? I'd be interested in knowing your answer to that question. Here's mine... Dialog - ) Research - Title Page - The Notebook is a good place to store your title page. Endnotes - Not many fiction writers have this but some do. Citations - Ditto. Bibliography - Ditto. Glossary - Outline - Anyone else use Notebook? Let's hear from you. -Thoughtful Thoth. Great suggestions, Thoth. I am stealing, um, I am using this as inspiration for another section of the User's Guide. Thank you! Christina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted March 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 Great suggestions, Thoth. I am stealing, um, I am using this as inspiration for another section of the User's Guide. Thank you! Christina Delighted to be of service. -Thoth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marguerite Posted March 12, 2008 Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 Great suggestions, Thoth. I am stealing, um, I am using this as inspiration for another section of the User's Guide. Thank you! Christina Other possibilities include: a Notebook Group called "Synopses," containing synopses of various lengths, already formatted with your preferred font, spacing, etc., as well as your premise, query letter, whatever; Notes that combine various types of sheets: for example, if you've sketched out ten major scenes in the Plot Sheets, this is the place to combine them so you can add comments/reminders to yourself and print the whole thing at once; another Notebook Group called "Addenda," for the title page (already noted by Thoth) but also disclaimers, dedications, acknowledgments, and other pieces of text that you may not want to print every time as they don't often change; chunks of text that you remove during revisions but don't want to delete altogether in case you need them someday; lists of changes that you want your characters to have made by the end of the novel, so you can make sure that you demonstrate their need for such change early on and let them develop slowly in the right direction (especially important for "pantsers," who won't have a full outline—even if it takes an entire draft to figure out where the characters have gone and therefore where they needed to be when they started out). I have all these in my current project's .story file, as well as groups of notes listing ideas, problems, and passing thoughts on characters, plots, and settings; back story that will never make it into the novel but needs to be clear to me just in case; and workbook exercises that I cribbed from the Book in a Month workbook mentioned elsewhere in the forums. You could even use the notebook to keep track of which agents you've sent work to, what you sent and when, and what happened—if so inclined. Glad you're making progress, 'cause my schedule has so far gotten in the way of my well-intentioned plans to contribute! Marguerite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted March 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 This is going to be one heck of User's Guide section. You might want to take a look at Table Of Contents > Project Pane > Notebook, for my actual contributions on the notebook. "I love it when a plan comes together." -Hannibal Thoth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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