Q. How
do I select or move several Plot Points or Chapters
at once?
Answer :You cannot currently select more
than one heirarchy item (Plot Points, Story
Beats, Chapters, Characters -- anything displayed
in a list in a left-hand window) at a time.
Howevever, if you want to move them from one
Chapter or (Act or whatever you've called it)
to another, simply right click on the first
or last Hierarchy Item and select Move
from the menu that appears and choose either:
Preceding to Previous
Chapter (or Act or whatever) - which
will move the current Hierarchy Item and all
previous items at the same level to the previous
group.
Next to Following Chapter
(or Act or whatever) - which will move the current
Hierarchy Item and all following items at the
same level to the next group.
Q. How
can I change the heading text of a Plot Point
or Chapter?
Answer : Simply select the item
whose text you wish to change and do one of
the following three options:
(1) Right-Click
on it and select Edit
(2) Press F2
(3) Click the Edit Menu and select Edit
Q. Why can't I cut and paste my Plot Points and
Chapters?
Answer :Currently, the way to reorder any
items is to use Drag'n'Drop
or Right-Click and
select Move....
Cut, copy and paste all refer to editing text
in an edit box.
Q. How can I add more Acts to this View?
Answer :You cannot add more Acts to the Three
Act View because this is the Three Act Structure
as defined in Aristotle's "Poetics"
not Acts like in
Plays or TV Shows.
If you want to work in a Multi-Act Structure,
then simply load the approriate Template by
going to Templates
then Load then
select the appropriate template.
Q. What the heck is a "Ticking Clock"?
Answer :A Ticking
Clock is a term for that aspect of your
story that gives the reader (or viewer) the sense
that things are moving inexorably towards some
inevitable conclusion, and which is keeping the
characters from deciding to say the heck with
it and take a two week vacation in the middle
of the story.
Q. What are these Story Stages and Character Roles
about?
Answer:The Character
Roles and Story Stages are from mythologist Joseph
Campbell's book "Hero With a Thousand Faces".
This is a seminal work on story-telling which
breaks down stories into Character
Archetypes and Journey
Stages.
It was further refined by motion picture studio
executive Christopher Vogler in his book "A
Writer's Journey" and we highly recommend
reading both of them, in addition to Stuart
Voytilla's companion book "Myth and the
Movies: Discovering the Mythic Structure of
50 unforgettable Films."
Q.
I created some "Must Happen" Items,
but I can't figure out where to check them off!
Answer : You create "Must
Happen" items in two places:
Chapters - under
the heading What has to
happen in this Chapter?
Three Act Structure
- under What has to be
accomplished to get us to the Act Break?
In both cases, however, you check off these
items in the Plot Points in which the item,
event or scene actually occurs. However, you
will ONLY see these items if the following considerations
are met:
(1) You are in Three
Act, Chapter or Plot
Point View
(2) In the left-hand window, you have highlighted
a plot point
(3) In the right hand window, you have selected
Movement rather
than any of the 1 Card,
2 Card, etc. views.
(4) There are existing Must
Happen items that
have not been already
checked off in another plot point!
Q. How do I create Have
to Happen items?
Answer : Go to the Chapter
or Three Act View
(or whatever these views are being called in your
current terminology) and select the Act
or Chapter item in
the left-hand hierarchy column.
Now in the right half of the screen will be
a List Box labelled as "What
has to be accomplished to get us to the end
of this Act" or "What
has to happen in this Chapter" depending
on which view you are in.
But in either case, the last item in the box
will be listed as New
Item and you should double-click it to
add a new one.
Q. How do I delete a Have
to Happen item?
Answer : First off, the only time you'd need
to DELETE a Have to Happen item is if you decided
that it didn't actually
have to happen, as otherwise you'd simply check
it off in the Plot Point in which it occurs and
it will automatically vanish off the list in all
other Plot Points.
If you change your story such that a Has
to Happen Item is no longer necessary,
go to the Three Act View
or Chapter View
where the Has to Happen Item was created, click
on it, and simply press DELETE.
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