32 replies to this topic

[pjl]

Here's a short story template I just whipped up for use with Storyist. Please feel free to test this and leave me any suggestions.

Download here: Short Story Template

EDIT: Didn't realise we could upload files Here's the file again  Short_Story.story   4.01K   658 downloads

[Thoth]

pjl, on Jan 12 2008, 08:15 PM, said:

Here's a short story template I just whipped up for use with Storyist. Please feel free to test this and leave me any suggestions.

Hi PJ.

A thousand words is indeed a short short story. But I'm sure that was just a suggestion. And on the topic of suggestions (since you asked) you might consider filling out the other Storyist elements with the standard suggestions: protagonist and antagonist placeholders for Character; some of the standard short story plot parts (Sections?).

What are the standard short story parts, you ask? I suppose that's up to you since it's your template. I've seen the following list of short story parts: Motivation (e.g., Mom, Dad, we gotta get some food), Conflict (e.g., stay home or face the cold cruel world alone), Complication (what would a story be without complications), Suspense (e.g., Oh golly gosh they're gonna eat me), Climax, Outcome, Denouement (e.g., And the happy cannibal family never went hungry again). Sounds a little like The Hero's Journey, doesn't it.

Thanks for the template.
-Thoth.

[pjl]

Thanks for the tips.

I wouldn't know where to start with an outline for a short story, they vary so greatly and some of they don't even have plots. Take a typical Ray Bradbury story and compare it to a Kurt Vonnegut tale....chalk and cheese, although they may contain some separate elements underlying both. I could maybe fold in the Lester Dent outline into this, as it's the only specific guide I've ever seen on short stories.

Lots to think about

[Thoth]

pjl, on Jan 12 2008, 09:17 PM, said:

Thanks for the tips.

I wouldn't know where to start with an outline for a short story, they vary so greatly and some of they don't even have plots. Take a typical Ray Bradbury story and compare it to a Kurt Vonnegut tale....chalk and cheese, although they may contain some separate elements underlying both. I could maybe fold in the Lester Dent outline into this, as it's the only specific guide I've ever seen on short stories.

Lots to think about

Then again...

“Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't try to do things. You simply must do things.”
-Ray Bradbury (on writing short stories).

[pjl]

Then again...

“Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't try to do things. You simply must do things.”
-Ray Bradbury (on writing short stories).

Ahhh, that always brings a smile to my face. He's my writing hero. Another one of his, loosely paraphrased:

Plot is just the prints left in the snow after your characters have passed by.

Oh, how I wish I had that kind of brain

[Thoth]

pjl, on Jan 12 2008, 09:35 PM, said:

Ahhh, that always brings a smile to my face. He's my writing hero. Another one of his, loosely paraphrased:
Plot is just the prints left in the snow after your characters have passed by.
Oh, how I wish I had that kind of brain

Indeed. The Greats make it look so effortless.

If you're interested in a more studied approach to Bradbury's works and approach to writing, they are documented in the film "Ray Bradbury: Story of a Writer" (1963) by Terry Sanders and Ray Bradbury (then a still vigorous 43). The DVD is currently available on Amazon.com for $29.95.

-Thoth.

[pjl]

Thoth, on Jan 13 2008, 03:11 AM, said:

Indeed. The Greats make it look so effortless.

If you're interested in a more studied approach to Bradbury's works and approach to writing, they are documented in the film "Ray Bradbury: Story of a Writer" (1963) by Terry Sanders and Ray Bradbury (then a still vigorous 43). The DVD is currently available on Amazon.com for $29.95.

-Thoth.

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to get that ordered. Been working on a Lester Dent Pulp Fction Template for storyist and here
it is, in all its two-fisted pulpy glory:  Lester_Dent_Pulp_Fiction_Master_Template.story   7.58K   267 downloads

Let me know what you think

NOTE: This won't be to everybody's tastes, but it might work out for some -- I've tried to be gender equal as much as possible considering the source material.

[Thoth]

pjl, on Jan 12 2008, 10:25 PM, said:

...Been working on a Lester Dent Pulp Fction Template for storyist...Let me know what you think....

Yes. I definitely see a Doc Savage story outlined here. Actually, I think I see all of them outlined here. Bravo.

pjl, on Jan 12 2008, 10:25 PM, said:

...This won't be to everybody's tastes, but it might work out for some...

True. Our more romance-minded forum members (I'm looking at you My Lady M) will probably balk at the testosterone levels of this particular flavor of pulp fiction. Perhaps if you slap a picture of cover-boy model Fabio Lanzoni over the Character sheet icon they might go for it.

I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.
-Thoth.

[Marguerite]

Thoth, on Jan 13 2008, 12:34 AM, said:

Yes. I definitely see a Doc Savage story outlined here. Actually, I think I see all of them outlined here. Bravo.

True. Our more romance-minded forum members (I'm looking at you My Lady M) will probably balk at the testosterone levels of this particular flavor of pulp fiction. Perhaps if you slap a picture of cover-boy model Fabio Lanzoni over the Character sheet icon they might go for it.

I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.
-Thoth.

Not at all. Y'll are welcome to write whatever you like on your own time. It was the group project I was trying to render tolerable for the estrogen-loaded 51%. (By the way, PJL, we are still awaiting your input on the group project in the "General Topics" forum. Callista's, too, but she hasn't posted in weeks, with one exception. Please, stop Isaac's Superchimp before he takes over!)

Besides, I spend every free minute hanging around with a 6'3" blond hunk distinguished by his excellence in the manly art of dueling, so who am I to talk?

Thanks for the template, PJL.
Marguerite

[Thoth]

Marguerite, on Jan 13 2008, 04:16 PM, said:

Please, stop Isaac's Superchimp before he takes over!

[pjl]

Marguerite, on Jan 13 2008, 09:16 PM, said:

Not at all. Y'll are welcome to write whatever you like on your own time. It was the group project I was trying to render tolerable for the estrogen-loaded 51%. (By the way, PJL, we are still awaiting your input on the group project in the "General Topics" forum. Callista's, too, but she hasn't posted in weeks, with one exception. Please, stop Isaac's Superchimp before he takes over!)

Besides, I spend every free minute hanging around with a 6'3" blond hunk distinguished by his excellence in the manly art of dueling, so who am I to talk?

Thanks for the template, PJL.
Marguerite

I'll be joining in very soon. I've been away from the boards since my beloved Mac decided to kick me in the unmentionables and had a meltdown, so I've been in the hinterland of Windows XP for awhile. And a Superchimp? Intriguing, I must find out more

Oh and I'm not sure if this is the place to mention it, but the import function has saved me a lot of hassle in the last few days. Had to work in Office 2007 while I've been on XP and the .doc files imported into Storyist without a hitch. Thanks, Steve.

[Thoth]

pjl, on Jan 13 2008, 06:55 PM, said:

...And a Superchimp? Intriguing, I must find out more

Mwahaha! One more for the testosterone side of the teeter-totter.

Oh who* shall come to your rescue, Lady M.

Twirling mustache evilly.
-Thoth.

*Perhaps this will bring Calli out of hiding.

[William Simon]

Okay, I dl'd this template, copied it to the right folder, it shows up in Storyist, but when I click on it or try CHOOSE, I get a window that says "Cannot complete operation, no further information available."

Any ideas???

[Thoth]

William Simon, on Jan 26 2008, 09:18 PM, said:

Okay, I did this template, copied it to the right folder, it shows up in Storyist, but when I click on it or try CHOOSE, I get a window that says "Cannot complete operation, no further information available."

Hi Bill, and Welcome to the Forum.

I'm sorry your first interaction here is about a possible bug.

I never got a "Cannot complete operation, no further information available" message from Storyist. And you say you got this by clicking Choose in the template window? Did you "copy" this new template to the Template folder or "Save As Template" from Storyist?

Either way, this sounds like something Steve should see. Could you send him a PM with the template file attacked? (See "My Controls" for forum e-mail. The template should be in ~Library>Application Support>Storyist>Templates, assuming you're running a Mac OS.)

-Thoth.

[William Simon]

Hi, Thoth, and thanks for replying.

The files is ZIPped. UnZIPing it creates a new folder called Short Story.Story. In that are several files. I move that to the Templates folder. When I open Storyist, the Short Story template is there, but when I click on it, or hit "Choose", I get that message.

I would try the "Save as Template", but can't get anything in the ZIP file to open in Storyist.

I am BRAND NEW to Mac, so I'm betting the error is between Keyboard and Chair...

Thoth, on Jan 26 2008, 08:53 PM, said:

Hi Bill, and Welcome to the Forum.

I'm sorry your first interaction here is about a possible bug.

I never got a "Cannot complete operation, no further information available" message from Storyist. And you say you got this by clicking Choose in the template window? Did you "copy" this new template to the Template folder or "Save As Template" from Storyist?

Either way, this sounds like something Steve should see. Could you send him a PM with the template file attacked? (See "My Controls" for forum e-mail. The template should be in ~Library>Application Support>Storyist>Templates, assuming you're running a Mac OS.)

-Thoth.

[Marguerite]

William Simon, on Jan 27 2008, 08:29 AM, said:

Hi, Thoth, and thanks for replying.

The files is ZIPped. UnZIPing it creates a new folder called Short Story.Story. In that are several files. I move that to the Templates folder. When I open Storyist, the Short Story template is there, but when I click on it, or hit "Choose", I get that message.

I would try the "Save as Template", but can't get anything in the ZIP file to open in Storyist.

I am BRAND NEW to Mac, so I'm betting the error is between Keyboard and Chair...

Hi, and welcome--
It sounds as though you've unzipped the file unnecessarily. Each .story file is actually a folder containing multiple files, and I'm guessing that Storyist is reacting to not finding the combined file that it expects.

If you click on the Short Story template from PJ's link, you should get a file on your desktop ending with the .story extension (if your Mac Finder is set to show extensions. If not, go to Finder/Preferences/Advanced and click next to "Always show file extensions.") You copy that .story file to <your user id>/Library/Application Support/Storyist/Templates and you should be fine.

If the file displays with a .zip extension, then you have a different problem. But I don't recall that template being zipped.
Best,
Marguerite

[William Simon]

Hi, Marguerite-

Okay, I've done the following:

Deleted the original file.

Done a Repair Permissions from Disk Utilities

Re-downloaded the file; I'm not sure why, but when I click on the link, it does indeed download a ZIP file.

Unzip and it gives me a folder called SHORT STORY.STORY In that folder are files: contents.rdf , a folder called IMAGES, a file called preferences.rdf, a file called story.rdf, and a file called story.xml. I move then entire folder to Library/Application Data/Storyist/Templates. When I open Storyist, it shows the Short Story template, but when I choose it, I get the message as above.

Driving me nuts......

Marguerite, on Jan 27 2008, 09:08 AM, said:

Hi, and welcome--
It sounds as though you've unzipped the file unnecessarily. Each .story file is actually a folder containing multiple files, and I'm guessing that Storyist is reacting to not finding the combined file that it expects.

If you click on the Short Story template from PJ's link, you should get a file on your desktop ending with the .story extension (if your Mac Finder is set to show extensions. If not, go to Finder/Preferences/Advanced and click next to "Always show file extensions.") You copy that .story file to <your user id>/Library/Application Support/Storyist/Templates and you should be fine.

If the file displays with a .zip extension, then you have a different problem. But I don't recall that template being zipped.
Best,
Marguerite

[William Simon]

AH-HA!

As I suspected, the error was User Related....

I was downloading the FIRST link. When I saw the SECOND link, I clicked that, which brought down the .STORY file and now all is working perfectly!

Thanks for everyone's assistance!

William Simon, on Jan 27 2008, 10:13 AM, said:

Hi, Marguerite-

Okay, I've done the following:

Deleted the original file.

Done a Repair Permissions from Disk Utilities

Re-downloaded the file; I'm not sure why, but when I click on the link, it does indeed download a ZIP file.

Unzip and it gives me a folder called SHORT STORY.STORY In that folder are files: contents.rdf , a folder called IMAGES, a file called preferences.rdf, a file called story.rdf, and a file called story.xml. I move then entire folder to Library/Application Data/Storyist/Templates. When I open Storyist, it shows the Short Story template, but when I choose it, I get the message as above.

Driving me nuts......

[Marguerite]

William Simon, on Jan 27 2008, 11:13 AM, said:

Hi, Marguerite-

Okay, I've done the following:

Deleted the original file.

Done a Repair Permissions from Disk Utilities

Re-downloaded the file; I'm not sure why, but when I click on the link, it does indeed download a ZIP file.

Unzip and it gives me a folder called SHORT STORY.STORY In that folder are files: contents.rdf , a folder called IMAGES, a file called preferences.rdf, a file called story.rdf, and a file called story.xml. I move then entire folder to Library/Application Data/Storyist/Templates. When I open Storyist, it shows the Short Story template, but when I choose it, I get the message as above.

Driving me nuts......

Yes, those are the contents of any .story file. You don't see an icon on the desk called Short Story.story, displaying the Storyist logo? If so, you don't need to unzip that file.

When I click on the links, that's what I see on my desktop (Storyist 1.3.6, Mac OS 10.4.11).

What happens if you rezip the file through Terminal and move the results to the Templates folder?

I'm at the edges of my technical expertise here, so you may want to wait for Steve Shepard, the developer, to weigh in, especially if you're new to Macs. But in brief, Terminal (in the Utilities folder inside your Applications folder) allows you to connect directly to the Unix underpinnings of OS X. In this case, it's probably preferable to going through, say, Aladdin's DropZip. But beware of typos in Unix!

Here are Steve's instructions for rezipping the file:
Make a backup of the story file you will be editing.
Open a terminal window.
Use the "cd" command to change to the directory that contains your story file.
Execute "zip -r ShortStory.story *"

If that seems like a problematic idea, Steve will have a better understanding of what's happening and, most likely, better suggestions for fixing it.
Best,
M

[Thoth]

M, see thread post #18.

-Thoth.

(This happens to me all the time.)