5 replies to this topic

[Brad Teare]

I am a newbie and I'm having trouble getting the chapters to work the way I would like them to work. I make a new chapter, then write some copy, but when I go to move it to a new location the chapter disappears. I'm extremely frustrated and I'm thinking of trying Scrivener. If anybody can help I'd really appreciate it. Many thanks. Brad Teare

[Thoth]

Hi Brad and welcome to the Forums.

I suspect that your Section didn't disappear but was appended to the Section immediately above it. Be certain that the Section you are moving it under (as well as every Section) ends with a Section Separator (a centered #). Otherwise Storyist won't know where you want one Section to end and the other to begin.

Happy Writing.
-Thoth

[Brad Teare]

Thanks Thoth. I appreciate the info. My question now is why do I need Section Separators if I am just preparing a book for the Kindle? Or should I just use Section Separators to organize my book and then delete them?

[Thoth]

You're welcome, Brad.

...Or should I just use Section Separators to organize my book and then delete them?

The Section Separators allow you to reorganize at will and to easily split and merge sections without the need for a plethora of additional functions. They also allow Storyist to generate a proper Kindle file. So keep them in your Storyist file. As you say, you can always delete them after the file is out of Storyist (or change them to something else).
-Thoth

[Marguerite]

You can also change the section separators just before generating the Kindle file. I use a copy of my .story file for that, because in effect you are wiping out the section breaks, leaving only chapter breaks, which means that you can no longer drag sections around to reorder them. But if you save File.story as File-Kindle.story and delete all the stuff you don't need in the copy (like Chapter/Section Sheets, Character Sheets, Plot Sheets, Settings Sheets, Notes, and extra images) to keep Storyist from whining about deleting things when you change all, then you can run a global search for # and replace it with * or a space or whatever you like.

When you're done, export the file to Kindle, and you'll be fine.

What you don't want is to eliminate the section breaks at the point when you're still trying to drag things around. Then sections and chapters appear to vanish, which is what was frustrating you in the first place.
Best,
Marguerite

[Thoth]

Good advice, M.

You know, I hardly answer questions anymore except for Section Separator questions. The reason is that, over the years, the Section Separator seems to have generated more confusion, more consistently, in Storyist than any other issue. (iCloud in iPad seems a distant second but is a more current confusion.) I know that there are trade-offs but, overwhelmingly, most word processors have opted not to use visible separators. Given this, I think IMHO that the Section Separator deserves more of an explanation in the User's Manual. Not just usage but its advantages. (Steve?)

In any case, you and I have become so used to them over the years that they seem perfectly natural.
But that's just us Old Timers.
-T