29 replies to this topic

[Pyrobon]

Hi! I was wondering if there were any plans to include a Timeline feature, as in a visual way to organize events of your story.
I've seen two novel writing software implement this: Writeitnow and Storymill.
In Writeitnow is actually called Event Charts. You create the events, give them dates, and they'll automatically organize in the chart
where you can see them by days, weeks, months or years.
I'm not suggesting that it should been done this way, just giving an idea. It does makes an awful lot of sense to give sections a starting and finishing date,
and have a feature generate a chart with that info.

[Thoth]

It's nice to see interest in this feature request resurfacing. Check out this thread from May 24, 2007, Pyrobon, by clicking here.

Steve, you might want to read this too; you sort of left us hanging.

And welcome to the forum Pyrobon!
- Thoth

[Marguerite]

Hi, Pyrobon.

Yes, welcome to the forums!

You can already assign start and end times to your sections by clicking on one of the default fields in Section Details (Conflict, POV Character, etc.) and choosing Add Field > Start Time or Add Field > End Time from the menu that pops up.

Alas, what you cannot (yet) do is organize those events into a timeline, which I—like you, Thoth, and many others—think would be immensely useful. Still, if you set up your sheets this way now, in the beginning, you will be ready when Steve adds that feature. You will also be able to search for the specific time/day/date you want.
Happy writing,
Marguerite

[Pyrobon]

Marguerite, on Sep 20 2009, 03:02 PM, said:

Hi, Pyrobon.

Yes, welcome to the forums!

You can already assign start and end times to your sections by clicking on one of the default fields in Section Details (Conflict, POV Character, etc.) and choosing Add Field > Start Time or Add Field > End Time from the menu that pops up.

Alas, what you cannot (yet) do is organize those events into a timeline, which I—like you, Thoth, and many others—think would be immensely useful. Still, if you set up your sheets this way now, in the beginning, you will be ready when Steve adds that feature. You will also be able to search for the specific time/day/date you want.
Happy writing,
Marguerite

Thank you Marguerite! I'm quite glad to be around. I'm from Venezuela so please excuse my poor english. Indeed, i had the idea of adding a field to assign times. I'm writing a book where the characters are animals, so i actually created custom fields to assign their species. I think this is one of the most powerful features of storyit, custom fields, and i suggest Dave to actually make them even more flexible, like being able to add a categories beyond Physical Description or being able o rename it at least.

I will probably be adding times to the sections.

[Joolissa]

I'm definitely on the Timeline Train...

I think Steve was trying to figure out how to deal with a timeline for a book not written in chronological order... my solution would be to have two time lines.... 1 for the chronological order of events and 1 for the book order of events. I also think there should be side by side (or above and below) timelines to allow for seeing how events in a two character pov interact etc. etc. etc.

You could set it up like a scrolling calendar and have bubbles to represent events, bubbles could be clicked on to have information on the event... or could be linked to event sheets.

Just some ideas....

- Jules

[Thoth]

Julia Grace, on Sep 20 2009, 09:04 PM, said:

...
Just some ideas....
...
- Jules

So each character, including the narrator, could have its own timeline.
I like it but it sounds complicated.
- Thoth.

[Joolissa]

Well... I'm thinking of Google Calendar. When you put an event on the calendar it creates a little bubble, if the event covers more than one day the bubble extends through the days. If you have multiple events it places the bubble above or below the previous bubble. I think you could make a timeline this way. The bubbles on the calendar are color coded, so you could do that with the timeline and assign a different color to each character.

For multiple time lines.. (aka, a chronological one and a book order one) just have two or more "calendars"

The "calendars" would have to be customizable to suit different worlds with different time structures and perhaps also zoom-able or something, because how do you mention a specific event that happens in an hour on a timeline that covers the whole of time of your world? Perhaps that would be where multiple "calendars" come in. Being able to link to one in another would work.

Of course..... coding something like this is a whole other story I'm sure!

Queen of thinking things are simple when they're complicated and thinking things are complicated when they're simple.
- J

[Thoth]

But on the bright side, at least you're Queen of something. Now if you could code you'd be an Empress!
- Thoth

[Joolissa]

<b><i><u>Does this count?</u></i></b>

[Thoth]

Julia Grace, on Sep 21 2009, 12:10 AM, said:

<b><i><u>Does this count?</u></i></b>

Oh, why the *bleep* not.

All hail Her Grace, Empress Julia.
(Your crown and scepter are in the mail.)
- Thoth.

[Joolissa]

Lol!!! Well, since you were voted to rule the world does this mean I'm the Empress of the Thoth Dynasty?

The lyrics to Viva La Vida are echoing ominously in my head... and the intro to Pinky & The Brain

NARF!
- Jules

[Thoth]

Julia Grace, on Sep 21 2009, 12:41 AM, said:

Lol!!! Well, since you were voted to rule the world does this mean I'm the Empress of the Thoth Dynasty?

The lyrics to Viva La Vida are echoing ominously in my head... and the intro to Pinky & The Brain

NARF!
- Jules

Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Pinky?
You are!
- Thoth.

[Joolissa]

I think so, Brain, but can the Gummi Worms really live in peace with the Marshmallow Chicks?


Muahahaha

[Thoth]

Julia Grace, on Sep 21 2009, 09:23 AM, said:

I think so, Brain, but can the Gummi Worms really live in peace with the Marshmallow Chicks?
Muahahaha

Only if the Chocolate Bunnies referee.

Enjoyed the link. Thanks. Y'know, I suspect Pinky is just playing dumb to Brain's straight man. His retorts are oh so much more clever.

"One is a genius. The other insane."
But which is which?
- Thoth.

[Marguerite]

Julia Grace, on Sep 20 2009, 11:48 PM, said:

Well... I'm thinking of Google Calendar. When you put an event on the calendar it creates a little bubble, if the event covers more than one day the bubble extends through the days. If you have multiple events it places the bubble above or below the previous bubble. I think you could make a timeline this way. The bubbles on the calendar are color coded, so you could do that with the timeline and assign a different color to each character.

For multiple time lines.. (aka, a chronological one and a book order one) just have two or more "calendars"

The "calendars" would have to be customizable to suit different worlds with different time structures and perhaps also zoom-able or something, because how do you mention a specific event that happens in an hour on a timeline that covers the whole of time of your world? Perhaps that would be where multiple "calendars" come in. Being able to link to one in another would work.

Of course..... coding something like this is a whole other story I'm sure!

Queen of thinking things are simple when they're complicated and thinking things are complicated when they're simple.
- J

While we're waiting for a visual timeline or series of timelines, let me mention that it's pretty simple to set up a more text-oriented version (needed by verbose types like yours truly).
1. Go to Project Manager. Add Collection. Name it Timeline. Move it to whichever spot in the project hierarchy seems right to you.
2. Add a plot point for every date you need (it's easy to adjust them later). Name them by date: November 1533, December 1533, Malwar 2096, whatever.
3. Put the display in outline mode. Now all your dates are in a list, boldfaced.
4. Place the cursor at the end of the first date. Hit return. Type whatever happens in that time period (you're actually typing the plot point summary, but unless you have a need for the plot point details, the rest of the sheet will just get in the way. The collage could come in useful, though—see below). Repeat as necessary. I also put in questions at this point, as in "What's the villain doing here?" or "When was Easter?" or "How does this make sense?"

By the time you're done, you have something close to a visual representation: dates with summaries of what happens in as many areas of your plot as you choose to include. And if you add a collage window, you can also stash pictures, sticky notes, and whatever else you like in it. To access the whole timeline, all you have to do is click on the collection name and make sure outline mode is selected. Pretty cool.

Hint: If you want multiple timelines, just set up groups for each one (although that sort of defeats the purpose, IMHO). And if you don't use PLOT, you can rename it TIMELINES and go from there.
Best,
Marguerite

[Thoth]

Marguerite, that is lovely. Good show! Perhaps there should be a book (or a few Web pages at the Storyist site under Support) dedicated to all the user techniques for Storyist we've all come up with over the years.

Beware the Ides of Malwar,
- Thoth.

[Joolissa]

Another video you may enjoy Thoth: Peep Wars

That's an interesting idea M. I'll have to give it a shot sometime!

I agree with you Thoth, there should be some place to put all the user generated techniques. M should have her own chapter for everything she comes up with. LOL!

- Jules

[Marguerite]

Yes, that's a good idea, Thoth: a section under "Support" on the website with user-generated tips. (Of course, that's what the "Using Storyist" section of the forums is for, but users have to get to the forums first. This would be more like advertising the many unsung features of Storyist, its flexibility and so on.) Steve?

Thanks for the kind words.

So many opportunities for procrastination, so little time.

The Ides of Malwar, indeed. They fall at the end of November, you know. Beware, ye who fail to complete your NaNoWriMo submissions!
M

[Thoth]

Thanks for the link Jules. Yikes! Who would have believed candy could be so violent?

M, the real problem with Using Storyist is that most of the posts are about people having problems using Storyist. It could be a tips area but most folks just don't use it that way. Good point though.

I agree with you that putting techniques under Support is good advertising. Steve?

Ignoring the fact the Ides of any month falls roughly at its middle, not its end, I will heed your wisdom and wear my dagger-proof toga to the next Senate meeting.

Does this toga make me look fat?
- Thoth.

[Marguerite]

Thoth, on Oct 4 2009, 05:25 PM, said:

Ignoring the fact the Ides of any month falls roughly at its middle, not its end....

Well, of course, but it's a calendar conversion thing. The Ides of Malwar in our calendar corresponds to the end of November.
Should have been clearer, obviously.
M

P.S. To keep myself from getting bumped out of Feature Requests, yes, I agree that a user tips section would be a nice addition to the website. Steve?

Additions to the website are a feature request, right?