# Workspace

# My Stories

This is where you store and organize all of your ideas. Stories and folders are listed in the order they were created. Folders, however, are pushed to the bottom of the list.

Here are some things you can do in the My Stories view:

  • Create new stories (links to Templates page)
  • Create folders
  • Drag stories in and out of folders
  • Import a screenplay as PDF or .fdx
  • Import an Open Story Format file (.osf)

You can also perform actions on individual stories:

  • Open
  • Make a copy
  • Update sharing permissions
  • Move to another folder
  • Delete

Here are some actions you can perform on folders:

  • Rename
  • Move
  • Update sharing permissions
  • Delete (if empty)

# Shared with Me

This section will display stories and folders you have been invited to collaborate on by other Prewrite members. The owner of the story or folder can make you an Editor or a Viewer as they see fit, and these roles can be updated or revoked by the owner at any time.

# Edit Profile

Currently, Prewrite has no built-in network for users to meet and collaborate on story ideas, but we do offer an optional profile page for users to promote themselves and their favorite stories.

This section allows you to edit the content of your profile and make it shareable, if you choose. Please keep in mind that the Avatar, Pen Name and Background Image settings will populate to both your public profile and your private experience of the app.

You can click the View Profile button in top right of the Home page header to see the changes.

# Screenplay Importer

This view appears once you have successfully uploaded a properly formatted screenplay in either PDF or .fdx format. It divides your scenes into a three act structure, finds all of your characters, and allows you to start adding data to your story. When you’re ready, you can finish the import process by saving it as a Prewrite story. Anything you do here can be changed later when editing your project.

Here are some things you can do in this view:

  • Select an act structure
  • Change the beginning and end points of each act
  • Set tone for all scenes with automatic sentiment analysis
  • Add story beats, theme markers, and tone levels
  • Add scene notes
  • Add info to characters

# Story View

This is the primary view for editing and presenting your story. It offers several ways to view, edit, analyze and navigate your content. We’ll go through each view, and explain the reasons you might prefer one over the other.

Note

Prewrite uses custom templates as a starting point for every story. This means the content of each view will vary depending on the template used. However, each view still has a specific purpose and method of displaying a story’s content.

# Home

Think of this as a homepage for your story. It provides a broad overview of your story’s concept, links to other views, and galleries for scenes and characters.

Note

The terms Scenes and Characters can have alternate labels depending on the story’s template. For example, in a story built from a Podcast template, Scenes are labeled as Segments, and Characters as Personalities.

# Timeline

This view is one of the primary reasons you would use Prewrite in the first place. It outlines your story’s content as a linear progression, similar to the way it will ultimately be experienced. Each column in the timeline represents a scene.

Here are some notable Timeline features:

  • Click to edit scenes
  • Drag new scenes to anywhere in the story
  • Jump to scenes
  • Zoom in and out
  • Scene rearranging
  • Scene Images in landscape, portrait or square orientation*
  • Scene Headings (screenplay formatting available)*
  • Custom-formatted content: screenplay, standard text, and creator annotations
  • Characters per scene (overall density)
  • Theme tracking*
  • Shifts in emotional value or tone*
  • Plot threads that connect scene events*
  • Plot thread navigation*

*must be included in story template

# Cards

This view displays each of your scenes as a card inside of an act group. If the contents of a scene is longer, the card will have a toggle button reveals more or less of the content.

Here are some features of the Cards view:

  • Click to edit scenes
  • Character thumbnails with rollovers for names
  • Gauge components with rollover labels*
  • Plot thread navigation*

*must be included in story template

Note

With the exception of the very first scene in an act, you cannot add new scenes in the cards view. Switch to the Timeline view to drag a new scene to any point in the story.

# Page

This view offers a more traditional layout for your content. Everything is still divided up into scenes, and every scene is contained within an act. Every scene is clickable to edit, and if your template includes Plot Threads, you can navigate through the story using the arrows buttons on each story event.

Note

You cannot add new scenes directly in the page view, use the Timeline view for that.

# Characters

This view lists every character in your story in card format. By default, they appear in the order they were added, but you can drag and drop to reorder them if you please. Character cards usually have a headshot, full name, and a few details, but the amount of detail depends on the template you are using.

You may simply click on a character card to edit its content.

Note

Some templates refer to Characters by a different name. For example, in Podcasts they are called Personalities, which is more fitting to the medium.

# Stats

Your template may or may not have a Stats view. It’s most useful for longer-form works like feature films or novels because it reveals how seemingly unrelated story elements connect to one another. These template-specific charts and graphs will help you track important goals like scene-level word count, inclusivity, tone, character relationships and more.

Note

There are no editing features available in the Stats view.

# Edit Window

The views mentioned above are great for reviewing and evaluating your story, but they don’t offer a way to actually edit the content. The Edit Window is your primary space for making changes to top-level story details, scene content, and character information.

To open the Edit Window, you simply click on something like a scene, character, or text on the home page. Once open, the content you’ll be prompted to edit will be specific to the template you are using, but there a few core features that remain consistent:

  • Undo/Redo
  • Insert new item before or after (scenes and characters)
  • Navigate through scenes and characters
  • Delete scene or character
  • View as full screen page
  • Search for images and headshots

# Slideshow

The Slideshow view is another major reason one might choose Prewrite over another program. As you write your content, craft your characters, and add images, Prewrite builds a beautiful presentation layer for your story automatically. It’s the perfect way to share your ideas with collaborators and other interested parties.

# Filter Menus

As a story grows in complexity, so do the items in each view, which could get overwhelming. You may have noticed that many views have a Filter Button somewhere in their interface. You can click this to reveal a menu that can toggle the visibility of most items in the view.

Currently, the views that offer filtering are Home, Timeline, Cards, Page and Slideshow

Note

Everything you can filter out of view for yourself, you can also do for any outside viewer of your story. See the Sharing & Permissions section below.

# Sharing & Permissions

This window offers a number of settings and actions related to outside viewing.

# Public Viewers

These settings allow you to alter whether or not your story is viewable to the outside world, make it searchable (within Prewrite only), and make it copyable by others. You can also drill down even further, and choose which parts of your story will be visible. For example, you can hide all scene images and notes from outside viewers.

# Collaborators

If you are the owner or editor of a story, you can use this section to add and remove collaborators as a Viewer or Editor.

# Share

This tab is only visible if your story is set to Sharable prior to opening the window. It offers some quick methods for sharing your story via social media or privately through email. You can also copy your share link, and some code for embedding your story into other web pages. Public Profile For those looking to promote themselves and their Prewrite stories, we provide this basic page to do so. It is private by default, but can be made shareable with the click of a button. The content of this page can be updated in the Edit Profile section described above.

Note

This profile is not part of a larger listing or community of Prewrite users, but this is something we are working towards.

# Account Settings

In this section, you can manage important account details such as your full name, password, and payment method (if you’ve upgraded), and find options to change your subscription level to Free, Premium, Pro, or Team.

You can also set a custom avatar and background image for your account. These settings are identical to those found in the Edit Profile section, and will affect your Public Profile in the same way.