Category Archives: Software

Software, StoryBox

Unofficial StoryBox Test Build

There is a test build of StoryBox that I hope solves a crash issue for users of non-US keyboards. The crash happens when typing certain characters into some fields, like the synopsis and the notes. I don’t have one of these keyboards, so I can’t actually test my fix. If you are having this issue, could you please download this test build and let me know if it solves your problem?
 
 
And if you’re not experiencing that crash, could you please try it out anyway? The fix required updating the libraries I’m using for some of the UI, and I’d like to know of any bugs  that could have been introduced during the update before I call it “official”.
 
 
Software, StoryBox

StoryBox 0.5.67

This version contains some of the changes to the Outline Builder that I mentioned in my blog entry regarding the topic. A delete button, default double click insert options. The context menu is still on the list of things to add.

I also added the daily word count to the status bar in full screen mode. Since I’ve been using it every day to actually produce writing, this became a big issue for me as I move through two or three or more scenes in one session. I’ve given myself a target word count to hit, but when I was in full screen mode, I couldn’t see it without switching back to the normal mode.

You can see the other changes that were made on the download page: http://www.storyboxsoftware.com/download.htm

Software, StoryBox

Upcoming StoryBox Changes

4 Comments

Having used the Outline Builder for a week or so now (writing again, Yay!), I’ve decided it needs some changes. First, it needs a delete button. Don’t know how I missed that one. I’m thinking also the option to hide completed items. A context menu would be helpful, too, as well as the ability to set a default target for double clicking an entry. This last would mean that you could have a double click send the entry to whichever of the four options (new chapter, new scene, synopsis or body) you liked.

Is there anything about the Outline Builder that you feel is missing, or that you would like to work differently? No guarantees, of course, that I’ll be able to accommodate everyone’s wishes, but I don’t want to miss something obvious again, like the ability to delete an entry.

Software, StoryBox, Writing

StoryBox 0.5.66 – Outline Builder

1 Comment

Alright, this one has a new feature I’ve been dying to add for a while. Something I ended up calling Outline Builder. If YOU can think of a better name for it, let me know.

In any case, it lets you quickly enter text to create a linear outline that you can then use to populate your story with chapters, your chapter with scenes, or the synopsis or the body of the current document with snippets of text. You can reorder them as much as you like within the outline builder, even reorder them in sets. It’s sort of an initial planning tool that doesn’t require you to even have a chapter ready in your project.

There are also some other bug fixes and changes to go with it.

http://www.storyboxsoftware.com/download.htm

So, that was the announcement, now the explanation of why.

I do have my own novel that I’ve been trying to work on, and it’s been stuck at a certain point for quite a long time. I’ve just been far too busy (famous last words of failed would be novelists everywhere) with my work and my other hobbies to find the time to work on it.

In addition, the last entry in the outline for it ended with “and he failed for some reason.” I was stuck for what that reason was, and instead of sitting down and thinking about it and inventing something specific, I just let it sit there and laugh at me.

Our oldest has been staying with us for the last week while her husband is out of town, and she’s been writing up a storm (she’s completed eight more novels than I have….), and I asked her to look at my novel in limbo. She told me, after reading it, that I had to complete it. So I sat down, converted it to ePub format so I could read it on my iPad, read it, decided that it’s not awful, and figured out what was going to happen in the next scene right as I finished reading the final bits.

I started writing it up in the synopsis pane of StoryBox for the scene, and realized that, at least the way I work, there was a better way, and that would be if I had my Outline Builder implemented. Why? I like to write a bunch of short bits that describe what’s going on in the scene from beginning to end. I’d done it a bit on my own, but prior to NaNoWriMo this past year, I’d read Lazette Giffords NaNo for the New and the Insane, and in it, she described her Phase System, which really intrigued me and gave my head a way to describe what I was doing more formally. I don’t use her system exactly, as I don’t bother with the word count part of it, but I really needed the Outline Builder to do it right.

So, now, with the Outline Builder implemented, I’m crossing my fingers that I can get back in the saddle on this novel and get it done by the end of September. If I can do that, it will only have taken me eleven months to finish my NaNo novel from last year. Go me!

Software, StoryBox

StoryBox 0.4.64 – Font Changes and Spell Checking

1 Comment

This one has, well, some big changes.

First, default fonts, and the font button work completely differently now. The font button now changes the currently selected font of the document. There’s a button in the dialog that lets you set the font as the default font, but the dialog no longer changes fonts everywhere. In fact, changing the default font doesn’t change fonts anywhere at all anymore. You will only see it in new, empty documents. You can select text in your document, right click, and choose the format->fonts->apply default font menu item to apply the default font if you wish.

This also means that, if you have a default template set for a document type, it will not receive the default font. If you wish to have the default font, follow the instructions in the help for creating a template using the font you want in it and set that as your default template.

Why did I make this change? Because far too many people were confused by the way it worked. I don’t want confusion, I want quick understanding and easy to explain. Also, changing the font for documents already in existence was complicated and prone to error or, again, misunderstanding.

Also, there’s one other minor addition that some people have asked for. Spell checking. Right click in an open document and select “Check Spelling” from the context menu. Currently, it’s only using a US English dictionary, but I will be adding additional dictionaries as time goes on.

You will notice, also, that you can add words to either a global dictionary (used across all your projects) or a project specific dictionary.

Hope you like it.

http://www.storyboxsoftware.com/download.htm