Help, Writing
The story bible and name cards
Keep your characters, places, items and factions in one place beside the page, and see who someone is by resting the pointer on their name.
The story bible is where you keep track of the people and things in your book: eye colours, who knows what, where the sword is. It sits beside the page, so you can check a detail without losing your place.
Open the story bible
- Choose Story bible above the page.
- Or press Cmd+Shift+E on a Mac, Ctrl+Shift+E on Windows and Linux. In the desktop app it is also in the View menu (Story Bible on a Mac).
- On a phone, tap the Story bible tab.
On a wide screen it opens on the right of the page. Close it with the same shortcut or the close button.
What goes in it
There are four kinds of entry, and you can filter the list by each: All, Characters, Places, Items and Factions. Type in Find an entry to search names, including other names a character goes by.
Add an entry
- Choose New entry.
- Pick the kind: Character, Place, Item or Faction.
- Type the Name and press Enter (or choose Create entry).
The entry opens straight away. Select any field, such as Role, Voice, Description or Goals, type, and press Enter to save it. For longer fields, Cmd+Enter (Ctrl+Enter) saves. Each field saves on its own and shows Saved.
More details opens the rest. For a character that includes Other names, Appearance, Personality, Fears, Secrets, Backstory, Relationships, Knowledge and your own custom fields.
Shortcut: search for a name that is not there yet and Onwarder offers New entry with that name filled in.
See where a name appears
A character’s entry shows At this scene (what is recorded about them at the scene you are in). Every entry shows In the book, for example Named in 14 scenes. Choose a scene in the list to jump to the first mention, or choose Find “Mara” in the book (with their name) to step through every mention. See Find and replace.
Name cards
While the story bible is open, Onwarder underlines the names it knows with a faint dotted line. The text itself never changes.
On a computer, rest the pointer on a name for a moment. A small card appears with the name, the kind of entry, one line about them, and what is true At this scene, such as Alive. At the ferry. If nothing is recorded yet, it says Nothing recorded at this scene. From the card:
- Open in story bible opens the full entry beside the page.
- Find in book searches for the name.
The card disappears when you move away or start typing, and it never moves your caret. Cmd+click (Ctrl+click) on a name opens its entry directly.
On a phone, put the caret inside a name. A chip with the name appears; tap it to open the entry. Back returns you to the same place in your writing.
If you would rather not see the dotted lines, open Settings, Writing (or This book, the … above the page, then Writing) and turn off Editor marks.
Link a phrase to an entry
Sometimes a character is the old woman for three chapters. To connect a phrase to an entry by hand:
- Select the words.
- Open Page tools and choose Link to the story bible.
- Find the entry and choose it.
Rest the caret in the linked words to see the entry; Remove link takes the link away and leaves your words as they are.
Delete an entry
Open the entry and choose Delete entry at the bottom. It goes to the bin first, so you can bring it back from Deleted entries.