Tips and Common Questions

Start with something on the Overview

A blank outline gives Collaborator little to work from. One honest sentence under Story Idea is enough to begin, and each thing you add after it, a concept, a premise, a named protagonist, improves the workflows that come later, because each of them reads what is already there.

Running a workflow a second time

Second passes are normal, and they behave differently from first passes. If you accepted a first pass in an earlier Collaborator session, many rows in the second come back marked Has your text, which means the field now holds words Collaborator will not replace without asking; rows you accepted in this session come back marked Refresh. Accept All applies the New, Refresh, and Update rows, then asks before it replaces any Has your text field, and Cancel there keeps your text. When you want to decide field by field, use Review Each. Reviewing Suggestions explains the labels.

Long lists of updates

Some workflows, Character Builder and Scene Builder among them, can propose twenty or more fields at once. The Property Updates list scrolls, and Review Each walks the same rows one at a time with a count of where you are, which is the easier way to be sure you have seen every row before you accept.

Check your work as you go

Accept, then look at the element in StoryCAD. Two steps, and they catch surprises early. The system writes an accepted update to your outline as you accept it, without a Save step in between, and Collaborator saves the outline file each time you accept.

Connection and access

Collaborator needs a working network connection to run workflows, because each run goes to a service the Foundation operates. During the beta you Join from the Collaborator dialog; after Collaborator is for sale you Subscribe. There is nothing to buy during the beta. Getting Started explains both.

Where to learn the craft

Collaborator is quicker to use, and its suggestions easier to judge, when you already know what a premise or a problem’s goal and motivation should look like. This manual’s Writing with StoryCAD chapters teach that, and StoryBuilder’s resources and learn pages go further.

Getting help

Collaborator’s Help control on the top bar opens a short overview of the window, and the Open the full manual link at the foot of it brings you back to this section in your browser. For StoryCAD itself, see Getting Help in this manual. For feedback during the beta, use the route your invitation gives.

Common questions

Will Collaborator change my outline without asking?

No. Suggestions stay in the Property Updates list until you accept them, and a field that already holds your text is never replaced until you choose Replace when Collaborator asks.

Why did Accept All leave a field alone?

That field already had your text, so it was marked Has your text, and Accept All asked before replacing it. If you chose Cancel, your text stayed. Use Review Each, read the proposal against yours, and Accept it if you prefer the new version.

Can I use Collaborator instead of learning structure?

You can try, but the suggestions are only as good as your judgment of them, and judging a premise requires knowing what a premise is for. You will get better results, and better books, if you learn the craft the workflows point at.

Do I need every workflow?

No. Follow A Path to Try until those workflows feel solid, and leave the rest unstarred until you want them.