Instructions

Getting Started

Storyalizer is your tool for formatting manuscripts to prepare them for uploading to Storyalíz. It will help you format and break your story into bite-sized pieces.

Step 1: Get Storyalizer

1. Download Storyalizer from the Google add-ons marketplace
2. Install it

Note: Storyalizer only accesses the Google Docs that you explicitly share with it or that have been shared with you from Storyalíz.

Step 2: Sign In

The first time you use Storyalizer, and occasionally thereafter you will need to sign in to your Google account and give Storyalizer access. This happens automatically. When it kicks off, follow the steps below

1. Select the Google account that has access to your manuscript documents
2. Grant Storyalizer permission to access your Google Docs

Note: Storyalizer only accesses the Google Docs that you explicitly share with it or that have been shared with you from Storyalíz. It retains no other data about you.

Step 3: Open Your Document

In your Google Doc, you will find Storyalizer under the Extensions menu.

Step 4: Initial cleanup

Run "Initial Cleanup" in the Storyalizer menu. It will:

• Convert episode titles with no text (typically images) into non-titles
• Merge episode titles that are separated by whitespace only
• Convert multi-line titles into a single line

Storyalizer reports the count of items changed in each category. This only needs to be run once, but it is okay to rerun.

Step 5: Title Image Cleanup

Some manuscripts have images that should appear at the top of an episode, and sometime the images are in the manuscript immediately above the title. The Chapter Image Cleanup looks for images that appear immediately above an episode title, and displays them in the sidebar. You can move each one individually (which moves it directly below the title), or move all at once.

Step 6: Story Title, Dedication, Epigram and Foreward

Storyalíz expects an episode named "Title" at the beginning, followed by optional "Dedication", "Forward", and "Epigram" episdodes in that order. The "Opening Sequence" menu items assist in creating these, but you can always do it manually as well. To use these:

• Select the portion of the manuscript (including images) you want to make a title or other opening page
• Click Extensions -> Storyalizer -> Opening Sequence -> Add Title (or other page)
• The text will be moved to the appropriate place in the manuscript, and the episode title inserted.

Step 7: Break Into Bite-Sized Pieces

Episode length is important. When converting existing stories, often chapters should be broken into multiple episodes. The "Episode List" sidebar helps with this task. The ideal length is 900 words. The following ranges are used:

• < 500: too short, flagged in red
• 500 - 700: too short, flagged in yellow
• 700 - 1100: good length, not flagged
• 1100 - 1300: too long, flagged in yellow
• > 1300: too long, flagged in red

Run the Episode List from the Storyalizer menu. This will open a sidebar with all episodes listed, together with word counts.

• Click on an episode to navigate to that portion of the doc

To split an episode into two smaller episodes, move the cursor into the last paragraph before your proposed break.

• Move the cursor to the paragraph immediately preceding the desired break
• Click "Show Wordcount if Split"
• A dialog will pop up showing the original count, and the word count for the two proposed smaller episodes.
• If the wordcount is not good, move the cursor and try again
• If the wordcount is good, click "Add Episode Title after paragraph
• A generic episode title will be generated, and the episode list refreshed
• If the episode list appears out of sync, click Refresh to regenerate it