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${Plot} menu

Plot elements operation

${Add Plot line}

Add a new plot line to the story

With ${Plot} > ${Add Plot line}, you can add a plot line to the tree.

• If a plot line is selected, the new plot line is placed after the selected one.
• Otherwise, the new plot line is placed at the last position.
• The new plot line has an auto-generated title. You can change it in the right pane.

${Add Plot point}

Add a new Plot point to the selected plot line

With ${Plot} > ${Add Plot point}, you can add a plot point to a plot line.

• If a plot point is selected, the new plot point is placed after the selected one.
• If a plot line is selected, the new plot point is placed at the last position.
• Otherwise, no new plot point is generated.
• The new plot point has an auto-generated title. You can change it in the right pane.

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${Insert Stage}

Insert a stage between the sections

With ${Plot} > ${Insert Stage}, you can insert a stage after the selected chapter or section.

Hint

By default, the new stage is on the second level. You can change the level to first (see below).

${Change Level}

Change the level of the selected stages

With ${Plot} > ${Change Level}, you can change the level of the selected stages.

• ${1st Level} is displayed in bold face.
• ${2nd Level} is displayed in regular font.

Note

The stage level is only for visual distinction. It has no influence on the program functions.

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${Import plot lines}

Import plot lines with plot points from another project

With ${Plot} > ${Import plot lines}, you can import a selection of plot lines from another project. First you select an XML file containing the plot lines. Then you select the plot lines you want to add to the current project.

Hint

To create an XML plot lines file for the current project, use ${Export} > ${XML data files}.

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${Export plot grid for editing}

Export an ODS document that can be imported again after editing

With ${Plot} > ${Export plot grid for editing}, you can create a spreadsheet with a row per section, containing the following data:

• The sequential section number as a hyperlink to the section in the manuscript (if any)
• Story date
• Story time
• Day
• Duration (<days>d <hours>h <minutes>min)
• Section title
• Section description
• Viewpoint character
• One column per plot line with the section’s plot line notes
• Tags
• Scene
• Goal/Reaction/(custom)
• Conflict/Dilemma/(custom)
• Outcome/Decision/(custom)
• Section notes

The plot line titles are linked to the plot line descriptions (see below).

Note

Only “normal” sections appear in the plot grid. Sections of the “${Unused}” type are omitted.

The document can be edited with Calc and reimported. File name suffix is _grid_tmp.

• Clicking on a section number with ${Ctrl} pressed, you can jump to the corresponding section in the manuscript.
• Clicking on a plot line title in the headline with ${Ctrl} pressed, you can jump to the corresponding plot line description, if any (see below).

Note

You can reorder, hide or delete columns and rows without affecting the reimport. Only the first column and the first row, which are hidden by default, must not be changed as they contain the structural information for the import.

${Export story structure description for editing}

Export an ODT document that can be imported again after editing

With ${Plot} > ${Export story structure description for editing}, you can create a text document that contains all stages, each with description. File name suffix is _structure_tmp.

Hint

This is also a full synopsis, with the emphasis on the dramaturgical structure.

• Stages can neither be rearranged nor deleted.

• With Writer, you can create stages by inserting headings within the description area:

  • Heading 1 → New first-level stage.
  • Heading 2 → New second-level stage.

  Important Documents with new stages are automatically discarded after the novelibre project is updated.

${Export plot line descriptions for editing}

Export an ODT document that can be imported again after editing

With ${Plot} > ${Export plot line descriptions for editing}, you can create a text document that contains stages, plot lines, and plot points, each with description. The plot points are linked to the manuscript and to the section descriptions. File name suffix is _plotlines_tmp.

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${Plot table (export only)}

Export an ODS document

With ${Plot} > ${Plot table (export only)}, you can create a spreadsheet with a row per section and a column per plot line. Associations between plot lines and sections are color-highlighted. Plot point titles are displayed. File name suffix is _plotlist.

Hint

The plot line titles and the section titles are hyperlinked to the respective descriptions in other exported documents, if any.

The following picture shows a LibreOffice screenshot. Note the hyperlink from the plot line title in the plot table (left) to the plot line in the plot description (right).

Important

Hyperlinks in ODS spreadsheets are absolute within the file system, so they might not work after moving the location of your project file to another folder or computer. In this case, you will have to export the spreadsheet anew.

${Show Plot table in browser}

Show an HTML report with plot elements

With ${Plot} > ${Show Plot table in browser}, You can create a HTML file that contains a plot table similar to the ODS plot table (see above), but without any hyperlinks, and launch your system’s web browser for displaying it.

Note

The report is a temporary file, auto-deleted on program exit. If needed, you can have your web browser save or print it.

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English manual

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