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The Story page#

What your story is about, and what it still needs, on one screen.

Click Story in your project's sidebar.

What's on it#

  • The scenes rail (Sequences + Scenes) — at the top, your scenes in order, coloured by sequence. Unwritten scenes take their planned length; written scenes take their page count.
  • Beats — your framework's beats, named under the scenes rail, as brackets over the scenes that answer them. A small diamond marks a beat no scene answers yet. Point at a beat, or Tab to it, to see its name, what should happen there and its scenes, and to light them on the rail. For a shared beat, these are the scenes that cover it; the beat still needs strengthening. A screen reader says each beat's state: Written, On a card, not written yet (its scenes are still cards), Covered by a shared scene, In the treatment, no scene yet, Planned or Nothing answers it yet. Names with no room under their mark are listed below the rail.
  • Story Core — above the list: your dramatic question, your logline under it, then what's at stake, the central conflict and your framework. Nabu reads them from your pages; anything you've set yourself stays yours. Long lines get smaller to fit; nothing is cut off. Click it to open it.
  • From Nisaba — under the Story Core: what Nisaba understands about your story, and what she asks you, side by side as the room allows. Each one says which it is. If chat holds more, it says how many.
  • The list — one row per thing. Each row has its kind on the left, then Status and Scenes columns:
  • Threads — setups and payoffs, character arcs, relationships, mysteries and motifs. Point at one to see where it starts, develops and lands on the scenes rail.
  • What Nabu understands — first, what your story is about beneath its plot, read from your pages; then themes, the emotional core, what the story says, characters, the setting, reveals, causes, and places where two readings of your story disagree. Click Nisaba’s notes for the whole letter, what she has remembered, the choices she made, and Reset what Nisaba sees.
  • The detail column — click a row to see it in full. Every scene it names is a link to that scene.

If a Story update fails, Nabu shows “We’ve been notified, please try again in a moment” with the job ID; wait a moment, then try again.

If an automatic update does not finish, the previous reading stays available. A later quiet pass can try again.

What each control does#

  • Suggest (in the detail column) — opens chat for Nisaba's take on the row you have open. Her reply appears there.
  • Rescan — goes through the whole script again: your Story Core, threads and what Nabu understands. After the wizard writes your scenes — or once you've written a few scenes yourself — Nabu does this once on its own. Point at it to see its share of your plan. Each part of the list updates as soon as it's ready. If a scan doesn't finish, the page says so.
  • Type, Attention, Scene — sort the list. Attention puts what needs you first, including two readings to settle.
  • That’s right (on what Nisaba understands) — it becomes yours, and Nisaba stops asking.
  • Not right — Nisaba asks what's right. Write it and Save, or Skip. Nabu keeps both readings for you to settle.
  • ‹ / › (or ← / →) — move through what Nisaba has for you. 1–3 / 5 says where you are.
  • × (on each one) — dismiss it.
  • All, Threads, Understanding — filter the list.
  • Framework (in the Story Core) — change your framework. Nabu shows what will change before anything does.
  • Update from the treatment (beside the synopsis, when it is behind) — rewrites the synopsis from your current treatment.
  • Click a scene or a beat on the rails to show only the rows that touch it. Click × on the filter to clear it.

Uses your plan: Rescan, Suggest and Update from the treatment use your plan.

Good to know#

  • Setting rules marked Rules · Nabu are Nabu's reading, not something you set; Suggest leaves them out.
  • A line under a row's title says it needs you: a red line that fades for a dropped thread the story needs, a double line where two readings disagree.
  • When you tell Nisaba plainly in the wizard where and when it happens, how it ends and its final image, what stands in the way, what it means, its tone or, for a series, what keeps it going, that shows here in your own words. Picking a pitch doesn't replace it; mixing pitches with your own notes does. Afterwards, change the ending or the central conflict here, or tell Nisaba what changed. If Nabu has already read your pages, what your pages say stays.
  • Answer a question, or change your script anywhere, and the page follows without a reload. An answer in another tab updates both the questions and what Nabu understands about your story.
  • Nisaba’s letter says No story notes yet. when it has no notes to show. While Nabu gathers the story, the line says so; if the story is unavailable, it says that.
  • The line under the page title says when the last scan was and how many scenes have changed since (Last scan 4m ago · 3 scenes changed); Rescan brings it up to date.
  • New scans use your script's scene numbers in Nisaba's reading, including numbers such as 42A. An unnumbered scene is named by its heading.
  • When you change a few scenes and pause, Nabu updates what those scenes change on its own. This uses your plan. Anything you've answered stays as you answered it.
  • A rescan never drops something Nisaba showed you. Ones from an earlier scan come after the current ones, marked with that scan's date. Dismiss one when you're done with it.
  • Every character in your story has a row, minor characters after the rest. A character's row shows what they want, what they need, the lie or flaw they don't see, and what they're afraid of. For your main characters and the supporting characters who matter, Nabu reads these from your pages and lists the scenes each comes from. Nisaba can explain what the pages state and what she inferred from them. What you set on a character's sheet stays yours, and so does what you tell Nisaba about a character in chat: it shows as that character's line, marked Said in chat with the date. Dismiss beside it removes that line. Your newest word wins. When a line replaces one from your setup, or you clear it, the line says so: Overrides your wizard answer, with the old line. Show in Characters opens the character's card, where you can change or clear a line.
  • Running Setup again keeps earlier answers. Repeating the same answers does not duplicate facts; when a changed answer replaces an earlier cited line, Overrides your wizard answer shows the old line. Inferred details are not labelled as answers you gave.
  • An important (pivotal) thread's name is set in the accent colour. Status is where a thread stands: developing, nearing payoff, paid off, dropped.
  • When Nabu planned a moment for a beat your pages don't hold yet, the beat says what it was Planned from — the parts of your story it was built on, such as the stakes or the setting.
  • Not checked yet (in the line under the list) means Nabu hasn't looked for that yet — not that your story has none.
  • An empty Story Core is a dimmed box. Determining your story's core means Nabu is working on it now. If the last scan could not determine the Core, it says so; use Rescan (top right) to try again. A dash (—) fills in when your script makes it clear.
  • Keyboard: Tab into the list, ↑ / ↓ to move, Enter to open a row, Back to return. ← / → move through what Nisaba has for you.
  • The logline and synopsis come from your treatment. To change them, edit the treatment.