How to Use One Stop for Writers

 

I’m so excited to share this site with you. Let’s Go!!

To begin, start your free trial. The first time you visit the site, hit the Sign Up button, give your email and a password or use Google, Facebook, or Twitter. Confirm your email with a link, and boom, you are off and running.

The first screen has a ton of information. Depending on how your brain works, you might want to check out the videos under the Useful Links block. The Getting Started video will give you all the details available. Or you could keep reading my blog. Up to you.

(Psst, these boxes will change as you use the app. Useful Links becomes Recently Visited. But all the tools are easy to find in the Stacks menu.)

The second link, Features and Tools, is basically my how-to section of the blog. A list of features and how-tos in one simple spot. (Fantastic, right?) Let me highlight these features quickly and dive into one or two. There’s so much to explore.

I’ll run through the top menus and highlight the features. There’s so much here that I can’t get too detailed. Most features have a video to show you how to do it. Not to mention, many things are filling search or data fields.

Thesauruses Menu

This menu takes you directly to the sixteen detail thesauruses. These tools can add details, sharpness, and specificity to your novels. They include character motivation, conflicts, emotional wounds, occupations, physical features, and more. Click on a thesaurus and a trait to explore. The bottom of the page has links to other thesauruses to further explore linked traits, behaviors, or thinking.

The Stacks Menu

Storyteller Roadmap: A great place to begin. Choose one of three options: Planning, Writing, or Revising. Each option has detailed steps, amazing advice, and my favorite, handouts! There are articles, advice, and even nap time build into these guides. Worth checking out.

Character Builder: An intensively detailed profile for your characters. Click on the +New button and give your character a name. Now fill in the fields about backstory, personality, behavior, motivations, physical details, daily life, gallery, and a summary. There are notes on the side to explain some terms and ideas in the builder. You can include their “wound” or the “lie” they tell themselves, positive and negative traits, quirks, occupation, hobbies, and so much. You can use from the thesauruses or create your own wound by clicking on the appropriate box. There are many choices for each feature, and most are hyperlinked to the entry that describes the lie or wound or whatever you need. Gallery allows you to upload an inspiring image. For subscribers, you can consolidate all the data and download it into a PDF for ease of use as you draft.

Story Maps: This feature uses Michael Hauge’s Six Stage plot structure. You can create your story arc to add the big moments of your novel/story. The tool has some resources to better understand Mr. Hauge’s technique with website references, articles, and a video. Plus, there’s plenty of help as you create in the form of pop-up dialog boxes on each timeline event. This feature is for the overall story.

Formal Scene Map: Here, you can plot out the events and order of scenes in your chapters. The structure it creates can help ensure that each scene is needed and move the story forward. You can reorder scenes by clicking and dragging them.

Informal Scene Map: This component is the same scene map with fewer details. It’s for those who don’t need the intense structural details to plot the book or track the scene.

Timeline: Much like the scene and story maps, the feature allows you to sequence the events of your story. With this tool, though, you place the happenings in chronological order. Great for stories with huge eventful backstories, secret babies, or time travel. Again, you can drag events to new locations along your timeline.

World Building Surveys: This feature asks questions about the world of your story. It covers not only the big issues but the smaller details that make a story great. You can select what type of survey to create, and the app will generate questions about that topic. Perhaps you have an alien race and need to explore their contact with humans. Select Creatures and Aliens (intelligent) and drag the questions from the right to get an answer field. You can also add your own.

Idea Generator: This element has a great graphic of a series of drawers. Click on one to see several ideas, plus a link to the corresponding thesaurus for more ideas.

Templates and Tools: Templates of each tool can be saved on your own computer for working offline. Worksheets can be downloaded as a PDF or saved in your workspace. The list here of possibilities is huge. The tools break down into character arc, backstory wound, character fears, emotional progress, emotional value of a setting, and more. Each category has templates to use or you can click New on the worksheet options to create it in your workspace.

Checklists and Tip sheets: This section has fifty-three pages of information. You can download the image, share it on social media, or open it in a new tab to use for reference as you write. Topics run from A-W, including conflict, motivation, plot holes, and show versus tell.

Tutorials: Last in the Stacks menu is a list of help topics. It explains many of the elements available from the app with text and videos. Things covered include characterization, setting, character arc, and miscellaneous.

The last menu is Connect. Inside, you’ll find ways to ask questions of the admins, create a wish list of features you want, bug reports, testimonials, and support for using the site.

This service offers plenty of tools, information, and support for writers. Take the two-week trial and check it out. You might find your next writing home.