Skip to main content

Managing Stories

Track every short story, novelette, novella, novel, and non-fiction piece in your workspace — with authors, genres, tags, series associations, and rich metadata.

What Stories Are​

A story in Inkwren is any creative work in your library: short fiction, a novel, a non-fiction piece, anything you write. Each story has its own metadata (title, type, status, word count), authors, genres, tags, and series associations. The Stories list is the entry point; clicking a story opens its Story Command Center for full management.

Viewing Your Stories​

Click Stories in the sidebar. You'll see a paginated table with columns:

  • Favorite (star) — click to toggle
  • Title (links to the story command center)
  • Type (Short Story, Novelette, Novella, Novel, Non Fiction)
  • Status (Planned, Draft, In Progress, Complete)
  • Word Count
  • Authors (each linked to a contributor)
  • Publications (count of appearances)
  • Completed (date, if set)
  • Genres (the primary genre carries a PRIMARY indicator)
  • Series (e.g., Foxglove #1.5 — decimal orders supported)
  • Tags (up to 3 chips; nested tags display indented)

Several columns can be hidden via the column picker: Completed, Series, and Tags. The Genres column isn't in the column picker — it auto-hides on small screens.

Filtering Stories​

Filters above the table — Search is always visible, the rest collapse:

  • Search: matches title, subtitle, or synopsis
  • Status: All, Planned, Draft, In Progress, or Complete
  • Type: All, Short Story, Novelette, Novella, Novel, or Non Fiction
  • Filter by Author: autocomplete contributor picker
  • Filter by Publication: autocomplete publication picker
  • Favorites Only: narrow to starred stories

Click any column header to sort. Default sort is Title ascending. Pagination at the bottom offers 10 / 25 / 50 / 100 per page.

Creating a Story​

  1. Click Add Story at the top of the page
  2. Fill in the Story Details panel:
    • Title (required)
    • Subtitle
    • Type (required): Short Story, Novelette, Novella, Novel, or Non Fiction
    • Status (required): Planned, Draft, In Progress, or Complete
    • Word Count
    • Genre Category: Fiction or Non-fiction (controls primary-genre logic)
    • Deadline: A date the story is due
    • Date Completed: Disabled unless Status is Complete
  3. Add Authors: type to find existing contributors, or click + New to create a contributor inline. Pen names appear as separate selectable identities — pick the byline you used for this story.
  4. Pick Genres: multi-select. One genre can be flagged as primary; the PRIMARY badge appears on the list view.
  5. Pick Tags: multi-select with hierarchical display (nested tags indent under their parents)
  6. Add Themes / Settings / Tones in the 3-column metadata picker for thematic elements, locations, and tone/mood. These are populated from your workspace reference data.
  7. Add Series if relevant: each series has an editable order number. Decimals (like 1.5) are supported and render on the list.
  8. Write your Synopsis and Notes in the rich text editors
  9. Click Create Story — or Save & Add Another to save and immediately start a fresh New Story form (useful for bulk entry)

After saving, you'll land on the new story's command center.

Creating from Other Pages​

The form picks up shortcuts from the URL:

  • From a contributor page — adding a story from a contributor's detail page pre-selects that contributor in the Authors section
  • From a publication page — adding a story from a publication's detail page shows a banner ("Adding story to publication: ...") and a Publication Type selector (Original, Reprint, or Translation). On save, the story is automatically attached to the publication with the chosen appearance type.

Editing a Story​

  1. Click the pencil icon on the story row, or open the story and use the edit action from the command center
  2. Update any fields
  3. Click Update Story

The form sections and fields are the same as the create form. The Save & Add Another button only appears when creating new stories.

Deleting a Story​

Single delete​

  1. Click the trash icon on the story row
  2. Confirm the deletion in the dialog

If the story has any publication appearances, deletion is blocked — Inkwren shows a toast: "Cannot delete story because it appears in publications. Remove all appearances first." Open each linked publication and remove the story from its contents before deleting.

Bulk delete​

  1. Select multiple stories using the checkboxes
  2. Click Delete Selected
  3. Confirm

Per-story errors surface as individual toasts after the operation. Stories with appearances are skipped.

Bulk Status Updates​

To change the status of several stories at once:

  1. Select stories using the checkboxes
  2. Click Update Status
  3. Pick the new status in the dialog
  4. Confirm — every selected story moves to that status

Tier Limits and Subscription​

The Add Story button reflects your tier and subscription state:

  • Visible only to users who can edit: admins and editors see the button; other members see the list with no action buttons
  • Hidden behind subscription: non-subscribers see a "Subscribe to create stories" tooltip
  • Usage hint and tier limit: while the button is enabled, hovering it shows your current usage (e.g., "12/50 stories used"). Once you've hit the limit the button is disabled, and its tooltip reads "You've reached your tier limit of N stories. Upgrade to continue."

See Tier Limits for each plan's caps.

Tips​

  • Use Save & Add Another for bulk entry: When entering a backlog of short stories or anthology contents, this saves clicks and keeps the publication-context banner active across creations
  • Mark a primary genre: The PRIMARY badge on the list makes it easy to scan a long list by main category — even when stories carry multiple genres
  • Pen names attribute correctly: When a story was published under a pen name, pick the pen-name contributor in Authors, not the primary — this keeps publication history accurate per identity
  • Set Deadline early, Date Completed when done: Deadline drives dashboard reminders; Date Completed only unlocks once Status is Complete, so the sequence enforces itself
  • Decimals in series order: When you need to slot a novella between books 1 and 2, use 1.5 — the order field accepts decimals and renders cleanly on the list
  • Filter by Publication for anthology audits: When prepping an anthology for release, filter by that publication and the Stories list becomes a contents check