yWriter Comprehensive Help File

This document was recovered from the lost yWriter google sites page, and is still a work in progress

CHARACTERS How do I ?

? add characters to populate my novel?

Go to Characters>Add new. A pop up box will appear. TIP In the first instance, simply write down the full name and short name (nickname) and tick whether this is a major or minor character. Click OK. Make a character list of all possible characters who may populate your book. When you have done this you can click Characters>View/Edit to see your list. All the names will appear in the right hand column. By double clicking on any of the names here you can go back to the pop up box to add more details.

?add characters to any particular scene?

Open a scene by going to Scene>Create New. Click on the character tab. Click on the character(s) you want to appear in that scene by placing the cursor over the character, holding the mouse key down and dragging that character over to the left-hand side. Made a mistake? Drag that character back again.

? add more detailed information about my characters?

Click Characters>View/edit. Double click on the person?s name. A dialogue box will pop up. Information can be inserted there.
Open a scene. Click the character?s tab. There are two boxes below the list of characters. The left one contains the description of the character, the right one contains notes.

? arrange my characters in a specific order?

Go to Characters tab on the menu bar, and then View/Edit. You will see the characters listed. Drag and drop them into the order you want.

? auto- assign characters to scenes?

Answer

? change character details quickly?

Open scene. Click character tab. Double click on name

? change a character name easily after I have written many chapters?

Go to Search>Global search and replace. Just make sure you tick 'Match Case' and 'Whole Word Only', or you'll wreck things badly.
For individual scenes, in the scene editor window you can also use the Edit/Replace function.
Or export to a word document and search and replace.

? delete a character? From one scene? Expunge entirely?

To remove a character from a scene, open the scene, click Character, and drag the unwonted name from the left to the right. To delete a character entirely click on Character>View/Edit, double click on the name in the drop down box, and use the delete button marked with a X.

? edit a character?

Press Character >View/Edit on the Main Screen. If you have 'Mark Known Characters' enabled in the scene editor, you can double-click any character name in the editor window to edit that character.

?get yWriter to help me to develop my novel?s characters?

When you open a scene there is a character tab. By clicking on this there is a dialogue box. BIO clearly means biography. In the NOTES tab you can paste a template with dozens of questions about your character which you can fill in.

? use the Cancel button when I open up the (1) character, (2) item or (3) location boxes, respectively?

On the main Screen, double click View/edit on the character, item or location tabs (You can also do this from the Scene Editor window.) A dialogue box pops up. WARNING! If you press the Cancel button you will lose everything in that box. Preferably use the delete key if you want to get rid of information.

? rearrange the order of characters on the character list?

Go to Characters>View/edit. You can drag and drop names on the master character list into a different order.

? tell in which scene(s) a character is in?

Select Reports -> Print Scenes by Character. It only tells you which chapter they are in, not which scene within the chapter, and the total number of scenes they are in. There is no way to view this information without printing.