Work suggestions
Work suggestions point out unfinished work in your novel — a chapter left short, a character who has vanished, a plotline gone quiet — so you can see at a glance what to write next.
What are work suggestions? #
They are prompts that Story Builder draws from what is already in your project, not from a checklist. A suggestion is never an error, and nothing is blocked. A character with no biography is often fine: some characters are a name and a function, and only you know which ones yours are.
What does Story Builder look for? #
Each type below can be switched off on its own, under the name shown here. Entity with no relations and Possible duplicate entities start switched off, since they take the longest to check in a large project; switch them on in Settings → Suggestions when you want them.
| Suggestion type | When it appears |
|---|---|
| Continue unfinished chapter | Your latest chapter has only a few lines so far |
| Chapter missing metadata | A chapter has no location, characters or date set |
| Entity missing description | A character with no biography, or a location with no description, already appears in chapters |
| Entity never used in a chapter | A character or location is not in any chapter yet |
| Entity with no relations | A character or location appears in chapters but has no relations |
| Event missing a date | An event has no date, so it cannot appear on the timeline or the Gantt chart |
| Possible duplicate entities | Characters or locations share the same or a very similar name |
| Character missing in recent chapters | A living character appeared earlier but not in any of the last six chapters |
| Character appears after dying | A character is in a chapter dated after their death. If the chapter is a flashback, dismiss it |
| Continue a plotline | A plotline has beats still to write; the suggestion names the next one |
| Plotline quiet for several chapters | A plotline's last written beat is four or more chapters back, and beats remain |
| Beat with no chapter yet | A beat of an open plotline has no chapter linked. The earliest-dated beats come first, then undated ones; the link opens the plotline with that beat selected. The beat's date and place show under it |
Several types show only the first few matches at a time, so the list stays short. As you deal with those, the next ones take their place.
A plotline you have marked as completed is never suggested, however many beats are left.
Where do suggestions appear? #
On the dashboard, in the Work suggestions card, and in a small pop-up when you open a project. The pop-up appears at most once a day for each project. Each suggestion links straight to the record it is about.
How do I turn off a suggestion? #
There are three levels, from one record to the whole pop-up:
- Mute one record. Press Dismiss this suggestion on the dashboard card, or Mute this suggestion in the pop-up. Nothing more is suggested about that record, whether it is a character, location, chapter, event or plotline. Dismissing a beat mutes that beat only; the plotline and its other beats stay. Muting a plotline also mutes its beats.
- Turn off a type. In the project's Settings → Suggestions, clear it under Suggestion Types. You are never asked about it again.
- Turn off the pop-up. In the same place, clear Show suggestion toast when opening project. The dashboard card stays.
Muted records are listed under Muted Items in the same settings. Re-enable suggestion brings one back. Manage suggestions, at the foot of the pop-up, opens these settings directly.
Suggestions also follow your modules. Switch a module off and you get no suggestions about its records: a project without the timeline is never asked about event dates.
Tips #
- Start a session from the dashboard. The card is a short list of places to pick up where you left off.
- Set a chapter's characters, location and date as you go. They feed several suggestions, including the absent-character and after-death checks.
- Treat a duplicate warning as a spelling check. Two nearly identical names are usually a typo or a second attempt at the same person.
- Mute rather than turn off. Muting one minor character keeps the suggestion type working for everyone else.
- Dismiss a flashback warning. An appearance after death is often deliberate. Dismissing it mutes suggestions about that chapter.
Related #
- The project dashboard — where the suggestions card lives.
- Plotlines — plan the beats that the plotline suggestions follow.
- Chapters — set a chapter's characters, location and date.
- Lens — find continuity errors in the text itself.