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.
| 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 |
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.
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.
- 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 events 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.