Scenes

A scene is the unit you write. It is a short piece of prose that ends with a decision, and it is one node in your story's map.

The parts of a scene#

Every scene has three parts.

• A title. It is optional. Readers see it in small capitals above the text, so keep it to a few words. It also helps you find the scene in the list on the left.
• The text. This is what the reader reads.
• The choices. What the reader can do next. A scene needs at least one. See Choices.

Writing the text#

Wyoot's own stories are written in second person, so the reader is "you". You open the door. You hear something behind you. It keeps the reader inside the moment, and it is the house style we recommend.

Use everyday words. A reader should never have to stop and reread a sentence to understand it. Long sentences are fine as long as they are easy to follow.

A blank line starts a new paragraph. The toolbar above the text has Bold and Italic buttons. Scene break adds an extra gap between two paragraphs, which is useful for a jump in time or place inside one scene. Later toolbar controls insert remembered values and show-only-if paragraphs. See Showing values in the text.

Let the text lead toward the decision without spelling it out. Ending a scene with "You could go left, or you could go right" repeats what the choices below it are about to say.

How long a scene should be#

Short. Wyoot's own stories keep a scene under about 1,750 characters, which is roughly 300 words. Go past that and the editor shows a warning in the Validation card. It is a warning, not an error, so it will not stop you submitting, but it is a good signal to split the scene.

If a moment needs more room, split it across two scenes joined by a single choice such as "Keep reading" or a short action.

What the reader sees#

Scenes stack down the page as the reader goes. When they pick a choice, the scene they just read stays above with their choice shown under it, and the next scene appears below. They can scroll back up at any time.

This is why a scene should read well on its own and why you should not assume the reader remembers a detail from three scenes ago. Readers can scroll up, but most will not.

The start scene#

One scene is where every reader begins. It is marked "start" in the list. To change it, open another scene and use Make start. You cannot delete the start scene until you have chosen a different one.

Working with scenes in the editor#

• Add a scene with + Scene above the list. It appears directly after the scene you have selected, which keeps related scenes together.
• Drag a scene in the list to reorder it. The order of the list is for your convenience. It does not change how the story reads, which is decided only by the choices.
• Duplicate copies a scene. Delete removes it, after asking you to confirm.
• The search box above the list filters by title.
• Focus mode hides everything except the title, the text and the choices, so you can just write. Press Cmd+Shift+F (Ctrl+Shift+F on Windows) to switch it on, and Esc to leave.

Next#

A scene is only half of the story. Choices covers the other half.