Unlocking New Dimensions: Mutate Your Storyforms in Subtxt!

Adapting Storyforms on the fly with Muse

Hold onto your hats because we’re diving into something we thought would only be possible with a ton of new frontend features and buttons. But no, it's already here – and all it takes is a conversation with Muse!

🚀 Transform Your Story with Muse

Imagine this: you’ve got a brilliant story idea with fully fleshed-out Throughlines. Maybe it's a high-concept, high-marketability story where forgotten memories become ghosts (more on this later!). But when you check your Storyform alignment, something feels off. Your Main Character is stuck in Universe, while your Obstacle Character is trying to flex their Psychology skills – a combination that doesn’t quite work.

Normally, this would be the part where you’re diving deep into theory, tweaking, and refining until everything lines up. But now, with Muse, you can simply ask it to realign your Storyform and watch the magic happen.

Here’s how it all went down...

1. From Concept to Story in a Snap!

While testing out the latest update to Subtxt, I started with an idea that Muse had previously generated for me: a ghost story born from forgotten memories:

Story Idea

Title: "Echoes of the Forgotten"

In a world where forgotten memories manifest as ghostly apparitions, a renegade scientist and a grief-stricken detective join forces to unravel the mystery behind a series of hauntingly beautiful but deadly events. As they delve deeper, they realize the apparitions are linked to a powerful corporation erasing memories for their gain, with the ultimate plan to control all consciousness.

Four Throughlines

Objective Story Throughline:

Domain: Physics
Throughline Description: The story centers around the external activities and physical manifestations of forgotten memories wreaking havoc on the city. The protagonists must physically combat these manifestations while uncovering the corporation’s agenda to restore balance.

Main Character Throughline:

Domain: Universe
Throughline Description: The detective, struggling with the unresolved disappearance of a loved one, finds themselves trapped in a world where memories they can't access are all too real and threatening. Their position in this reality causes them to experience these painful echoes repeatedly, challenging their perception of truth and justice.

Obstacle Character Throughline:

Domain: Psychology
Throughline Description: The renegade scientist, burdened with guilt over the role they played in the development of the memory-erasing technology, represents a contrasting viewpoint. They believe that memories should stay forgotten to preserve sanity but are challenged by the growing consequences of their actions.

Relationship Story Throughline:

Domain: Mind
Throughline Description: The dynamic between the detective and the scientist evolves as they grapple with trust, past grievances, and the emotional scars left by these memories. Their relationship reflects the struggle between acceptance and control, ultimately finding common ground in facing the truth.

Muse quickly set up the story in Subtxt, titled it "Echoes of the Forgotten," and saved my Four Throughlines as Storypoints.

These Storypoints, representing different aspects of the narrative, are now neatly tucked away in my Story – ready to be accessed anytime by tapping the Story Title in the Story Directory.

(For those of you already subscribed to Subtxt, consider this a sneak peek at what’s coming your way soon. We’ll have more to share shortly, but just know that this is just the beginning of a whole new level of flexibility and creative freedom you’ll be able to explore in the app!)

2. Something’s Off – But We’ve Got Muse!

For those deep in Subtxt and Dramatica theory, you might have already spotted the issue: you can’t mix a Main Character Domain in Universe with an Obstacle Character Domain in Psychology – it just doesn’t work (trust me, there are a million reasons why!). But this is actually a good thing at this stage. Until you finalize a Storyform, you can have those wild, mismatched ideas floating around – just like how stories live in our heads before we nail down the details.

But when you’re ready to bring things into harmony, Muse is here to help. I simply asked it to check the alignment of my Storyform.

3. The Realignment Process

Muse didn’t get it right the first time – a small hiccup, probably due to background training. So I made a tweak and politely asked again.

4. Success! A Perfectly Aligned Storyform

Muse nailed it! Not only did it recognize the misalignment, but it also suggested refined Storypoints that brought all Four Throughlines into perfect balance. This means we can now transmutate and re-contextualize Storyforms – just by asking Muse!

5. Refining the Details

This is awesome. When I go to save a Storypoint, Muse will check ahead of time to make sure it's not going to overwrite something that is already there. I confirmed the update, and agreed to merging the new Storypoints with the existing ones.

While I was in full debug-and-code mode, I absentmindedly said, "Sure, mix them in!" Not the best move for this case, as I realized later. So, I doubled back and asked Muse to take another focused pass, zeroing in on the accurate Domains and leaving the old stuff behind.

6. The Final Story – Balanced and Ready to Go!

With Muse’s latest pass, the new Domains are perfectly balanced. The Main Character and Objective Story Throughlines finally click into place. It’s a story that now feels aligned, vivid, and true to its narrative DNA.

And the best part? All of this happened before I even locked in a final Storyform. These Storypoints are still floating, meaning I can continue to explore, tweak, and experiment until I settle on the structure that feels just right.

If you’re itching to try out this feature, get ready to experiment with floating Storypoints, realignment, and all the narrative flexibility your imagination craves. Subtxt and Muse are here to guide you through it every step of the way.

Happy story-shifting! ✨

P.S. We’re beyond excited to share this groundbreaking feature with you, but we want to give you a heads-up – it’s not quite ready for primetime just yet. We’re still wrapping up some last-minute testing and making a few cosmetic updates to the interfaces. Thanks so much for your patience as we fine-tune everything to make sure your experience is smooth and seamless. We can’t wait for you to try it out soon!