# Story Bible: [Working title]

A small reference for your story. Replace the fields with your own material. Leave unknowns marked “not established”. Keep this as one file or split the five numbered sections into notes.

## 1. Story overview

### Premise

[One or two sentences describing the story.]

### Current work

[Chapter, scene or revision. Distinguish a draft, an approved plan and a finished scene.]

### Viewpoint and scope

[Whose perspective? Which tense? Continuity review, brainstorm or requested rewrite?]

### Boundaries

[What should remain unchanged? What must not be revealed yet?]

### Where the facts live

Characters holds identity and character knowledge. Timeline holds event dates and reader order. Intentional clues holds protected contradictions and relevant object details. Ideas and decisions holds possibilities and pointers to approved changes.

If the manuscript and reference disagree, flag the conflict. Do not silently choose a new version.

## 2. Characters

### [Character name]

**Established identity:** [Relevant details and sources or scene references.]

**Birth date:** [Record this here only. Use the scene date in Timeline to work out age when needed.]

**At the start of [named scene]:** [What this person knows, believes and has heard.]

**At the end of [named scene]:** [What they actually learn. Do not include facts known only to the author.]

**Claims that may not be true:** [What the person says, to whom, and where.]

**Not established:** [Open details.]

Repeat for the people relevant to the current work.

## 3. Timeline

### Events in story order

| Story date or relative order | Event | Status | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Date or order] | [What happened] | [Established, planned or uncertain] | [Chapter, scene or author decision] |

Keep birth dates in Characters rather than repeating them here.

### What the reader learns, in reading order

| Chapter or scene | Information revealed | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Chapter] | [What the reader learns] | [Written, approved plan or possibility] |

An event's date and the point where it is revealed are different. A planned scene is not a scene already written.

### Revisions to the plan

[Date of decision, change, reason and affected entry. Mark the old plan as superseded. Keep the current value in the table above.]

## 4. Intentional clues

### [Clue name]

**Established object detail:** [Any important object, what it does and where it is. Otherwise “not applicable”.]

**Setup:** [What the reader or character encounters first.]

**Apparent contradiction:** [What seems not to fit.]

**Purpose:** [Why you want it there.]

**Preserve:** [What an editing pass must not remove.]

**Do not reveal yet:** [What the narration must not explain at this point. Refer to Timeline for the reveal plan.]

**What would be an error:** [A specific mistaken change.]

**Unresolved:** [Anything you have not chosen.]

Author-facing review may discuss spoilers. Reader-facing prose must respect the viewpoint and reveal plan.

## 5. Ideas and decisions

### Possibilities, not established facts

| Idea | Status | What remains to decide |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [A possibility] | [Brainstorm, under consideration or rejected] | [Open question] |

### Approved decisions and their homes

| Decision | Reason | Current reference |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [What you explicitly approved] | [Why] | [Main note and section] |

Keep each current fact in its main reference, and point to it here rather than copying it.

## Working rules

Retrieve the relevant reference before reviewing. Separate facts, claims, knowledge, plans and ideas. Flag conflicts and preserve intentional clues. Missing information remains unresolved. Review is read-only unless I request a save. Apply only the requested change, preserve unrelated material, then show the saved result.

## Review with an attached file

> Read all five sections of the attached Story Bible before reviewing the scene. Tell me which sections you used. Separate likely mistakes, intentional clues and unresolved details. Point to the section behind each finding. A character's claim is not automatically true, and an idea is not an approved decision. Do not rewrite the scene or edit the reference. If information is missing or contradictory, say so.

Edit approved changes in your local file, save it and attach the updated version to a new chat. Do not assume the chat has changed your original file.

## Create your own notes in Hjarni

Attach this blank template and send:

> Hjarni, use the headings and working rules in the blank Story Bible I have attached. First ask me for my story's title, premise, two characters and one clue. After I answer, create a separate “[Title] Story Bible” folder with five notes: Story overview, Characters, Timeline, Intentional clues, and Ideas and decisions. Check for an existing folder with that name before creating anything. Use only what I have supplied, mark unknowns “not established”, and add summaries to the notes. Do not use material from The Spare Key or change its example folder. Set folder instructions to retrieve relevant notes before reviewing, distinguish facts from claims and ideas, preserve intentional clues, and save changes only when I request them. Link to what you saved.

## Review saved notes in Hjarni

> Hjarni, read all five notes in “[Title] Story Bible” before reviewing the scene. Tell me which notes you read. Separate likely mistakes, intentional clues and unresolved details, and link each finding to its reference. Do not rewrite the scene or edit any notes. If you cannot retrieve a note, say so before reviewing.

## Save an approved change in Hjarni

> Hjarni, read [note or section] in “[Title] Story Bible”. I have approved [specific change] because [reason]. Update that reference and mark the previous plan as superseded if needed. Keep unrelated material unchanged. Do not rewrite the manuscript. Read the saved result back and link to it.

## Return in a new chat

> Hjarni, read the current notes in “[Title] Story Bible” before answering: [question about the saved reference]. Link to the notes and sections you used. Do not change anything. If you cannot access the reference, tell me.

For an attached file, replace the opening with “Read the updated Story Bible attached to this chat before answering”. A correct answer alone does not prove retrieval: inspect the reference used as well.