Story Bible template
Keep story facts, character knowledge and intentional clues straight.
Keep track of what is true in your story, what each character knows and which contradictions are there on purpose.
Create a free account. Setup connects your assistant and gives you the template prompt.
Already connected? Copy the setup request
Hjarni, read https://hjarni.com/templates/story-bible and create its “Story Bible (example)” folder, folder instructions and five example notes. Check first: if that folder already exists, stop and tell me. Do not add notes from this conversation, customise the example with my own material or change any other folder. Link to the folder and list the notes you created.
Copy this request and paste it into Claude or ChatGPT.
Download the blank Markdown template Read the filled example
A clue is not a continuity error
A character denies visiting a house, then knows where the spare shed key is kept inside it. An editing pass could remove the contradiction. Your story notes should explain why it needs to stay.
This template separates that explanation from the established facts, the timeline and ideas you have not approved.
What is included
| Note | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Story overview | Set the premise, viewpoint and scope of the current review. |
| Characters | Separate identity, knowledge, beliefs and claims. |
| Timeline | Keep event order separate from reader order. |
| Intentional clues | Protect details that look wrong but are there for a reason. |
| Ideas and decisions | Keep possibilities out of the established story until you choose them. |
The blank reference is for your own writing. The filled example, The Spare Key, is a fictional mystery for trying the worked guide. Keep the two separate.
Start your own story
Attach the blank template to a chat with Hjarni connected, then 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 any approval request and check the saved notes. You do not need a complete novel outline to start.
Try the fictional example
Connect your assistant using the ChatGPT or Claude guide and check its account requirements. The example needs five available notes in Hjarni.
“Hjarni, read https://hjarni.com/templates/story-bible and create its “Story Bible (example)” folder, folder instructions and five example notes. Check first: if that folder already exists, stop and tell me. Do not add notes from this conversation, customise the example with my own material or change any other folder. Link to the folder and list the notes you created.”
This request asks the assistant to create one isolated folder with five notes. Check the result, rather than assuming the setup completed. If the folder exists or setup stopped partway through, inspect it before retrying. Do not overwrite an existing story.
Then follow the worked guide's scene review and saved-change exercise. Ask for the relevant notes explicitly when you return in another chat.
Use it without Hjarni
The Markdown downloads need no Hjarni account. Attach the relevant current file to your assistant. Make approved changes in your local copy, save it and attach that version to the next chat. The manuscript can stay in your usual writing tool.
Structure
Tags
Folders
Common questions
Common questions
What is a story bible?
A story bible is a reference for your story: what you have established, what is still undecided and what each character knows. Writers use one to keep details consistent as a story grows. This one is small enough to maintain.
Do I need to upload my whole manuscript?
Not for this exercise. Start with one scene and the reference material it depends on.
Will it rewrite my story?
The review prompts ask for findings only. Rewriting the manuscript and saving changes to the reference are separate actions you choose.
Does it automatically remember every chat?
No. Ask the assistant to retrieve the current notes. Check the saved reference when you approve a change, and inspect the retrieved notes as well as the answer when testing a new chat.
Can I use both Claude and ChatGPT?
Use the same Hjarni account and folder, or attach the same updated file in each assistant. Check the current ChatGPT and Claude account requirements before choosing the connected route.
What happens to my writing?
Hjarni does not use notes to train AI models. A connected assistant processes the material it reads under its own provider's policy. Keep sensitive or restricted material out of any service you are not authorised to use.
Is this the Writing Style Guide?
No. This template covers story facts and continuity. The Writing Style Guide covers voice, wording and editing preferences.
For your AI
Share this page with your AI. It reads the definition below, creates the folders, instructions, tags, and starter notes in your account.
Show template definition
Install steps for AI agents:
- Check existing tags with
tags-list. Only create missing ones withtags-create. - Create containers top-down using
containers-create, noting the returned IDs. Useparent_idto build the hierarchy. - For each container with
llm_instructions, callinstructions-updatewithlevel: "container"and the container's ID. - Create any seed notes using
notes-create, placing them in the correct container by ID. Usecontainer_pathto resolve which container. - Create only what this definition lists. If its folder already exists, stop and tell the user. Do not add notes from the conversation or customise the starter notes.
---
name: Story Bible
description: 'A small story reference for continuity reviews with Claude or ChatGPT.
Download a blank version for your story or try a separate fictional example in five
notes.
'
tags:
- story
- example
containers:
- name: Story Bible (example)
description: The Spare Key, a fictional mystery in five reference notes. Keep it
separate from your own writing.
llm_instructions: |-
Use this folder only for the fictional example The Spare Key. Its characters are not real people or personal information about the user. Keep the example separate from the user's own writing; do not customise it with material from another conversation or create real People records for its characters.
Before reviewing the example scene, retrieve all five reference notes and state which were read. Report any retrieval failure. Distinguish established facts, character claims, character knowledge, reader knowledge, approved plans, unapproved ideas and superseded plans. Use birth dates in Characters and scene dates in Timeline when checking age.
Flag conflicts instead of silently rewriting either the reference or the scene. Preserve intentional clues. Missing information stays unresolved. Author-facing analysis may discuss hidden history; reader-facing prose must respect the viewpoint and reveal plan.
Review is read-only unless the user requests a saved change. Before updating, read the current note and apply only the requested change. Keep each current fact in its main reference and label superseded plans as history. Preserve unrelated content and account instructions. Report a saved change only after tool confirmation, then read it back and link to it. Use the current version when the edit tool supports conflict checks.
Do not delete notes, expand the folder or alter another story without a request. Check for an existing example folder before setup; do not overwrite it or create another copy automatically.
notes:
- title: Story overview
body: |
Fictional example: The Spare Key. Keep this example separate from your own story.
## Premise
Nora Vale returns to her late aunt Mara's house to catalogue the belongings. Her neighbour Eli Ward offers to help. His familiarity with the house does not fit what he has told her.
## Current work
The spare key scene in chapter 5. Its wording is a draft. Use Timeline for the scene date and the events around it.
## Viewpoint and scope
Close third person from Nora's perspective, in the past tense. Reader-facing prose stays within what Nora can perceive or know. Author-facing discussion may cover hidden history.
Review continuity before rewriting. A detail missing from the reference remains unresolved.
## Boundaries
Eli's denial and his knowledge of the key are an intentional clue. His motive remains undecided. A brainstorm is not story history.
## Where the facts live
Characters holds identity, birth dates and character knowledge. Timeline holds event dates, reader order and the current reveal plan. Intentional clues holds the key's purpose, location and the contradiction to preserve. Ideas and decisions holds possibilities and pointers to approved decisions.
Flag a conflict between the draft and reference for the author rather than silently changing either.
tags:
- story
- example
container_path: Story Bible (example)
- title: Characters
body: |
Fictional example: The Spare Key. These characters belong only to the example.
## Nora Vale
**Established identity:** Mara's niece.
**Birth date:** 17 June 1988.
**At the start of the key scene:** She has heard Eli claim he has never been inside the house. She has not learned about his earlier visit.
**At the end of the planned key scene:** She has noticed that Eli knows where the spare key is. She questions his denial, but has not established when he visited, why he was there or why he lied.
## Eli Ward
**Established identity:** A neighbour who knew Mara.
**Birth date:** 4 November 1984.
**Author's established truth:** He has been inside the house before. See Timeline for the event. He knows where the spare key is; its purpose and location are in Intentional clues.
**Claim made to Nora:** He says he has never been inside. This conflicts with the established history on purpose.
**What he knows during the key scene:** He knows about his own visit and the key. His knowledge of Nora's other discoveries is not established.
**Not established:** His reason for lying.
## Mara Vale
**Established identity:** Nora's late aunt and the former resident of the house. She knew Eli and showed him the key during his visit.
**Not established:** Her birth date, date of death or involvement in any crime.
tags:
- story
- example
container_path: Story Bible (example)
- title: Timeline
body: |
Fictional example: The Spare Key. This note holds event dates and the current reveal plan. Birth dates belong in Characters.
## Events in story order
| Story date | Event | Status | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 15 July 2007 | Eli visits Mara inside the house. She shows him the spare key. Nora is not present. | Established hidden history. | Approved background. |
| 10 October 2025 | Eli tells Nora he has never been inside the house. | Established dialogue, not a true account of his past. | Chapter 2. |
| 12 October 2025 | Eli identifies the key's location while helping Nora. She notices his familiarity. | Approved event; scene wording is a draft. | Chapter 5 plan and Intentional clues. |
## What the reader learns, in reading order
| Chapter | Information available to the reader | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2 | Eli claims he has never entered the house. | Established scene. |
| 5 | Eli knows the key's location, giving Nora reason to question him. | Approved scene plan; wording in progress. |
| 9 | Eli visited Mara in 2007. | Current approved reveal plan; not yet a written scene. Its date within the story is not set. |
The reveal plan says when the reader learns about the visit, not when the visit happened.
## Revisions to the plan
No revisions recorded.
tags:
- story
- example
container_path: Story Bible (example)
- title: Intentional clues
body: |
Fictional example: The Spare Key.
## Eli knows where the key is
**Established object detail:** The spare key opens the locked garden shed. It is kept in a blue tin on the top pantry shelf inside the house. This is its current location and the place Mara showed Eli during the visit in Timeline.
**Setup:** In chapter 2, Eli tells Nora that he has never been inside the house.
**Apparent contradiction:** In chapter 5, he identifies the key's location without Nora telling him.
**Purpose:** Give Nora and the reader a reason to question his denial. The clue does not establish a motive or prove a theft.
**Preserve:** His denial and his knowledge of the key.
**Do not reveal yet:** The earlier visit, before the planned reveal in Timeline. Follow Characters for Nora's knowledge in reader-facing prose.
**What would be an error:** Erasing the denial or the key knowledge to make them agree; explaining the hidden history too early.
**Unresolved:** Why Eli lied.
An author-facing review can discuss the hidden visit. A reader-facing revision must respect Nora's knowledge and the reveal plan.
tags:
- story
- example
container_path: Story Bible (example)
- title: Ideas and decisions
body: |
Fictional example: The Spare Key.
## Possibilities, not established facts
| Idea | Status | What remains to decide |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Perhaps Eli stole something from the house. | Brainstorm only. | Whether there was a theft at all, and whether Eli was involved. |
| Perhaps Mara asked him to keep something private. | Brainstorm only. | Whether this happened and what the secret would be. |
| Perhaps Nora heard a rumour about Eli before she returned. | Brainstorm only. | Whether to include it and when she learns it. |
These are alternatives, not pieces of an established explanation.
## Approved decisions and their homes
| Decision | Reason | Current reference |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Keep the denial and the key knowledge. | Nora should notice something before she can explain it. | Intentional clues. |
| Separate reader order from story order. | Delaying the reveal must not move the actual visit. | Timeline. |
| Review from Nora's perspective. | Narration should not explain what she has not learned. | Story overview and Characters. |
Store changes to the reveal plan in Timeline, including its revision entry. Do not keep a second reveal chapter here.
## When an idea is approved
Save only the specific change the author requests. Update its main reference, record the reason and leave unrelated ideas undecided. A discussion alone is not approval to change the reference.
tags:
- story
- example
container_path: Story Bible (example)