Creating, Copying and Importing Stories

Creating a New Story

To create a new story, use the New button under the Story top toolbar tab. Twine will ask you what you'd like to call your story, but this is just a starting point. It can be changed at any time. The only limitation is that you can't have two stories with the same name in your library.

Once you've chosen a name for a new story, Twine will take you to the Story Map screen to let you begin editing it.

To change the name of a story once it's created, select it in the Story Library screen and choose Rename from the Story top toolbar tab.

Copying a Story

To make a copy of an existing story, select it and choose Duplicate from the Story top toolbar tab. Twine will create a copy for you with a unique name.

Importing Stories

Twine can import stories in progress, published stories, exported archives, and Twee source code. It cannot, however, import stories from Twine 1.

To import stories or archives, the process is the same:

  1. Choose Import from the Library top toolbar tab.
  2. In the dialog that appears, choose the file corresponding to your story or archive. If the file you want to import is disabled in the file dialog, it's because it's in a format that can't be used by Twine.
  3. If the stories in the file you selected don't have the same name as any story already in your library, Twine will import them immediately.
  4. Otherwise, the dialog will show the story or stories Twine found in your file. Select the ones you want to import; stories that won't overwrite existing stories in your library are checked off for you by default. The dialog'll warn you if a story you're importing has the same name as one already in your library. If you do choose to import it, it will overwrite your existing story completely.
  5. Use the Import Selected Files button in the dialog to import the files you've selected.

If you change your mind about importing midway through the process, close the dialog or choose a different file to restart the process.

Twee Import Limitations

Twine will use the story and passage metadata present in Twee source code, such as passage position or story name. If this metadata is not present, Twine will try to substitute reasonable defaults, but it will not handle all cases perfectly. In particular:

  • If Twee source code does not include passage positions, Twine will place passages in a grid pattern.
  • If a Twee file does not specify what story format and version it uses, Twine will set it to the default story format.