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How a story is made

Every story on this shelf comes out of Story Cards — a writing tool where scenes are cards, dialogue reads like a screenplay, and images are framed like shots. Here's the whole process behind The 6:40, start to finish.

1

Start with the manifest

A new project opens on the Project Manifest: title, subtitle, logline, theme, cast, locations. It's the story's ID card — everything else selects from it.

LoglineA ferry, a missing regular, and the note she left behind.

ThemeThe schedules we keep are how we love people quietly.
2

Write the cards

Each scene is a card: a title, a one-line scene action, then the script — narrator VO, character dialogue with avatars, and soundscape notes, stacked like a screenplay. Word count sets each card's timing automatically at your reading pace.

NarratorShe rode bow-side, coffee on the rail. Same cup. Same crack in the lid. Fifteen years.

EllisYou could set the tide by her.
3

Pull the shots

Every card gets an on-screen image — searched from Pexels inside the tool (photographers are credited automatically), uploaded, or reused from the project. The image becomes the card's backdrop, so the deck reads like a storyboard.

4

Cut the Kuleshov moment

The heart of the craft: one beat, three shots. His face — the empty bench — his face again, closer. The return shot isn't a new photo; it's the same image with a stored zoom and focal point. Each shot carries its own seconds and a line of micro-VO, and the cuts land as hard jumps, exactly on time.

Ellis counted heads out of habit. → Bow-side: her bench. Empty. → He counted again.
5

Add motion and marks

Every shot gets a Ken Burns move — push in, pull out, or pan — and a push-in always lands on the framing you chose. Draw on a shot to circle a detail; drop text or emoji stickers where a broadcast overlay belongs. In The 6:40, a red ring marks where the note is taped.

6

Perform it

Perform mode is a teleprompter stage: the shots play behind the words, micro-VO advances with each cut, and the timing bar keeps you honest. It's the rehearsal room and the preview of the published piece — they're the same stage.

7

Publish to the shelf

Export produces a single HTML file: the whole story, clickable, with auto-read narration and an autoplay mode that watches like a video. It ends on a credits card naming every photographer. That file is what you're reading stories from right now.

Play The 6:40 Read the full guide Watch the 40-second demo Download the project file