How To Track Your Story vs. Backstory

Many authors not only like to plot out the events in their story, but also the backstory of their characters and world. While these events will not end up in the final product they can be very useful during the writing process, and Aeon Timeline gives you a way to plot these independent of your story.

Defining your Events as Story or Backstory using Event Types

Aeon Timeline provides different event types that can be added to your file. These include “Event”, “Backstory” and “Flashback” and can be used to help keep track of different parts of your planning process. You can select which of these you wish to use in your timeline in Timeline Settings under the Data Types tab.

You can change the type of an existing event via the Inspector by clicking the “Change” button next to Type.

To add an event into your story, click the + icon in the Sidebar and choose "Event". 

Similarly, once "Backstory" has been added via Timeline Settings, you can add backstory by clicking the + button in the Sidebar. 

Filtering

You can track your story or backstory by filtering your timeline. 

To track your story, click the filter icon  in in the sidebar. Under 'Current Filter' choose 'Type' and then click '+ Click to add first item'. To filter only your main story, choose to filter by 'Event'. 

To track your backstory, you need to follow a similar process. Open the filter tab  in the Sidebar and choose 'Type' under 'Current Filter'. Then click '+ Click to add first item' and choose 'Backstory'. This will filter your timeline allowing you to only view the backstory.