Screenwriting Blog
Posted on by Rylee Beckett

Mastering SoCreate Writer: The In-Depth Guide

Mastering SoCreate Writer:
The In-Depth Guide

Introduction to SoCreate Writer

SoCreate Writer is a tool built for storytellers of any level to express themselves without worrying about formalities. SoCreate Writer was designed to make the writing process fun and stress-free, creating an immersive and enjoyable environment for creativity to thrive. If you’re writing your first short film or developing an entire book series, this guide will walk you through every part of the SoCreate Writer platform, so you can confidently bring your stories to life, from first draft to published experience.

Getting Started

  • Signing up

    Getting started on SoCreate is easy! To sign up, go to socreate.it and choose the best plan for you. We offer a free 3-day trial and three different paid plans.

  • Personal Plan

    $4.99/month (billed annually). Includes unlimited projects, access to SoCreate’s Doodle, Realistic, and Silhouette image collections, and the ability to import/export Final Draft projects.

  • Professional Plan

    $9.99/month (billed annually). Includes everything in the Personal Plan plus real-time collaboration, feedback request tools, custom image uploading for characters, locations, and actions, and full access to SoCreate Publishing.

  • Student Plan

    $4.99/month (billed annually). Same price as Personal, but with full Professional features for eligible students. Requires a .edu email address to qualify.

Pricing menu
  • Creating a Storyteller Story, Movie Script, or TV Script

    Creating a new story from your SoCreate dashboard is simple. When you open the dashboard, you’ll notice two primary options: Create Project and Import Project.

  • Create Project

    Once you click Create Project, you’ll be prompted to name your story. Not ready to lock in a title yet? No problem! You can leave the field blank and rename your project later when the right title comes along.

    Beneath the title field, you’ll find Advanced Settings. Expand this section to add additional project information, including:

    - A brief story synopsis

    - The originator of the idea

    - The creator of the project

    On the right side, you’ll choose your project format:

    - Storyteller Story

    - Movie Script

    - TV Script

  • Don’t worry about getting it perfect on the first try. You can change your project type at any point as your story evolves.

    Each project type has a structure designed for the way that story is told:

    Storyteller Stories use chapters instead of scenes and support flexible structures, including chapters, sections, acts, and stories.

    Movie and TV Scripts are scene-based, allowing you to organize your story with sequences, acts, episodes, and seasons as needed.

    No matter which project type you choose, you can publish your project to the SoCreate Storyteller platform, giving you the flexibility to take your story from its original format to an immersive storytelling experience.

  • Importing an Existing Project

    Already have a story started somewhere else? You can bring it into SoCreate Writer by clicking Import Project on your dashboard.

    A dropdown will appear with the same three project options:

    • Storyteller Story
    • Movie Script
    • TV Script

    You can import existing stories from Final Draft or PDF. And because almost anything can be converted into a PDF, you can bring virtually any written story into SoCreate Writer.

    Once your file is imported, a preview of your story will automatically load so you can see how it will appear in SoCreate. SoCreate will also automatically match silhouette images to your characters and locations, which you can edit later if needed.

    Your newly imported story will then appear on your dashboard, ready to explore, edit, and continue developing in SoCreate.

Before:

After:

Visual Writing Interface

SoCreate's Visual Writing Interface is designed to keep everything you need within reach, so you can focus on telling your story.

  • Title Card (Upper Left Side)

    In the upper left corner, you’ll find your title card. It displays your working title, the title card image, a menu button, and a stats button.

    To view your story stats, click the button at the bottom right of the title card. It will flip to reveal detailed information on the back. This includes counts of action items, dialogue items, scenes, sequences, acts, films, page counts, and estimated story time.

  • The three dots located at the top right, just above the menu, open your menu options.

  • Here, you’ll find several choices: Edit Story Settings, Request Feedback, and Include Title Text.

  • Selecting Edit Story Settings opens a pop-up where you can manage important details about your project. From here, you can choose your project template, update the title, add a story synopsis, create a title card image, and select options such as visual style, narrator voice, and copyright information.

    You can also use the Request Feedback option to invite specific people or the entire SoCreate community to provide feedback on your story.

    The Include Title Text toggle lets you choose whether you want text to appear on your title card image.

  • Story Toolbar (Left Side)

    Beneath the title card, you’ll find the Story Toolbar. This is where you can create and manage your characters, locations, and props. Once created, each one is automatically added to your gallery in the Story Toolbar, giving you easy access to everything in your story and helping keep your project organized.

  • Tools Toolbar (Right Side)

    On the right side of your screen, you’ll find the Tools Toolbar. This is where you can add action, background tracks, visual direction, transitions, and story structure to your project.

  • Main Toolbar (Top)

    At the top of your screen will be your main toolbar. Here there are a few options. You’ll find an icon with four horizontal lines on the far left. Clicking it opens a dropdown menu to access your story settings, view available keyboard shortcuts, export or print your story, or tour the interface. You can quickly switch to another recent story, open a story from your dashboard, create a new one, or navigate to the SoCreate Home, Blog, or Company pages. In the center of the toolbar are the Undo and Redo buttons, which let you easily reverse or reinstate your most recent changes. On the far right, you’ll find tools to publish your story, collaborate with others, access support, return to your dashboard, or visit your account settings.

  • Stream

    Your Story Stream in SoCreate Writer is where you develop your story. There are two different views in your Story Stream, Story View and Outline View. The Story View is where you will write your story. It includes everything you add, like chapters, action, and dialogue. The Outline Stream is where you build your story’s structure. It is a place to create the framework for your story.

  • Multiple Story Streams

    Viewing multiple sections of your story simultaneously is easy with SoCreate’s Additional Story Streams feature. To open a second view, click “+” to the right of your primary stream. Your entire story will populate in this new stream, allowing you to scroll and explore independently from your main view.

  • Collapsing Scenes

    Next to the “+,” there is a collapse icon. If you press the one at the top, all your scenes will collapse. These same icons are also on each scene bracket, so you can collapse individual scenes as well.

    Collapsing your actions, sequences, and scenes lets you view your story structure quickly. It also makes it easy to rearrange scenes using their drag handles and jump around to make quick edits.

  • Outline Stream

    At the top of your Story Stream, you’ll see a down arrow on the left-hand side. Click it to open your Outline Stream. With just one click, you’ll get a clean, organized view to start building your story’s structure. Add scenes, sequences, acts, and films to create your story outline. Each scene includes an expanded notes section, helping you organize your thoughts as you develop your story.

  • As you build your outline, you can also build the foundation for writing your story. You can create characters, props, and locations directly within your outline notes. Type the Shift + @ on your keyboard to pop up Quick Add, then choose the asset you want to create. Elements including characters and locations will automatically appear in your Story Toolbar on the left once you’ve created them using Quick Add. When it’s time to write dialogue and action, all your story assets will be ready.

    Once your outline is complete and you’re ready to start writing, click the plus (+) button in the green bar at the top of your Outline Stream to open a new Story Stream. This gives you a seamless, side-by-side view of your outline and writing space, so you can reference your notes while writing your story’s dialogue and action, all in one place.

Characters

With your writing interface set up, it's time to start populating your story. Let's start with the people in it.

  • Add Characters

    To add a character to your story in SoCreate, navigate to the Story Toolbar on the left-hand side of your screen and click the “+” next to Characters.

  • A form will appear where you can enter details about your character, including their name, description, age, and type.

    When describing your character’s appearance, the more detail you provide, the more control you’ll have over the character’s look. You can generate an image of your character right then by clicking “Regenerate Image.” Not quite what you imagined? No problem! Update the character’s appearance and regenerate the image until you get the look you’re after.

    Once you’re happy with your character, click “Add Character” to finalize the creation.

  • Your new character will appear in your Story Toolbar and at the location of your cursor in the Story Stream. From there, you can immediately start adding dialogue for your character.

  • Creating Quick Add Characters

    Use SoCreate’s Quick Add feature to rapidly introduce new characters or tag existing ones directly within your story. Type the Shift + @ on your keyboard to activate Quick Add. From there, either click or tab over to the Character icon in the sidebar and begin entering your new character’s details, such as their name, character type, and age.

  • Your newly created character will now appear in the Story Toolbar for future use and will be automatically highlighted in the Dialogue or Action Stream Item where they were first mentioned.

    Writers should tag characters every time they are mentioned in the story. This makes it easy later to see exactly where each character appears throughout the story, or to edit that character’s details on a global level, like their name or appearance. Readers can also hover over a tagged character to view more information about them.

    Using @ mentioning for your characters signals to our AI that they may need to appear in the action image. It also helps maintain consistency across your story whenever the character is referenced.

  • Tag Characters

    To tag a character, navigate to the relevant character or action stream item and type the Shift + @ on your keyboard. A dropdown will appear showing all available characters, select the one you want, and their name will appear in blue text. Tagging characters ensures consistency throughout your story when it’s published into SoCreate Storyteller.

  • Add Appearance, Wardrobe, and Voices

    To add or edit details for a character, head to the Story Toolbar and hover over the character you’d like to update. Click the blue “i” icon to open the character settings, where you can describe their appearance and wardrobe and assign them a voice.

  • Use the appearance and wardrobe fields to bring your character to life with as much detail as you’d like. You can also generate images for both appearance and wardrobe directly within the settings, allowing you to see your vision take shape as you create. If the result isn’t quite right, simply update your description and regenerate the image until you’re happy with it.

    For wardrobe, think like a costume designer. You can define specific costumes for individual stream items, and the last wardrobe you describe will carry forward through all subsequent scenes or chapters until you introduce another change.

    When describing a wardrobe, be as detailed as possible:

    • Start with the era or overall style
    • Describe the top: sleeve length, color, texture, and fit
    • Detail the bottoms: length, cut, color, and material
    • Include shoes, jewelry, and accessories

    Detailed character descriptions help SoCreate’s AI Production Studio more accurately visualize your story. The more vivid and cinematic your descriptions are, the better they can guide the AI in creating visuals that reflect your vision.

  • SoCreate also offers a library of 650+ unique voices, allowing you to choose a voice that fits each character’s personality and tone. Select “Select Character’s Voice” to choose how your character sounds in your story.

    When publishing to SoCreate Storyteller, a voice will be automatically assigned if you haven’t selected one. To have greater control over how your characters sound, we recommend selecting a voice for each character.

  • Aliases

    In SoCreate, you can assign aliases to Characters, Locations, and Props to reference them by alternative names while keeping them linked to the original element in your story. This is especially helpful for nicknames, codenames, or variations in how assets (including characters, props, and locations) are referred to across different scenes.

    To add an alias, type Shift + @ to bring up the Quick Add feature. Search for the Character, Location, or Prop you want to assign an alias to by typing, scrolling, or using the arrow keys. Once you’ve located the item, click the blue “Add Alias” button next to it. Type in the new alias name and hit Enter. The alias will appear in blue text within the Dialogue or Action Stream Item where it was mentioned, just like the original name.

  • You can add as many aliases as you need for each element. To manage existing aliases, hover over the Character or Location in your Story Toolbar, or click on the Prop’s name, then click the three-dot menu icon and choose “Edit.” From there, you’ll be able to view all current aliases, add new ones, or revise or remove existing entries. Any changes you make will automatically update across your entire story wherever that element is @ mentioned, ensuring consistency while giving you the flexibility to reflect how characters and places are naturally referenced in dialogue or description.

  • Adding aliases is essential for maintaining character consistency in SoCreate Storyteller. For example, aliases ensure that our AI production studio knows that the character named “Alyson” is the same character who goes by “Ally” and will generate an image in her likeness.

  • Character Variation & Character Appearance Changes

    The Character Variations feature in SoCreate allows you to create multiple visual versions of a single character, keeping your Story Toolbar organized while allowing you to show how a character evolves, whether through age or any other physical detail. These variations are neatly nested under the original character in the toolbar but can be treated as distinct entities within your story.

    When you publish your story to SoCreate Storyteller, variations allow your character to transform accurately, enhancing the visual experience for your audience. For example, if you were writing a script like Forrest Gump, written by Eric Roth and directed by Robert Zemeckis, you could use Young Forrest for his earlier years, Teenage Forrest for his teen years, and Older Forrest for the later stages of his life. SoCreate recognizes the characters as the same, but their appearance and presence are accurately reflected in the story since each variation can be updated with a new appearance, wardrobe, and age.

    When creating character variations, you’ll usually want to visually base each variation on the version that appears closest to it in the story. For example, in Forrest Gump, Teenage Forrest could be visually based on Young Forrest, and Older Forrest could be visually based on Teenage Forrest. Young Forrest, as the starting point, wouldn’t be visually based on any other version.

    Structuring variations this way ensures the most accurate representation and creates a natural visual evolution as the character ages or changes. Always choose the version that is most similar or closest in age when selecting a base.

    Each character variation can be inserted directly into the Story Stream, given their own dialogue, assigned a unique voice and unique image, and tagged as their specific version. To add a variation, locate the three-dot menu icon on the character within your Story Stream or by clicking the blue “i” icon in the Story Toolbar. From the menu, select “Add Variation.” Enter a name for the variation and, if needed, update the character’s voice and image to reflect the new version. Once you’re done, click “Save Character Variation.”

    Your new variation is now ready to use. Access it quickly via the Quick Add feature by pressing CTRL + Enter in the Story Stream, or by clicking the three dots that appear beneath the character in your Story Toolbar. There’s no limit to the number of variations you can create, making it easy to track your character’s development across different timelines, flashbacks, or transformations.

  • Character Appearance Change

    To add an appearance change to a specific stream item, open your Character Details by clicking the blue “i” icon in the Story Toolbar. Navigate to the chapter or scene where you want the appearance change to occur and click the arrow to expand it. Select “Add Appearance Change,” then choose the exact stream item where the change takes place. Describe the character’s new appearance and save your changes. You can add multiple appearance changes throughout your story, and the last appearance change you describe will remain active for that character until you add another appearance change later in the story. For example, if a character gets a black eye during one scene, that appearance will continue in subsequent scenes until you add another appearance change to remove or update it.

  • Groups and Crowds

    The Groups and Crowds feature makes it easy to create scenes with multiple characters, whether you need a small group of people interacting together or a massive crowd filling a location. Instead of creating and tagging each person individually, you can create a group or crowd with a few simple details and let SoCreate’s AI Production Studio bring the larger ensemble to life.

  • Groups

    Groups are designed for smaller ensembles of 2–25 characters, such as a group of friends, coworkers, students, or party guests. To create a group, go to Add Character and select Add Group from the options at the top.

  • You can customize your group by giving it a Group Name, selecting a Group Size between 2 and 25 characters, and choosing a Gender preference, including all genders, mostly female, or mostly male. You can also assign existing characters from your story to the group. These characters will remain part of the group and maintain their individual voices and appearances.

    Once your group is created, you can assign dialogue lines to it just like you would with an individual character. The group will speak in unison, using the voices of any characters you’ve assigned along with additional voices automatically generated to match your selected group size. For example, if you create a group of 10 people and assign five existing characters, SoCreate will automatically generate five additional voices to complete the group. Your gender selection will also influence the voices generated for the remaining members.

    Be sure to tag your group everywhere you want the group to appear in your story. When a group is tagged in an action, SoCreate will include the entire group when bringing that moment to life during publishing. For example, if your group has 10 members and five are existing characters from your story, the remaining five members will be visually generated based on your group description. To get the look you want, be sure to provide clear details about the group’s appearance, clothing, age range, and any other notable characteristics.

    For example, you might describe a group as: “A group of sorority girls in their early 20s, each wearing a distinct white dress paired with stylish high heels. Their hair and makeup vary, showcasing individual personalities, but together they present a polished, cohesive, and lively presence.”

  • Crowds

    Crowds are designed for much larger ensembles of 25–10,000 people, making them ideal for scenes such as school events, graduations, concerts, festivals, sporting events, and other large gatherings. To create a crowd, go to Add Character and select Add Crowd from the options at the top.

  • You can customize your crowd by giving it a Crowd Name, selecting a Size, and choosing a Gender preference. Crowd sizes are divided into three options: Small (25–100), Medium (100–500), and Large (500–10,000). A small crowd could be an elementary school holiday performance, a medium crowd could be a high school graduation ceremony, and a large crowd could be a stadium filled with fans at a professional sports game.

    Once your crowd is created, tag it anywhere you want the crowd to appear in your story. You can also assign dialogue lines to the crowd, with voices generated based on your selected gender to create a realistic ensemble sound. As with groups, be sure to describe the crowd’s appearance, clothing, age range, and any other details that will help SoCreate’s AI Production Studio bring the scene to life.

    For example, you might describe a crowd as: “A medium-sized crowd of about 200 people at an outdoor music festival. Ages range from 18–35, with a mix of genders and diverse appearances. Most wear casual summer clothing, including T-shirts, tank tops, shorts, and sundresses, with sunglasses, hats, backpacks, and glow sticks.”

  • Reusing Characters Across Stories

    With SoCreate, you can easily access and reuse characters and locations across all your story projects, making it perfect for building series, sequels, prequels, and other connected narratives. Use the Quick Add tool to bring an existing character or location into your current story.

    From within your Story Stream, press CTRL + Enter to open the Quick Add window. At the bottom of this window, toggle the “This Story / All Stories” switch to “All Stories.” This action makes every character and location in your SoCreate account searchable.

    To find the asset you want to use, start typing the first few letters of the character or location’s name. The list will filter down automatically. Once you see the one you need, either tab to it or click it, then press Enter to add it directly into your Story Stream.

Locations

Now that your characters are ready, let's ground your story with the places where it unfolds.

  • Add Location

    To add a location to your story in SoCreate, navigate to the Story Toolbar on the right-hand side of your screen and click the “+” next to Locations. A pop-out window will appear where you can enter key details about your location, including the location name, an optional description, whether the scene takes place inside or outside, and the time of day.

  • Once you’ve entered your location details, click “Regenerate Image” to visualize the location you described. If the image isn’t quite what you had in mind, simply update your description and regenerate the image until you’re happy with the result. When you’re ready, click “Add Location” to finalize the addition. Your new location will appear in the Story Toolbar and can be added to your story as a scene, helping visually anchor your story for both you and your readers.

  • Creating Quick Add Locations

    Use SoCreate’s Quick Add feature to quickly add new locations or @mention existing ones directly within your script. To begin, type Shift + @ to open the Quick Add menu. From there, tab down to the location you want to reference, and select it to insert it into your script.

    If you need to create a new location, type Shift + @ again, then click or tab to the Location icon in the sidebar of the popout.

  • Enter the location’s details, including its name, whether the scene takes place inside or outside, the time of day, and an optional description. Describing your location, as you envision, allows our AI production studio to create accurate imagery. Your new location will be added to the Story Toolbar for future use and will appear highlighted in the Dialogue or Action Stream Item where it was first mentioned.

  • Tag Locations

    To tag a location, navigate to the relevant location or action stream item and type the Shift + @ on your keyboard. A dropdown will appear showing all available locations, select the one you want, and the name will appear in blue text.

    Using @ mentioning for locations signals to our AI that the action image may need to take place in that specific setting. Tagging locations also helps ensure consistent visual representation of your locations throughout your story when it's published in Storyteller.

  • Edit Location

    There are two easy ways to edit locations in your SoCreate story, either directly from the location pinned at the top of a scene or from the saved locations in your Story Toolbar. To edit a location from the Story Toolbar, hover over the desired location and click the three-dot menu icon, then select “Edit Location.”

  • A pop-out window will appear, allowing you to change the location’s name, update or add a description.

    If you want to modify scene-specific details, such as the time of day, you can do this from within your Story Stream. This option helps you match the setting to your narrative’s needs more precisely.

  • You can also edit a location directly from the header of a scene where it’s pinned. Click the three-dot menu icon and select “Edit Location.” From the pop-up, you’ll again have the ability to change the location name, update or add a description. Your updated location will now be reflected in both the Location Stream Item within your Story Stream and in the Story Toolbar, ensuring consistency across your entire project.

  • Location Variation

    Locations can change too, and variations help track those changes while maintaining continuity. For example, in Back to the Future (written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis), the same town square appears across multiple eras: 1885, 1955, 1985, and 2015. Each version has its own unique look while still being recognized as the same core location.

    They’re also helpful for breaking down larger locations into smaller parts. For instance, each room in a house should be its own variation, ensuring that every space feels distinct while still tied to the larger location. SoCreate maintains consistency in location while allowing you to showcase its new appearance.

    When describing each variation, be specific about style, era, and décor. For example:

    •             Exterior (farmhouse style): “A weathered 1970s wooden home with a pitched roof and wide porch lined with rocking chairs.”

    •             Interior (kitchen): “The kitchen is a 1970s farmhouse style with an old cast-iron stove, open shelving with mason jars, and a large farmhouse sink.”

    These details ensure that each variation is accurate, immersive, and visually distinct, while remaining clearly tied to the overall location.

    It’s important to understand the difference between a Location Variation and a Location Appearance Change. Location Variations are used when the same location is shown across different periods of time or in distinctly different versions. Location Appearance Changes are used when something about the existing location changes within the story, such as a wall being painted, a window being shattered, or a new couch being added.

    To add a location variation, locate the three-dot menu icon either directly on a location within your Story Stream or by clicking the blue “i” icon on the location in your Story Toolbar. From the dropdown menu, select “Add Variation.” You’ll then be prompted to name your variation and update the location image to reflect the new version. Once finished, click “Save Location Variation.”

    The new variation is now ready to use. You can access it quickly using the Quick Add feature (by pressing CTRL + Enter in the Story Stream), or by clicking the three dots that appear beneath the original location in the Story Toolbar. You can create as many variations as needed to reflect changes in your story’s setting.

  • After creating a location variation, you’ll see a drop-down menu to choose which location this variation is visually based on. You can also base locations across different time periods.

    For example, in Back to the Future, the 2015 town square could be visually based on the 1985 version, which is based on the 1955 version, which in turn is based on the 1885 version. This creates a natural evolution of the same location while keeping its core identity intact.

  • Location Appearance Changes

    Location Appearance Changes allow you to show how a location changes throughout your story without creating an entirely new version of the location. Use an Appearance Change when the place itself remains the same, but specific elements within it change over time. For example, a character might paint a wall, a window could be shattered, furniture could be added or removed, or another physical detail of the location could change.

    To add a location appearance change, open the Location Details by clicking the blue “i” icon in the Story Toolbar. Navigate to the chapter or scene where you want the change to occur and select “Add Appearance Change.” Choose the exact stream item where the change takes place, describe what has changed in the location, and save your changes. You can add multiple appearance changes throughout your story, and the last appearance change you describe will remain active for that location until you add another appearance change later in the story.

    For example, if a window is shattered during one scene, that broken window will remain part of the location’s appearance in subsequent scenes until you add another appearance change to update it. This allows your locations to evolve naturally alongside your story while maintaining continuity from scene to scene.

Props

Beyond characters and locations, props help you track the objects that matter to your story.

  • Create a Prop

    To add a prop in SoCreate and maintain a consistent appearance throughout your SoCreate Storyteller story, you can add it directly from the Story Toolbar on the left-hand side of your screen or use the Quick Add feature for a faster workflow. To use Quick Add, press SHIFT + @ on your keyboard from within the Story Stream. From the Quick Add menu, tab down to or click the clock icon to access your props.

  • Enter the name of your prop and, if desired, add a detailed description. The more detail you provide, the more accurately SoCreate’s AI Production Studio can visualize your prop when generating images. Once you’ve entered your details, click “Regenerate Image” to generate an image of your prop. If the image isn’t quite what you had in mind, update your description and regenerate it until you’re happy with the result. When you’re ready, click “Add Prop.” Your new prop will be tagged directly within the dialogue or action stream item where you created it and will also appear under Props in the Story Toolbar on the left-hand side of your screen.

    To tag the same prop in future stream items, press SHIFT + @ again to open the Quick Add menu. Start typing the first few letters of the prop’s name to filter the list, then use the arrow keys or click the correct prop and press Enter to insert it. Tagging the same prop throughout your story helps maintain visual consistency and makes it easier for SoCreate’s AI Production Studio to recognize and accurately represent important objects from scene to scene.

  • When to Use Props

    Props in SoCreate keep important, recurring items consistent throughout your story. If an object appears multiple times, creating a prop helps ensure its visually and descriptively consistent every time it’s mentioned. This lets you define exactly what the prop looks like and maintain that vision across your entire script.

Audio

SoCreate gives you full control over your story's soundscape, from background music and ambient tracks to sound effects that bring each scene to life.

  • Sound Effects

    Sound Effects add impact, energy, and realism to your story. A door slamming, a phone ringing, or glass shattering can emphasize an important moment and pull your audience deeper into the scene. SoCreate lets you generate custom sound effects directly within your story and place them exactly where you want them to occur.

    To add a Sound Effect, first select the stream item where you want the sound to occur. Click the sound icon, then select “Add Sound Effect.” Describe the sound you want to hear and click “Generate Audio.” Listen to the result, and if it isn’t quite what you had in mind, adjust your description and regenerate the audio until you find the effect you’re looking for.

  • Voice Effects

    Voice Effects give you more control over how dialogue is delivered by adding emotion, attitude, and personality to individual moments. If you want a subtle reaction or a more dramatic delivery, Voice Effects can help shape the emotional impact of a line.

    To add a Voice Effect, select the action or dialogue where you want the effect to occur and place your cursor exactly where you want it to play. Click the sound icon and select “Add Voice Effect” from the menu. You can choose an effect from the available options or select “Custom” to describe your own.

    Custom Voice Effects are generated by AI based on your description. The more specific you are, the more accurately SoCreate can capture the expression you’re looking for. For example, you could describe a custom effect as “Laughs and snorts.”

    You can also layer multiple Voice Effects within a single stream item, giving you even more control over the delivery, emotion, and tone of your dialogue.

  • Voice Pauses

    Voice Pauses let you control the rhythm and timing of your dialogue. Strategic pauses can create tension, emphasize important moments, or make conversations feel more natural and intentional in SoCreate Storyteller.

    To add a Voice Pause, select the action or dialogue where you want the pause to occur and place your cursor at the exact point where you want the silence. Click the sound icon and select “Add Voice Pause.” An orange pause marker will appear in your Story Stream, and you can adjust its duration to fit the moment.

    With Voice Effects and Voice Pauses, you can fine-tune the timing, tone, and emotion of your dialogue, giving you greater control over how every line sounds when your story comes to life.

  • Music

    Music can completely change the mood and emotional impact of a scene. With SoCreate, you can create an original musical score for your story directly inside SoCreate Writer, giving you more control over the feeling and atmosphere of each moment.

    To add music, click the sound icon at the top left of the Story Stream or the Background Tracks button on the Tools Toolbar on the right side to open the Music & Background Sounds gutter. From there, click the musical note icon. Describe the music you want to create, choose the song duration, and add lyrics if you’d like. You can also adjust the volume before clicking “Generate Audio.” Listen to your new track, and if it doesn’t capture the feeling you’re after, update your description and regenerate the music until it fits the moment.

  • Background Sounds

    Background Sounds help create the atmosphere of your story by adding the sounds that surround your characters and action. Rain against a window, waves crashing on a beach, a busy city street, or the hum of a crowded restaurant can make a scene feel more immersive and grounded.

    To add Background Sounds, click the sound icon at the top left of the Story Stream or the Background Tracks button on the Tools Toolbar on the right side to open the Music & Background Sounds gutter. Click the wave icon, then describe the background sound you want to hear. Choose your desired volume and click “Generate Audio.” Listen to the result and, if the atmosphere isn’t quite right, adjust your description and regenerate until you create the environment you’re looking for.

  • Hear Your Entire Story Come Together

    Once you’ve written your action and dialogue, selected your character voices, and added your music, Sound Effects, and Background Sounds, you can hear how everything works together as one complete experience.

    Click “Generate Audio” at the top of the Story Stream to bring everything together. SoCreate combines your dialogue, narration, music, Sound Effects, and Background Sounds into a complete soundtrack for your story.

    Listen through your story and make changes wherever you’d like. You can update your action, dialogue, character voices, or any of your additional sounds, then regenerate the audio to hear your changes.

More Quick Add items

Quick Add can also be used to insert structural elements and action items without reaching for your mouse.

  • Structure

    To quick add anything from the Tools Toolbar without using your mouse, hold down the Control key and press Enter. Then, press Tab and review the options to see what you're looking for.

  • Action

    To quick add an Action item, hold down Shift and Enter at the same time. A new Action item will appear beneath your focus indicator.

Action vs Dialogue

With your story's cast and settings in place, here's how to write what they do and say.

  • Add Action

    To add action to your story in SoCreate, navigate to the Tools Toolbar on the right-hand side of your screen and click “Action.” A new action item will appear exactly where you’ve left your Focus Indicator in the Story Stream. (FYI: The Focus Indicator is a green bar highlighting your current place in the Story Stream.)

    Action items describe anything in your story that isn’t character dialogue. Use them to write scene description, character description, and guide the flow of your narrative between moments of speech.

  • Add Dialogue

    To add dialogue from a character you’ve already created in your SoCreate story, navigate to your Story Toolbar on the left side of your screen. Here, you’ll see a list of all your existing characters. Click on the character you want to use, and a new Dialogue Stream Item will automatically appear in your Story Stream, directly beneath where your focus indicator was last placed.

    Type in the dialogue you’d like the character to say. When you’re finished, simply click anywhere outside the dialogue item to finalize the change.

  • Dialogue Direction

    To add more context to how a character delivers a line in SoCreate, you can include dialogue direction. This optional feature helps convey tone, emotion, or physical behavior, like laughing, crying, or exclaiming, giving readers or actors a clearer understanding of the character’s intent. However, writing experts recommend using dialogue direction sparingly to keep the flow natural.

    To add it, click on the Dialogue Stream Item you want to edit. Beneath the item, locate and click the icon showing a person with an arrow. A box will appear above the selected dialogue where you can type how the line should be delivered.

    If a version of your character exists that visually matches the emotion or action you've described, their facial expression will automatically update to reflect that direction. Once finished, click outside the dialogue item to finalize the change.

    Dialogue direction will also be crucial for conveying how your character delivers their lines in Storyteller. To make sure the emotion comes across as you picture it, such as laughing or crying, be sure to include that in the dialogue direction.

  • Dialogue Type

    By default, SoCreate sets your character’s dialogue type to Normal, meaning the line is delivered on-camera in a typical speaking manner. However, you can easily customize how the dialogue is delivered to fit your scene more precisely. To change the dialogue type, click into the Dialogue Stream Item you want to edit. In the bottom left corner of the item, locate the Dialogue Type icon. Click it to open a dropdown menu and select the appropriate delivery style. For example, if the character’s line should be heard but not seen on camera, choose “Off-Camera Dialogue.”

    Once you've selected, click anywhere outside the stream item to finalize the change. This feature helps fine-tune how each line is experienced, both visually and audibly, once published to Storyteller.

  • Focus Indicator

    The Focus Indicator in SoCreate helps you keep track of where you are in your story. It appears as a small vertical green bar to the left of your Story Stream and highlights your selected stream item. You can move the Focus Indicator using the up and down arrow keys, or scroll through your Story Stream, and the indicator will follow your movement automatically. This makes it easy to stay oriented, especially when navigating longer scripts.

    When you add a new Story Stream item, such as dialogue or action, it will be placed directly beneath the item where your Focus Indicator is currently positioned. So, if you want a new stream item to appear in a specific spot, be sure to adjust the Focus Indicator to that location first. This gives you precise control over the flow and structure of your story.

  • Visual Direction

    Visual Direction gives you more control over how your story is seen. Instead of leaving every visual decision up to SoCreate’s AI Production Studio, you can guide how individual moments are framed, styled, and presented. Use Visual Direction to help shape the cinematic look and feel of your story and make sure the visuals more closely match the vision you have in your head. The more direction you provide, the more control you have over how your story comes to life in SoCreate Storyteller.

    Open your story in SoCreate Writer. Select the moment you want to direct. In your Story Stream, click the action, dialogue, or text on screen you want to add Visual Direction to. This will move the Focus Indicator (green bar) to that specific stream item, letting SoCreate know where you want the visual direction to apply. Open Visual Direction. With your stream item selected, click the Visual Direction button in the Tools Toolbar on the right-hand side of your screen. A menu will open where you can configure the visual direction settings for that moment in your story.

    Use the available Visual Direction settings to control how your story is visually presented. Each setting works together to help transform your written story into a more cinematic experience. You can fine-tune each moment to match the way you envision it, giving SoCreate Storyteller more direction when bringing your story to life.

    Once you’ve finished configuring your settings, click “Add.” Your Visual Direction will appear in the Story Stream, with colored bars indicating the transition settings you selected.

  • To keep your workspace clean, you can use the Visual Direction toggle at the top of your Story Stream, located to the right of the voice waveform icon. Turn the toggle on or off to show or hide Visual Direction items in your Story Stream.

  • If you need to make changes later, you can edit Visual Direction directly from the Story Stream. Click the three-dot menu on the right side of the Visual Direction item and select “Edit” to update your settings. You can also upload, replace, or delete reference images directly from the Visual Direction item, making it easy to refine your creative direction as your story evolves.

  • Notes Tool

    When focused on an action item or dialogue, you can easily add notes. Click into the editor to place your focus indicator on the item, then press the “N.” A notes box will appear, and you can fill in any necessary notes.

    Notes will appear in a blue box, so they are easy to spot in your Stream. Notes are private and only visible to you and your collaboration partners. This makes them ideal for tracking sections you want to revisit or leaving thoughts for collaborators. When you go to export your story to a standard screenplay format, your notes will not appear.

    Notes from Final Draft files will carry over when imported into SoCreate, and any notes you add in SoCreate will transfer back when exporting to Final Draft.

  • Rearranging Items in the Stream

    Rearranging your story in SoCreate is simple with our drag-and-drop handles. To move a stream item, navigate to the item you wish to move. Find the drag handle for that stream item in the lower right-hand corner. Click and hold, then drag your mouse to a new location within your story stream. Release the mouse to drop the item in a new place. You can also drag and drop entire acts, sequences, and scenes. Find the scene you wish to rearrange, press and hold the drag handle, and begin to move the story structure item. An outline view will appear. Just release the mouse to drop the story structure item into place.

  • Shortcuts

    Streamline your writing workflow with SoCreate’s Keyboard Shortcuts, designed to keep your hands on the keyboard and focus on storytelling. To view the complete list of shortcuts, click the SoCreate logo in the upper left-hand corner and select “Shortcuts” from the menu. A panel will open displaying all available keyboard commands.

    You can also access this list instantly by pressing the Alt key on your keyboard, which brings up the shortcuts panel. If you use a MacBook, you can get to the list by pressing Control + S on your keyboard. The shortcuts are organized into three categories, App, Story Stream, and In-Editor, many of which are familiar from standard word-processing tools. After reviewing them, click anywhere on the screen to exit the panel and return to writing.

  • Collaboration

    Collaborate with other writers in real time using SoCreate’s powerful Collaboration feature. To invite someone to join you on a story, click the Collaborators icon in the upper right-hand corner of your screen. A unique link will be generated. Copy this link and send it via email or text to the person you'd like to collaborate with. Remember that all collaborators must have a Professional SoCreate membership to access your story.

    Once your collaborator clicks the link, they’ll be taken directly to your SoCreate story, where you can work together seamlessly in real time. To view who currently has access to your story, click the Collaborators icon anytime. This panel will show you who’s been granted access and who’s currently online, and it will give you the option to revoke access or even transfer ownership of the story if needed.

SoCreate Dashboard

Once you've written your story, here's everything you can do from your SoCreate Dashboard.

  • View Story

    To view and access your SoCreate stories, start from your Dashboard. Here, you’ll find three tabs that help you organize and manage your projects.

    The “In Development” tab contains all of the stories you’re currently working on. The “Collaborating On” tab includes stories that other SoCreate members have invited you to collaborate on. The “Archived” tab contains any stories you’ve archived and want to keep but are no longer actively working on. If you have published stories, you’ll also see a “Published” tab where you can find and access those stories.

    You’ll also find a Trash can where deleted stories are stored for 30 days. If you change your mind, you can access your deleted stories during this period. After 30 days, deleted stories are permanently removed.

  • Support

    If you need help using SoCreate, look to the top right corner of your dashboard for the happy face icon. Clicking this icon opens a dropdown menu with three helpful options: How-To Videos, Email Support, and Live Chat. How-To Videos are an excellent resource for step-by-step guidance on every part of the story-building process. If you have additional questions or want to share feedback, you can easily contact a SoCreate team member through Live Chat for real-time assistance or use Email Support for more detailed inquiries.

  • Community Feedback Requests

    When another SoCreate member gives you feedback on your story via the Community Feedback request, you’ll be instantly notified via email. In the email there will be a link to view your feedback.

  • You can also find the feedback under the Collaboration menu item in SoCreate Writer. Just click Collaboration, then View Feedback to find all your feedback in one place.

  • When requesting Community feedback, keep in mind that it is public, meaning anyone with a SoCreate account can view it. You can request feedback on your whole story, specific scenes, or even a single line of dialogue.

    If other members of the SoCreate community request feedback on their stories, you’ll find their requests in the right-hand column on your Dashboard labeled “Feedback Requests.” It’s a shared space where you can give and receive constructive input, helping each other grow as writers and strengthen your stories through collaboration.

  • Creator Profile

    In the top right corner of your SoCreate Dashboard, you’ll find your account icon. Click on your profile avatar, then select “View Account” to access and edit your account settings. You can update your profile image, view your personas, check your subscription details, and access settings from here.

  • On the Personas page, you can create different personas to use across your stories, think of them like pen names. Each persona can have its own bio and list of writing experience, helping you personalize how you present yourself to readers. If your persona is set to public, others can view it along with any stories you choose to publish in Storyteller, and it will have its unique public URL. If you prefer to keep things private, you can set your persona to private, meaning no one can view your stories or access your public page. 

  • Export

    To export your SoCreate Story to the traditional screenplay format, start by clicking the SoCreate logo in the upper left-hand corner of SoCreate Writer. From the dropdown menu, select “Export/Print.”

  • A pop-up window will appear, previewing how your SoCreate Story will look in an industry-standard screenplay format. To complete the export, choose your preferred file type from the options, including Final Draft and PDF. Once you've selected, click the file type, and your story will automatically export in that format.

  • Publishing

    Once you’re ready to bring your story to life, it’s time to publish! In the upper right-hand corner of your story, click “Publish. You’ll see three options to choose from, select “Publish to Storyteller” to transform your script into an immersive, audio-visual experience.

  • From there, you can choose to publish your entire story or just a section.

  • Next, you’ll be prompted to add important story details, including a synopsis, your preferred visual style, narrator’s voice, and the persona you want to be the author.

  • After that, you’ll select your story’s genre and assign a Motion Picture association rating.

  • You’ll also have the option to toggle AI Imagery and AI Audio on or off, which will determine the cost of publishing your story. Once everything is set and you’ve agreed to the terms of service, click Publish.

    Once your story is done being published, it will appear on the SoCreate dashboard and have a unique URL you can share with others!

We hope this answers all your questions regarding how to use SoCreate Writer.

Happy writing!

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