# Story Bible: [Working title]

Free template from GeekArt Writing: https://www.geekart.ai/en/blog/story-bible-template
Use and adapt this template for your own writing, in any editor. No account required.

Snapshot: [date / draft version / last chapter checked]

Status key:
- CONFIRMED: established in the current manuscript; include a chapter or scene reference.
- PLANNED: an author decision that has not appeared in the manuscript yet.
- OPEN: an unanswered question; do not treat a possibility as a fact.
- SUPERSEDED: an earlier decision, kept only in the change log.

For a mystery or an unreliable viewpoint, label whose knowledge an entry describes:
author truth / reader knowledge / character knowledge / character belief.
A character's claim is not automatically true. Keep spoilers clearly marked.

## 1. Story overview

- Working title:
- Genre and tone:
- Premise (one or two sentences):
- Viewpoint and tense:
- Protagonist's immediate goal:
- Central conflict:
- Scope of this bible (whole novel / series / selected chapters):
- Ending or destination [PLANNED / OPEN]:
- Voice rules worth preserving:

## 2. Characters

Repeat this card only for characters who affect the draft.

### [Name]

- Role and relationships:
- Age or life stage [source / status]:
- Wants in the current scene:
- Longer-term want [source / status]:
- What they fear, avoid, or withhold:
- What they know by the end of [chapter]:
- What they believe but may be wrong about:
- What they do NOT know yet:
- Voice: sentence habits, attention, evasions; one reference line:
- Physical details that matter for continuity [source]:
- Contradiction or pressure that makes them interesting:
- Next unresolved decision:

## 3. Places

### [Place name]

- Function in the story:
- Layout and access:
- Travel time / distance [CONFIRMED / PLANNED / OPEN]:
- Sensory details the viewpoint character uses:
- Who can see or hear what here:
- Details that must stay consistent [source]:
- Changes caused by the story:

## 4. Timeline

Use relative dates if the calendar is not settled. Separate event order from reveal order.

| When | Event | Source / status | Who knows it by this point? |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Before the story] | | | |
| [Chapter / day] | | | |

Check ages, elapsed time, travel, injuries, and the order of cause and effect.

## 5. World rules and important objects

### [Rule or object]

- Established fact [source]:
- Limits, costs, or exceptions:
- Who knows the rule / who holds the object:
- First appearance:
- What the reader has been told so far:
- What remains unexplained:
- Details a local revision must not invent:

For a realistic setting, track rules that affect action: access, work routines, law,
technology, money, or family customs. Leave unused categories empty.

## 6. Chapter events and continuity

| Chapter / scene | What changes? | New fact or reveal | Object / location / knowledge at exit | Open thread |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | | | | |

Before revising a scene:
- Who is present, and what can the viewpoint character observe?
- What does each person know at the start?
- Which objects and promises must survive the scene?
- Which reveal belongs to a later chapter?

## 7. Open questions and planned decisions

| Question | Current possibilities | Decision needed by | Status |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | | | OPEN |

Do not fill gaps simply to make this document look complete.

## Change log

| Date / draft | Changed fact | Reason and chapter evidence | Other scenes to recheck |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | | | |

After each chapter or revision pass:
1. Record only new facts, changed decisions, and new questions.
2. Attach a chapter or scene reference to each confirmed fact.
3. Update character knowledge separately from reader knowledge.
4. Move discarded plans to the change log.
5. Check affected earlier and later scenes; the bible does not update the manuscript for you.