How to copy narrative or outline out of Aeon Timeline?

Q & A
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#1

I am probably just failing to understand something here.

I’m playing around with this on a trial basis and trying to see if it works for what I need it to do. So, let’s say I’ve generated a plot outline using Aeon Timeline - I’m using an example file for this, Murder on the Orient Express - and I now want to copy the plot outline out of the program to a text editor.

I select ‘the facts - part 1’ in the narrative view, control-c, paste it into notepad… I just get ‘The Facts’. None of the underlying elements are included.

I use ‘select all’ - is there a way to select just one part? - and copy paste it into notepad.

I get:

The Facts
An Important Passenger on the Taurus Express
Poirot boards the Taurus Express on his way to Istanbul
Poirot observes the behaviour of Mary Debenham and Colonel Arbuthnot, and decides they are known to each other
etc etc etc

So, just the event titles. None of the structural information - this is scene 1.1, this is part 1, etc. And also none of the summaries.

How do I move, from Aeon Timeline to a text notepad/word/etc, output more like:

‘Part 1 - The Facts’
‘Chapter 1 - An important Passenger on the Taurus Express’
(Summary text for the chapter)
‘Scene 1.1.1 - Poirot boards the Taurus Express on his way to IStanbul.’
(summary text for the scene)

and so on?

While Aeon Timeline looks great, I’m running into the simple difficulty that once I get all my plot twists and turns figured out, I don’t know how to get them back out of Aeon Timeline to assemble my outlines.

It looks like I can generate a spreadsheet style table, but that doesn’t help me - I need to get this material into a generic word processor or textbox. How do I do this?

#2

One idea is to try syncing with Scrivener. Even if you don’t like working in Scrivener, you can use it to export to other formats, such as Word. Just a thought.

#3

Is the easiest option you know of seriously to purchase an entirely separate piece of software to use with Aeon Timeline?

#4

Indeed, Aeon Timeline is not particularly well featured when it comes to exporting its data. I have programmed some tools to export story outlines and plain text reports with markdown headings, as well as Obsidian-compatible text files. Also an extension for LibreOffice that might do what you need, and to finish, a program that can create a yWriter project with a novel outline and all character/location/item relationships.
I have presented all of this here in the “Templates and Showcase” section.

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#5

This looks like it’s a good solution for power users where Aeon’s mission critical, but unfortunately I’m not in that bracket. (Once we get into running command prompts to reprocess files it’s a job, and, I’m looking for software to reduce my workload.)

But thank you!

Agh. Really a pity this can’t be as easy as copy-paste.

#6

It may look like that at first glance. However, Python scripts can also be started via drag-and-drop (i.e. dragging the .aeon file icon on the script’s icon), and if additional parameters are required, a batch file can be inserted in between, which also works via drag-and-drop. At least this is how it works for me under Windows.
There is no need to emphasize that these are makeshift tools (except the LibreOffice extension) and that Aeon Timeline has shortcomings here, but you can certainly set up a comfortable workflow with these tools.

On a side note
It wouldn’t be too difficult for a Python programmer to give the whole thing a graphical user interface. But the feedback is so sparse that it’s not worth it for me to deliver that too.

I think that the providers of Aeon are concentrating on a customer base that uses the officially supported software. Those who don’t want that seem to be a minority that would also need documentation and probably support to be able to use other export options. That would be time-consuming and expensive, and I can well understand why they haven’t supported it for years. It’s simply an economic decision.

2 Likes
#7

I take your point, Malcom. You just want to copy the text from Aeon and paste it into another app. Purchasing Scrivener, a US$60 writing app, just to do that makes little sense if that’s the only consideration.

For what it’s worth, I mentioned Scrivener because I infer that you’re writing a novel or at least preparing to do so. Since outlining in Aeon can be directly synced to Scrivener, and since Scrivener is a dedicated and feature-rich writing tool employed by many novelists, I thought to at least suggest it.

#9

Arrrgh.

All super frustrating.

A lot of what Aeon does is super appealing, but it’s clear that getting it to do what I need to is currently not on the cards.

Thanks for your input + advice, I apologize for my disappointment-led crankiness in this - Aeon is SUPER COOL, and I wish it was easier to get stuff back out of it.

#10

I feel your pain.

Have you taken a look at World Anvil? It has a timeline system that focuses on world-building. I wonder if it would make a good tool for outlining. Just a thought.

#11

If that had been an offline standalone software, II would gladly have paid 2-400USD for it…

Would have been excellent for research to, not only storytelling and gameplay.

1 Like
#12

I understand completely.