Comment
Comments are a way to structure and annotate source text. You can use them to jot down spontaneous ideas and even temporarily disable lines that you want to deal with later. The content of a comment will not be processed or displayed by Hypstory.
Single line comment
By writing double opening parentheses (( you create a single line comment.
(( first meeting of Francesca and Alfonso ))
"I'd like a pizza piccante. Oh, by the way, a friend of mine said you make the best pizza in town."
:CHECK: !reaction | 2 ((is true when reaction switch is not on yet
"Why, thank you for telling me. I hope the piccante (( or rather another? )) will live up to that expectation."
((:LINK: first talk
"I'm sure it will."
Hypstory regards everything between the double opening parentheses (( and the double closing parentheses )) as a comment. If you want the rest of the line to be a comment, you can omit the closing parentheses.
Single line comments are especially handy for temporarily disabling lines that start with a tag, e.g. pick or shuffle lines. Line 6 above is an example for that.
Lines that contain nothing but a comment do not count. In the example above, the check line affects both paragraphs below it, even though there is a third line in between.
Practice tip: Remove the not-operator ! from the check line, hit update and see what happens. If the not-operator is new to you, the answer you seek lies in the check article.
Multi line comments
You can also create comments that span several lines at once. Anything you put in (> and <) will be a comment even if there are line breaks in between.
(>
What will the readers think? Who says what?
Could any of the statements be read as ironic?
<)
"I'm glad we met. We have so much to talk about."
"Yes, I'm sure this is the beginning of a wonderful friendship."
(> The story should proceed playing with the uncertainty of the relationship.
* maybe alfonso makes a sassy remark that's either playful or confrontative
* maybe francesca responds stressed (either aggressive or seeking help?) or somehow snappy in a busy shop situation
A multi line comment starts with an opening parenthesis and a greater than character (>. If you want the rest of the source text to be a comment, you can leave out the closing tag.
Use multi line comments for blocks of notes while you are drafting your story. They also come in handy if you need to disable several lines at once or even entire cards.
Workflow tip: You can use (> ... <) in a single line also. Just be aware that the comment does not stop at the end of the line if you omit the closing tag.