Write a family story in your circle

Writing a Story

A story is for something longer than a caption, in your own words, as long or as short as you like.

How to write one

1. Open your Circle and tap the box at the top, the same place you'd write a quick note. Leave it empty — a story starts from a clear box.
2. Choose Write a story. Your story opens on a page of its own, with plenty of room to write. If you've already typed something in the box, you'll see To write a story, post or clear what's here first. Post that note or clear it, then choose Write a story.
3. Give your story a title at the top, where it says Give it a title.
4. Write your story underneath. Use the formatting toolbar to add bold text, headings, lists, quotes, and links. On a phone, the toolbar sits just above your keyboard.
5. If you'd like, answer When did this happen? to add a date — this step is optional.
6. Choose Post story when you're ready to share it with your Circle. You'll be taken back to your Circle, and your story will appear for everyone in a moment.

A story is words only — there's no room for photos inside it. If you'd like to share a photo too, post it separately alongside your story.

Your story saves as you write

Your story is saved automatically every few moments while you write it — at the top of the page you'll see Saved with the time, and how many words you've written. If a save doesn't go through, you'll see Not saved yet — your words are still here. Stay on the page and keep writing; if you try to leave before it saves, we'll ask you first. If you step away or close the page, come back to your Circle — where you'd normally write a note, you'll see You have a story in progress. Choose Continue, and everything you wrote is right where you left it, on your computer or your phone.

If you decide not to share it after all, open the More menu (the three dots at the top of the page), choose Throw this story away, and then Throw away. To keep it for later instead, choose Back to the circle (the arrow at the top of the page).

Going back to an earlier version

Each time you sit down to write, we keep a version of your story. If you liked it better the way it was, you can bring an earlier version back:

1. Open the More menu (the three dots at the top of the page) and choose Restore a version. You'll only see this once you've written your story on more than one occasion.
2. Pick the version you want. Each one shows its title, when it was saved, and how many words it had, with its opening lines underneath.
3. Choose Restore this version. If you change your mind, choose Keep what I have instead.

The version you pick goes back into the editor, ready to carry on. What you had before is kept as a version too, so you can always switch back. Only you can see your versions, and restoring one doesn't share anything with your Circle.

Reading a story

A story appears in your Circle's feed with its title, how long it takes to read, and its opening lines. Choose Read the whole story to open it on its own page.

Editing a story

To make a change after you've shared a story, open the story's More menu, choose Edit details, and under What you wrote choose Edit. Update the title or the words, then choose Save changes.

Need help?

If something doesn't look right with a story, reach out using the Still stuck? Message us link at the bottom of the Help panel and we'll take care of it.