# Creating a Story

Source: https://docs.skaz.io/guide/creating-a-story

> Create a story in Skaz Studio from a blank canvas or one of nine templates: title, categories, 18+ and sign-in settings explained.

New stories are created from the Studio dashboard, not from inside the editor.
Click **New story** to open the creation dialog.

## Fields

- **Start from** — a blank canvas, or one of the [templates](#templates).
- **Title** — required, unless you picked a template, which brings its own.
- **Categories** — required, pick at least one. See [below](#categories).
- **Cover** — optional, a PNG or JPEG image.
- **Contains adult content (18+)** — only shown if you're 18 or older. See
  [below](#18-content).

Once created, you're taken straight into the editor to start building. Only
the title, description, and cover can be changed later, from the editor's
**Story** tab — categories and the 18+ flag are set once, at creation, and
can't be edited afterward.

> Creating a story counts against your [plan](/plans)'s story limit. If you're
> already at your limit, the dashboard shows an upgrade prompt instead of the
> creation dialog.

## Templates

A template is a finished, working story: blocks, branches, variables and named
endings, laid out on the canvas and ready to publish as it stands. Pick one and
the editor opens on a story you can play immediately and rewrite line by line.

| Template | Good for |
|---|---|
| Flight SK-404 | Seeing everything Skaz can do: dialogue with characters, a choice timer, a wheel of fortune, sound, typed answers and four endings in one story |
| Customer complaint | Support and customer-facing teams — four endings from one first reply |
| Handling an objection | Sales training — what happens after "it's too expensive" |
| Feedback conversation | Managers — a missed deadline and a defensive report |
| New-hire onboarding | People teams — asks the starter's name and walks them through week one |
| Safety drill | Compliance — two scored calls where the instinctive answer is wrong |
| Language practice | Tutors — ordering coffee, scored on politeness |
| Knowledge diagnostic | Tutors — three questions, a score, a recommendation per band |
| Interactive story | Fiction — a short branching story with four endings |

Nothing about a template is locked: every block, variable and ending is yours
to change, and deleting the lot leaves you exactly where **Blank canvas** would
have.

## Categories

Categories describe what kind of story you're making. The list is fixed:

Mystery, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Romance, Horror, Education, Comedy, Drama,
Adventure, Slice of Life, Product, Thriller.

You can select more than one if your story spans genres.

## 18+ content

If your account's birthdate makes you 18 or older, the creation dialog shows
a **Contains adult content (18+)** checkbox. Enabling it flags the story so
that:

- Anonymous readers must sign in before they can play it.
- Signed-in readers under 18 can't play it at all — they see a message
  explaining the story isn't available to them.

There's no age rating below 18+ — a story is either open to everyone or
gated behind this check.

### What the 18+ flag covers

Tick it when your story leans adult: drugs and alcohol, violence and its
aftermath, strong language, heavy themes, horror, or romance that goes further
than a fade-out. That's what the flag is for.

It is **not** a licence for anything. The [content rules](https://skaz.io/rules)
apply to every story, flagged or not — pornography is not allowed on Skaz at
all, and sexual content involving minors (including fictional characters
written or drawn as minors) is banned outright and gets the account removed.
The line is naturalism and intent: an intimate scene that serves the story is
fine, a scene written to arouse the reader is not.

The flag also depends only on *how explicit* a scene is, never on *who* is in
it. LGBTQ+ characters, same-sex couples, trans and non-binary characters,
interfaith or interracial relationships are ordinary story material and are
never, on their own, a reason to mark a story 18+ — a kiss is rated the same
whoever is kissing.

Titles, descriptions and covers are visible before the age check, so keep
those clean even on an 18+ story.