Before Your Start

Starting with new software can feel like facing a blank page. Are you doing it right? The truth is, there’s no single ‘correct’ way to use Novelcrafter. It’s a flexible tool designed to adapt to you. In this course, we’ll walk you through one possible path to get you started comfortably.

We’ll be writing a ‘cozy mystery’ (a subgenre of mystery fiction featuring amateur detectives in small communities) as our example. Feel free to apply these lessons to your own story, whatever the genre!

How should I use this course?

Over the upcoming lessons, we’ll walk you through creating your first novel. We’ll explore core features like using snippets and the Codex, and (optionally) take our first steps into using AI with Novelcrafter.

If you’re unsure of where to begin, start at the beginning and follow along with a ‘test’ novel. We recommend creating a test novel so you can see what works for you, before diving into your dream story. This way you can learn the features of Novelcrafter without fear of “messing up”.

Author’s note

I love playing with test novels; you can rename characters, swap premises, and see how you can apply the teachings to your workflow. You never know, your test novel might end up being your first published piece of work (it was for me…).

What do I need to use Novelcrafter?

Novelcrafter is a web-based application, so you don’t need to download or install any extra software. All you need to get started is:

What about AI?

Writers wanting to use AI to help with the creative process will also need to connect to an AI service (sometimes called a vendor). These services provide access to the large-language models (like GPT, Claude, Gemini) which power the AI features in Novelcrafter. You don’t need to do this immediately, but if you want to get everything set up before starting, we recommend OpenRouter because it gives you a wide variety of AI options to choose from, all in one place.

Learn how to connect to OpenRouter

What if I don’t want to use AI?

And for writers who don’t want to use AI, we have the lessons tagged appropriately, so you can skip those that aren’t relevant for you.

Best practices when using Novelcrafter

For the smoothest experience, we recommend the following:

• To prevent losing any work, we strongly recommend working in only one tab or on one device at a time. Stuff you write in Novelcrafter does not get synchronized across tabs and devices in real-time.

• If the app behaves strangely, disable unnecessary browser extensions that could interfere with the website (or slow everything down). Alternatively, try a different browser just for working with Novelcrafter.

• If you want to work with AI, do not use incognito mode, or a setting that clears session/user data when you close your browser. Many settings Novelcrafter stores will get lost otherwise.

• It’s a good habit to give everything a clear name (your novel, chats, snippets, etc.). Your future self will thank you when you can easily find your character notes or that perfect piece of dialogue later on!

All ready and set? Then let’s go to the next lesson, where we will start making our first project in Novelcrafter!