Quick Start - Plotters

This documentation is for those of you who prefer to plot out your novel (to varying degrees) prior to writing. Whilst there will be written instructions included, think of this as a one-stop-hub for documentation. A contents page that you can flick through to find the documentation that you may need.

Please ensure you have followed the connecting to the AI instructions first, if you wish to use AI with your novel.

Step 1. Novel Creation

Step 2. Fill out your Codex

Think of the Codex as the hub of your story. You will add all your charaters, locations, significant objects here, in addition to lore, subplots, and miscilaneous pieces of information. If you are a plotter, it may be that you already have a lot of this in mind, and organizing it into one home will help consolidate your knowledge. (You can learn more about the Codex and how it interacts with your projects here)(/help/docs/codex/the-codex).

These don’t need to be detailed, but writing them down from the start will allow you to begin tracking aliases as you continue to write and brainstorm.

Step 3. Chat to Brainstorm

If you have an incomplete outline for your story (or are starting from scratch), then you can use the workshop chat alongside the plan interface. This works like OpenAI Playground, and you can select your prompts, presets, and AI models here, in addition to adding context. Explore the interface and have fun.

As you discover more about your story, you can extract the information into your Codex or outline

Step 4. Planning your Novel

If you already have an idea about key milestones for your story, or like to use a template, you can use the create from outline feature to add your story outline, and/or try out any of the story outline templates we provide.

To ensure that the output is as you intended, you can check in the preview window, and make any necessary tweaks.

You can also add acts, chapters, and scenes manually for greater control through the + New Act , + New Chapter , or + New Scene buttons.

Step 5. Begin Writing

Click on the pen icon in the chapter silo, or the write button on the top bar.

If you are not using AI assistance, then simply begin writing.

If you wish to use AI assistance, you can access these features by typing a forwards slash / and select the  Scene Beat Completion  option. Type in your initial idea for the opening of your book, and click the downward arrow to Tweak and Generate your prompt. To learn more about text generation, see our manuscript documentation.

Step 6. Repeat

And that’s it! As you progress with your novel, you can add characters to your codex, rearrange your plan, add more chapters. But all you really need to begin is the write interface (manuscript), and your ideas.

Happy Writing!