Editor Blocks and Contents

When creating custom prompts in Novelcrafter, you can output structured content that creates special editor elements in the Manuscript view. These elements are created using HTML-like tags that start with <nc-, allowing the AI to generate organized, interactive content directly in your manuscript.

Sections

One of the most useful editor blocks is the section, which allows you to create expandable/collapsible content areas in your manuscript. This is the same feature documented in Sections, but here you can create them programmatically through your prompts.

Basic Usage

To create a section in a prompt output, use the <nc-section> element:

<nc-section data-title="Harry">
  Harry got a scar on his left cheek after battling a lion at the zoo.
</nc-section>

This will create a section titled “Harry” containing the specified text.

Section Attributes

Sections support several attributes that control their behavior and appearance:

data-title

Sets the name/title of the section that appears in the header.

<nc-section data-title="Character Background">
  Extended background information here...
</nc-section>

data-hide-from-ai

When set to true, this hides the section content from AI context, meaning the AI won’t see this content when generating new text or summaries.

<nc-section data-title="Author Notes" data-hide-from-ai="true">
  Remember to revise this scene later - the pacing feels off.
</nc-section>

Use cases:

• Adding personal notes or reminders
• Including draft content that shouldn’t influence AI generation
• Storing alternative versions without affecting AI context

data-hide-from-count

When set to true, excludes the section content from word counting logic.

<nc-section data-title="Research Material" data-hide-from-count="true">
  Reference material that shouldn't count toward your daily word goals.
</nc-section>

data-color

Sets the color theme of the section for visual organization.

Available colors:

• gray
• brown
• orange
• yellow
• green
• blue
• purple
• pink
• red

These are the standard color options provided by Novelcrafter for section styling.

<nc-section data-title="Important Scene" data-color="red">
  This is a critical plot point that needs special attention.
</nc-section>

data-collapsed

Controls whether the section starts collapsed or expanded.

• true - Section starts collapsed
• false - Section starts expanded (default)

<nc-section data-title="Optional Details" data-collapsed="true">
  Additional details that readers can expand if interested.
</nc-section>

Combining Attributes

You can combine multiple attributes to create sections with specific behaviors:

<nc-section 
  data-title="Alternative Version" 
  data-color="blue" 
  data-collapsed="true"
  data-hide-from-ai="true"
  data-hide-from-count="true">
  This is an alternative version of the scene that won't affect 
  AI context or word count, colored blue for easy identification.
</nc-section>

Practical Examples

Creating Sections from Prompt Output

You can design prompts that instruct the AI to output content in section format:

Generate three alternative opening paragraphs for this scene. 
Format each alternative in a separate section:

<nc-section data-title="Version 1" data-color="green">
[First alternative]
</nc-section>

<nc-section data-title="Version 2" data-color="blue">
[Second alternative]
</nc-section>

<nc-section data-title="Version 3" data-color="purple">
[Third alternative]
</nc-section>