Manuscripts

A manuscript joins text files into one long document you can read and write straight through, like a book. Each chapter (Studio calls them sections) stays its own text file, so you can open it on its own, sync it to your BYOK, reorder it or use it in another manuscript, and the manuscript keeps up.

Make a manuscript

1. In a project, click Manuscript on the dashboard (or + in the drawer, then Manuscript).
2. Give it a name, such as Draft Two, and click Create.
3. Add your chapters (below).

Add sections

Click + in the manuscript's header:

• Add Existing File opens a picker of the project's text files. Tick as many as you like; numbered badges show the order they'll be added in, and Shift-click selects a range. Click Add (it shows how many, such as Add 3 files) to add them all at once.
• Create New File makes a new text file and adds it as a section. You can choose a color label first, then a name and description.

Between sections, and at the end, the same two buttons appear on hover so you can add a chapter exactly where it belongs.

Drag files in from the drawer

On a computer, drag text files from the file drawer onto the manuscript. A gold line shows where they'll land, and a label says what's coming, such as Drop to add 3 files as pages. Let go and they're added there as sections.

• Only text files become sections. Drag a grid or a wiki and the label says Only text files can be added as pages.
• A folder brings every text file inside it, subfolders included.
• Several files land in the order the drawer shows them, whatever order you picked them in. If the drawer is sorted by name, they come in by name.
• A file that's already in the manuscript is skipped, and the label tells you.

If the manuscript follows an outline, the new sections get linked rows in the outline too, just as with Add Existing File.

Read and write

The manuscript shows every section in order, each under its name. Click anywhere and type: you're writing in that chapter's file, and it saves as usual.

• Section controls: hover a section's name for Edit in main view (open the file on its own), Set color marker and Remove (take it out of the manuscript; the file stays in your project).
• Hide Headers: the eye button in the header hides the section names, for reading straight through.
• Word count: the bottom right shows the total for the whole manuscript.
• Typography: the T button sets the writing font, line spacing and margins.
• Comments work here as in any text file; the bubble at the top right shows the count. See Comments.

A small BYOK badge on a section means that chapter syncs to your BYOK as a plain text file.

The navigator

The navigator lists your sections down the left. Click › at the top left of the manuscript to open it, ‹ to close it.

• Click a section to jump to it.
• Colors match each section's color label, so the shape of the book is visible at a glance, even closed.
• If the manuscript follows an outline, the navigator shows the outline's acts and chapters, with unwritten chapters grayed.

Cmd+Option+↑ and Cmd+Option+↓ move to the previous or next section, with the cursor placed in the page.

Reorder and color

The list view button in the header switches between the page and a list of section cards, each with its name, description and color.

• Reorder: drag a card by its handle.
• Color: set a color label to mark acts, points of view or drafts.
• Remove: take a section out of the manuscript. The file stays in your project.

If the manuscript follows an outline, the list view button becomes an Outline button: the outline does that job, and reordering in either place reorders both.

Find across the book

Cmd+F (or the magnifying glass in the header) searches every section. Replace all asks first when there are 20 or more matches. See Find and replace.

Export

1. Open the manuscript's file options (the sliders icon, top left) and click Export Manuscript.
2. Choose Include File Names (each chapter's name as a heading) and Include Separators (a break between chapters).
3. Choose a format: Word (.docx), Plain Text (.txt), Markdown (.md) or PDF (via Print).
4. For Word and PDF, choose a Font: Same as editor uses your writing font (built into the PDF), or pick Times New Roman, Arial or Courier New, the faces agents and competitions ask for.
5. Click Export.

On the web, PDF opens your browser's print window; choose Save as PDF. The desktop app saves the PDF directly.