Writing a book

Manuscript mode turns a document into a book. Its chapters are pages inside it, and everything you need to write a long piece sits beside the page.

Start a book

1. Open the document that will be your book.
2. Open More, choose Writing mode, then Book.
3. Add chapters with New chapter in the binder on the left.

To turn the mode off, choose its name at the top of the page, or open More, Writing mode and Turn off.

The binder

The binder lists the chapters in order, with their words and synopses. Write a chapter’s synopsis under its title. Drag chapters to reorder them, or use Alt and the arrow keys.

Above the chapters you see the words written today and the book’s total against the goals you set, with the last two weeks.

Story bible and scene board

The story bible holds characters and places, each a page that starts with a few questions to answer. Where a name appears in the book it is marked with a dotted line; Cmd or Ctrl and a click opens its page.

Under Planning, the scene board is a board with Act One, Two and Three, one per book.

Drafts and Compile

Save a draft keeps the book and every page in it under a name, for good. Each page’s version history shows it.

To get the whole book as one file, open More and choose Compile the book. You get one Word or PDF file: the book’s own page, then each chapter from a new page, either as in Pagyra or in standard manuscript format. The story bible and planning pages stay out.

Gyra in a book

In a book, Gyra reads and gives feedback on continuity, pacing, repetition and clarity, but does not write. You can let it write in that book from the binder.