Novelists

Plotra keeps the manuscript and the world behind it in one project. A scene links to the characters and places it mentions, the same chapters can be read as an outline, index cards or a plot grid, and for a series Plotra tracks what is canon, who knows which secret and what your readers have been told as of each book. When the draft is ready, beta readers comment in the project, and the manuscript leaves as a Word file, an EPUB or a PDF.

Start writing for freeEvery feature is on the Free plan. No card needed.

Set upCopy Anchor Link

1. Start the project. A new account lands on the cold open. Name a character, a place and what they hide or want, then choose A novel. Web serial and short story are under Something else.
2. Say whether it is a series. "One book, or a series?" is asked of novels. A series gets a "Book 1" folder and a release called "Book 1". Then choose whose eyes the first scene is seen through.
3. Switch on what you need. A novel, a web serial and a short story all start with no module on. The others are under More → More tools in the ribbon:

Only the workspace's owner and admins can switch modules on. In your own workspace that is you. See Modules.

To look around first, open the Romeo and Juliet sample: a small novel with releases, secrets and one continuity slip to find. See Sample projects.

If the book is already under way, bring it in with New… → Import…: Markdown, Word and plain text are read, and a Word file can be split into scenes at its scene breaks. See Import and export.

Typical workflowCopy Anchor Link

1. Draft in scenes. Keep each scene as its own note inside a chapter. Changes save as you type and keep working offline. If you want a structure to write into, add a beat sheet: Save the Cat, Hero's Journey or three acts.
2. Link as you go. Type [[ to link a character, a place or any note. Each page then lists every scene that mentions it, and the Codex gathers the world in one place.
3. Look at the structure. The Outline is a table of every chapter and scene, the Corkboard shows a folder as cards you can reorder, and the Plot grid sets scenes against plot threads so you can see where one goes quiet.
4. Set a goal. In the Stats view, set a daily goal, a session goal and a target for the project or for single chapters. See Writing goals.
5. Mark what is canon. With World bible on, every note has a canon status. Retconning a note asks for the reason and keeps the old text as a version.
6. Add a release for each book. In the Release roadmap, add a release and set Ships to the book's folder. Everything inside is then revealed by that book. For a web serial a release is a chapter. Tag a single passage for a later book, or as Never, with ⌘⌥T. See Releases and Block tags.
7. Write book two with book one's eyes. Choose a release under World as of and the binder, Codex, graph and Read view show only what readers know by then. That is the spoiler horizon.
8. Run the continuity checks. The Continuity view reports a character who appears after their death, is in two places at once, or knows a secret before learning it. See Continuity checks.
9. Send it to beta readers. Share the project by email as Commenter. Readers comment on passages; with Review & editorial on they also leave one-click reactions and answer a questionnaire. See Beta readers.
10. Work with an editor. Share as Editor and ask them to use suggesting mode: every change is marked until you accept or reject it. Save a named version before a big rewrite. See Suggestions and Version history.
11. Export. Word in standard manuscript format for an agent, an EPUB from the Publish view, or a PDF printed from the Read view.

What to read nextCopy Anchor Link

Things to knowCopy Anchor Link

• A beta reader sees the whole project. There are no permissions on single notes or folders: a viewer or commenter can open every note, unrevealed ones included, and can export it. To show a reader only part of a series, share a separate project or send an export made at a spoiler horizon.
• The spoiler horizon is a way of looking, not a lock. It filters your own view, exports and the wiki. It is remembered in your browser, and each co-writer sets their own.
• Passages tagged Never are left out of every file export and of the EPUB. The Read view shows them when no horizon is on, and so does a PDF printed from it. Set a horizon before printing a copy for someone else.
• The EPUB has no cover image and no field for a publisher, a series or an ISBN, and it leaves images out. Add those in an e-book editor before you sell or submit the file.
• PDF pages are US Letter, and the Read view holds up to 400 notes. Print a longer book a folder at a time.
• The wiki is empty until pages are Canon. "Only canon pages and passages" starts ticked and every new note is Draft. Mark pages as Canon or untick the box.
• On the Free plan a project can be shared with 5 people and a workspace holds 10 projects and 50 MB of files and versions. Writing and export are never stopped by a limit. See Limits.
• There is no "forgot password". Keep your password somewhere safe, or sign up with Google.