Writing & Editing Prose
Manuscript is Prosewell's primary writing surface, designed to keep authors in flow state while keeping outline structure and worldbuilding right beside the page.
Decluttered Writing Surface
Unlike traditional word processors that clutter your screen with dozens of static toolbars and thousands of unused buttons, Prosewell provides a clean, minimal prose canvas. Tools and controls stay completely out of sight while you type, appearing only when you select text or hover near navigation zones.
Contextual & Auto-Hiding Toolbars
Buttons and controls stay completely hidden while you write to keep you in pure flow state. Hovering near the top of the editor smoothly reveals chapter navigation, view toggles, and live word counts. Selecting any snippet of text brings up an inline formatting bar right above your selection for quick styling, entity linking, or commenting.
Custom Worldbuilding Dictionary
Includes a built-in spell checker tailored for fiction authors. You can easily add unique character names, fantasy locations, sci-fi terms, or custom lore words to your personal dictionary so valid universe terms are never flagged as errors.
Chapter Headers & Scene Dividers
Manuscripts are organized cleanly into Chapters and inline Scene Breaks. Hovering over any chapter header or scene divider reveals a contextual settings menu icon.
Chapter Settings
- Chapter Type: Categorize headers as Frontmatter, Narrative Chapter, or Backmatter.
- Title & Prefix: Set an optional chapter title and choose whether to show the "Chapter #" prefix.
- Numbering & Actions: Toggle sequential numbering or duplicate/delete the chapter block in one click.
- Chapter Word Count: Hovering over the header displays live total word counts for the chapter.
Scene Settings
- Display Dinkus (***): Toggle the decorative scene break ornament on or off.
- Scene Title: Assign an optional scene title for structural tracking in Outline.
- Scene Word Count: Hovering over the header displays live word counts for that specific scene.
Inline Comments & Compendium Linking
Selecting any passage of text in the manuscript opens contextual text tools. Authors and collaborators with commenting permissions can attach inline notes and threaded comments anchored directly to specific prose lines.
From the same text selection menu, you can also link highlighted text directly to Compendium entries, connecting character names, locations, lore items, or factions in your draft to their worldbuilding profiles.
Word Count Goals & Writing Habits
Writing a novel is a marathon built out of daily momentum. Whether you are setting up a new project or importing an existing draft, Prosewell lets you define target goals and daily writing habits that adapt dynamically to your schedule.
Setting Your Scope & Target Length
When creating a book—or at any point in Book Settings—you can define your target manuscript length. Select standard presets like a 40,000-word novella, a 50,000-word novel, or a 110,000-word epic, or enter a custom target word count tailored to your story.
Deriving Your Daily Writing Habit
Once your target length is set, Prosewell helps you establish a daily routine. You can choose a daily pace—such as 250 words for a light habit, 1,000 words for a steady schedule, or 1,667 words for a NaNoWriMo sprint—or pick a deadline date on the calendar. Setting a target deadline automatically calculates the daily word goal needed to finish on time, while adjusting your daily word pace recalculates your projected completion date in real time.
Tracking Daily Volume & Ambient Progress
As you write, ambient progress bars in the studio header quietly display how close you are to your daily goal and overall manuscript target. For long-term motivation, your analytics dashboard features a 365-day volume heatmap and session breakdown charts so you can track writing streaks and celebrate every milestone along the way.
Version History & Backups
Writing a manuscript is an iterative process involving revisions, cuts, and rewrites. Prosewell records changes continuously in the background, giving you a complete audit log of your work and the confidence to experiment freely.
Automatic Revision Logs & Named Snapshots
As you type, Prosewell logs document updates automatically in real time. Whenever you reach a significant milestone—such as finishing a major rewrite or completing a chapter—you can save a custom-named snapshot (like "First Draft Complete" or "Pre-Revision Cut") directly from the History panel.
Read-Only Revision Previews
Clicking any past entry in your history log opens a read-only preview window. You can inspect earlier versions of your text, verify deleted passages, or compare past structural choices side-by-side with your active document without risking accidental edits to your current draft.
One-Click Restoration & Historical Exports
If you ever want to revert your manuscript to a previous state, you can restore any saved version with a single click. Additionally, you can export any past snapshot directly to Word (.docx) or plain text format, making it easy to create offline backups or share earlier drafts with collaborators.