The chapter editor and release version
Open a book from Stories and pick a chapter to reach the manuscript editor. Writing autosaves as you go. Every chapter's book overview page lists its chapters as a release list: each row shows word count and status, and lets you pick which saved version of that chapter is the current Release Version.
The release version is what counts toward your book's progress and word target, and it is what gets assembled into the finished manuscript and included in exports. Versions you don't select stay saved and available -- selecting a different release version never deletes anything.
Chapter pivots: writing more than one direction
From the chapter editor, open the version bar (labeled Section versions for articles) and choose to add a pivot. You're offered three starting points: copy the current version so you're editing a duplicate, start the new version blank, or ask AI to suggest directions first.
Each chapter can hold up to 26 saved versions. Every version after the first branches from the version it was copied from, so word-count changes shown for a version are measured against its parent, not against whichever version currently holds the release slot -- the version history panel shows this branching as a tree.
Letting AI suggest pivot directions
Inside the pivot dialog, you can describe an optional constraint (for example, keep one relationship intact while raising the stakes of a discovery) and ask AI Assist to propose three genuinely different directions. Each suggestion returns a premise, a short beat list, and the downstream effects it would create -- never finished prose.
Choosing a suggested direction creates a new version seeded with that premise and beats for you to actually write; nothing is inserted into the manuscript automatically.
Choosing a release version without losing the alternative
Compare versions by what they do to the story, not just their prose: what becomes unavoidable next, who gains or loses agency, what gets revealed too early, and which later scenes get stronger, weaker, or impossible. Then mark one version as the release version for that chapter from either the chapter editor or the book overview's release picker.
Because selection is reversible, you can change your mind later. After changing a release version, it's worth checking your story notes and timeline for anything the abandoned version had already introduced, since a rejected pivot's ideas don't automatically disappear from canon.
See it for yourself
Every feature in this guide is available from your first session -- start writing free and try it on your own draft.
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