Manuscript Mode

Manuscript Mode is Penpoint's dedicated writing environment. While Worldbuilding Mode is where you manage characters, locations, and other story details, Manuscript Mode is where you write your prose.

It combines scene and chapter organization with Flowstate writing sessions, snapshots, find and replace, and import and export tools.

Entering & Exiting

Click the Manuscript button in the worldbuilding sidebar, or press Ctrl+M (Cmd+M on Mac), to enter. To return to worldbuilding, click the Penpoint button (with the back arrow) in the top-left corner, or press Ctrl+M again.

Both modes use the same records in your local book file. Chapters created in worldbuilding appear here, and your prose appears in chapter details. Switching modes does not create a second copy.

The Layout

Manuscript Mode has a three-column layout:

• The Outliner (left): Shows groups, chapters, and scenes. Resize or collapse it, or select an item to jump there. Right-click (Ctrl+click on Mac) to create, delete, merge, or reorder chapters and scenes. Penpoint confirms deletion and merging.
• The Writing Area (center): Holds your prose and toolbar. The bottom bar shows the current view's word count and any selection count. Click the word count to show or hide the current Book's total.
• Minipen (right): A resizable reference sidebar for characters, locations, items, chapters, arcs, tags, and notes.

Scenes

Every chapter starts with one scene. Press Ctrl+Shift+Enter(Cmd+Shift+Enter on Mac), or use the toolbar button, to insert a scene break. Text after the cursor becomes a new scene.

Ways to View Your Manuscript

View and edit your manuscript at three levels:

• Scene: One scene, with Scene Drafts available.
• Chapter: One chapter with its scenes joined by dividers, and Chapter Drafts available.
• Book: See every chapter in the book you are currently writing. In a Series, this means the current Book, not the entire Series.

In the Outliner, select a scene or chapter, or select the top open-book icon for the current Book.

Flowstate

Flowstate alternates between timed writing and editingphases. During writing, finished sentences temporarily lock after a short delay and dim by default. Editing unlocks them. The Outliner and Minipen collapse, other toolbar buttons fade but remain available, and your previous sidebar layout returns when you stop.

Start Flowstate from the toolbar or press Ctrl+Shift+F (Cmd+Shift+F on Mac). Pause, resume, or stop at any time.

Fullscreen Mode

Fullscreen Mode hides the toolbar, sidebars, and header. To exit, press F11 again, or Esc when no menu or dialog is open. Enter with F11 (hold Fn on some laptops), or click Fullscreen Mode in the bottom-left corner of the word count bar.

Move to the left or right edge, then click the strip that appears to open the Outliner or Minipen over your text. At the top, click the Toolbar strip to open the toolbar; click Hide Toolbar to close it.

In Settings, Start Fullscreen when typing enters Fullscreen Mode after about five seconds of sustained writing. Exit automatically exits after 30 seconds without typing. Sustained writing can enter it again.

Snapshots & Drafts

Snapshots are read-only copies of a Book's manuscript. In a Series, they cover the current Book, not the Series. Use the toolbar's Versionsbutton to create or browse them. You can read and copy from a snapshot, but not restore it over your manuscript.

Scene Drafts save restorable versions of one scene and are available in Scene view. Before restoring one, Penpoint saves the current scene as a safety draft.

Chapter Drafts save every scene in a chapter and are available in Chapter view. Before restoring one, Penpoint saves the current chapter as anAuto-saved before restore draft.

Find & Replace

Press Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on Mac) to open the Find bar, or Ctrl+H (Cmd+H on Mac) for Find & Replace. Matches stay within the Scene, Chapter, or Book in view. Selected text becomes the search term.

Settings

Click Settings to choose writing width (narrow, standard, or wide), where reopened chapters begin (beginning, end, or where you left off), paragraph style (standard or novel indentation), scene dividers, chapter-number display, and spellcheck.

Import & Export

Import .docx, .epub, .rtf, .md, or .txt files from the toolbar. Penpoint tries to detect chapter breaks and adds new chapters; it never replaces existing content. You can rearrange or delete imported chapters. Export lets you choose the content, format, and options.

Autosave

Your writing saves automatically as you type. The indicator at the top shows when it has saved; no manual save is needed.

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Ctrl+M: Switch between Manuscript Mode and Worldbuilding
• Ctrl+F: Find
• Ctrl+H: Find & Replace
• Ctrl+K: Open the Search bar across the open book file. In a Series file, results can include every Book. Ctrl+F stays inside the writing you're viewing.
• Ctrl+Shift+Enter: Insert a scene break at your cursor
• Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Enter (Cmd+Shift+Option+Enter on Mac): Insert a chapter break at your cursor. That's a handful of keys, so there's a chapter break button in the toolbar too.
• Ctrl+Shift+F: Start or stop Flowstate
• F11: Enter or exit Fullscreen Mode (on some laptops, hold Fn as well)
• Ctrl+N: Open Quick Create for a character, location, item, chapter, note, or tag. Press Esc to close it without creating anything.
• Ctrl+Shift+N: Show the chapter you're writing in Minipen

Explore Each Part

Use these guides when you want more detail:

• Chapters & Scenes: How chapters and scenes fit together, and how to create and organize them
• The Outliner: The left sidebar: jump around, reorder, group, and manage your book's structure
• Scene & Chapter Breaks: Splitting and joining scenes and chapters as your draft grows
• The Toolbar: Every button in the writing toolbar, explained
• Manuscript Snapshots: Save and revisit read-only copies of a book's manuscript
• Scene Drafts: Keep alternate takes of a single scene without losing the original
• Chapter Drafts: Save and revisit every scene in a chapter together
• Comparing Your Manuscript Drafts: Compare a saved Scene Draft or Chapter Draft with your current writing
• Comments & Pinned Notes: Margin notes pinned to your prose, plus Notebook notes kept a glance away
• Manuscript Settings: Writing-area width, indentation, scene dividers, and other preferences
• Chapter Scanner: Scan your prose to detect which characters, locations, items, and tags appear in each chapter
• Minipen: The reference sidebar that brings your worldbuilding into the editor
• Flowstate: The timed, distraction-free writing mode that keeps you moving forward