Getting started

This guide takes you from nothing to a working project with your first chapter.

Make a project

Choose File ▸ New Project, give it a name and a location, and pick a template (or start blank). A project is saved as a single .ewriter file by default — one file you can copy, back up, or email. If you prefer a folder of plain-text files that diffs well under Git or Perforce, choose the folder option; you can convert either way later. See Projects, libraries & backups.

Learn the layout

Easy Writer is a set of dockable panels. The ones you will use first:

• Documents — your manuscript tree.
• Editor — where you write.
• Codex — characters, places, and everything else in your world.
• Timeline — events on your own calendar, checked for contradictions.

Drag a tab to rearrange panels; save an arrangement from Windows ▸ Perspectives. The full set is catalogued in Windows & docks.

Write your first chapter

In the Documents tree, add a document and start typing in the Editor. When you name a character or place that exists in your Codex, it links itself — hover for a card. That is the core idea of Easy Writer: the prose and the world behind it stay connected. Next, read Writing & editing and Building your world.