Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to common questions about using misenous.

General

What's the difference between scenes and drafts?

Scenes are organizational units for planning. They track POV character, location, timeline position, and can be reordered on the Storyboard. Think of them as story beats or plot points.

Drafts are the actual written content with version history. They contain your prose and track word count. Think of them as manuscript versions.

You might have 5 scenes in a chapter (planning) but only 1 or 2 drafts (actual writing). See Understanding Structure for more details.

Does misenous autosave my work?

Yes! Your drafts and scene content autosave every 2 seconds as you type. You'll see the word count update in real-time, and a "Saved" indicator confirms your changes are stored.

Is my writing secure and private?

Yes. Your data is stored on secure servers and is only accessible to you when logged in. We don't read, analyze, or sell your writing. Each user can only access their own content.

Writing & Editing

How do I inject elements into my writing?

There are two methods:

1. Type [[element]] — This opens a modal where you choose type, element, and grammatical form (default, possessive, plural, or plural possessive). Best for precise control.
2. Use the Writer's Toolkit — Open the panel, click Inject, and click any element for quick insertion at the default form.

Elements appear as colored chips. If you rename an element later, all references (including variants) update automatically!

Can I use keyboard shortcuts?

Yes! Common shortcuts in the editor:

• Ctrl/Cmd + B — Bold
• Ctrl/Cmd + I — Italic
• Ctrl/Cmd + K — Global search (from anywhere in the app)

What happens if I accidentally delete content?

Your drafts have version history. If you make a mistake, you can duplicate a previous draft version and continue from there. We recommend creating new draft versions periodically as checkpoints.

Export

Can I export my manuscript?

Yes! From your book view, click Book Tools then Export Manager. You can export to:

• Markdown — Plain text with formatting
• HTML — Web-ready format
• JSON — Structured data for developers
• PDF — Print-ready document
• DOCX — Microsoft Word format

Can I choose which chapters to export?

Yes! The Export Manager lets you select specific chapters to include. You can export your entire book or just the sections you need.

Elements

What's the difference between Name and Display Name?

Name is the full element name shown in lists and forms (e.g., "Sarah Jane Connor").

Display Name is the shorter version inserted into your text (e.g., "Sarah"). If not set, the full name is used.

How do element relationships work?

Relationships connect elements to each other with labels like "ally of", "parent of", "member of", etc. These appear on the element detail page and help you visualize your story's web of connections.

AI Features

How do I use the AI Organizer?

The AI Organizer helps you extract story elements from documents:

1. Go to AI Tools → Organizer in the sidebar
2. Upload documents (text files, PDFs, markdown)
3. Create a processing job to analyze the content
4. Review extracted characters, locations, and other elements
5. Approve and transfer items to your Elements library

How do I use AI Imports?

AI Imports let you import conversations from AI assistants (Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity) and extract story content:

1. Go to AI Tools → Imports in the sidebar
2. Upload your exported AI conversation file
3. Review and assign messages to elements, scenes, or other story components
4. Transfer the content to your writing project

Still Have Questions?

If you can't find the answer you're looking for, feel free to contact us! You can also explore the app—most features have intuitive interfaces that guide you through the workflow.