Writing with Elements

Create reusable characters, locations, and story components that you can reference throughout your writing.

What Are Elements?

Elements are reusable story components. Instead of typing "Sarah" every time your protagonist appears, you create a Character element once and reference it throughout your manuscript.

Benefits:

• Consistency — Character names, locations, and details stay consistent
• Global updates — Rename a character once, and every reference updates
• Rich details — Store descriptions, traits, and relationships in one place
• Cross-reference — See where each element appears in your manuscript

Element Types

misenous organizes element types using the 5W1H framework:

Who — Entities that act

• Character — People, sentient beings, named individuals
• Creature — Non-sentient animals, monsters, beasts
• Organization — Groups, factions, companies, cults

What — Things you use

• Item — Objects, artifacts, MacGuffins
• Prop — Background items, set dressing
• Technology — Tech, gadgets, inventions, devices
• Magick — Magic systems, spells, supernatural abilities

When — Timeline & narrative

• Plot — Story arcs, plot threads, narrative beats
• Event — Historical events, incidents, milestones

Where — Spatial

• Location — Places, buildings, regions, worlds
• Infrastructure — Roads, networks, power grids, systems

Why — Conceptual context

• Idea — Concepts, themes, abstract notions
• Background — Backstory elements, history, lore
• Term — Terminology, jargon, unique vocabulary

How — Systems & mechanics

• Culture — Cultural practices, customs, traditions
• Politics — Political systems, movements, ideologies
• Society — Social structures, classes, communities
• Language — Languages, dialects, slang, scripts

Creating an Element

1. Click Elements in the sidebar
2. Click Create New Element
3. Fill in the details:
   • Name — The element's name (e.g., "Sarah Connor")
   • Display Name — Optional variation for text insertion (e.g., "Sarah")
   • Type — Character, Location, Item, etc.
   • Summary — A brief description
   • Content — Detailed notes, backstory, descriptions
4. Click Create Element

Adding Traits

Traits are structured key-value pairs for quick reference:

• Eye Color: Blue
• Height: 5'8"
• Magic Color: Plum

Traits appear in the Writer's Toolkit panel while you write, making it easy to maintain consistency.

Element Relationships

Connect elements to each other with relationship types:

• Ally / Enemy
• Parent / Child / Sibling
• Mentor / Student
• Spouse / Romantic Partner
• Employer / Employee
• ...and many more

Inserting Elements into Your Writing

There are two ways to insert elements while writing, each optimized for different needs:

Method 1: Writing Flow [[element]]

Best for: Precise control with grammatical variants

While writing in the editor, type [[element]]. This opens a modal where you:

1. Select an element type from the dropdown
2. Choose a specific element from the filtered list
3. Select a grammatical form:
   • Default — Eve
   • Possessive — Eve's
   • Plural — guns (for items, locations, etc.)
   • Plural Possessive — guns'

Note: Characters, creatures, and organizations only show default and possessive forms.

Method 2: Writer's Toolkit Panel

Best for: Quick insertion without leaving your flow

1. Open the Writer's Toolkit panel (slide-out on the right)
2. Click the Inject tab
3. Click any element to insert it at your cursor position

This method inserts the default form only. Use [[element]] when you need possessives or plurals.

The element appears as a colored chip in the editor. Behind the scenes, it's stored as a token like [[element:5]] or [[element:5:poss]].

Irregular Forms (Optional)

Most plurals and possessives are generated automatically. For irregular forms, use the Advanced Display Options in the element form:

• Plural Override — e.g., "children" instead of auto-generated "childs"
• Possessive Override — e.g., "Jesus'" instead of "Jesus's"

The Writer's Toolkit

While writing, open the Writer's Toolkit panel (slide-out on the right) to access:

• Inject — Quick element insertion
• Context — View element details and traits
• Ideas — Access your idea inbox
• Resources — Reference materials
• Lore — World-building notes

Viewing Element Appearances

From your book view, click Book Tools then Element Appearances to see a grid of which elements appear in which chapters. This helps you:

• Ensure characters don't disappear for too long
• Track location usage across your story
• Identify chapters that might need more variety