Getting Started

Writing Desk is a Mac writing app for novels and everyday writing alike. Plan, draft and edit long-form projects with chapters, Story Plotter and editorial review, or write essays, blog posts and notes as markdown documents. When your book is finished, the Formatter typesets it for print and ebook.

Writers at any stage, working on anything. Novelists get a full project workspace with chapters, planning tools and typesetting. Essayists, bloggers and anyone writing shorter pieces get lightweight markdown documents, with an outline, pinned references and editorial feedback built for non-fiction.

Writing Desk runs on macOS, with a companion app for iPhone and iPad. The Mac app has the full writing, planning and editing tools. The phone app keeps your synced books, documents and notes with you. Typesetting and formatting are in the online Formatter, which works in any browser. An Android app is on its way.

It's on the roadmap, but there's no launch date yet. In the meantime the iPhone and iPad app and the browser-based Formatter work on any device you already have.

No, you can write fully offline. A few features need a connection: the Research Assistant, AI editorial review, the online Formatter, and syncing with your phone. The phone app works offline too, and catches up when you reconnect.

The home screen has three buttons, with your recently opened files listed underneath. Projects opens a window with two tabs: Projects for your long-form work and Documents for your shorter writing. New File creates a new markdown document, and Open File opens any .wddoc, .docx or .md file on your Mac. Take the tour.

Select Projects, then Create New Project. Choose novel, short story, or poetry, add a title and target word count, then click Create. Writing Desk sets up a folder for your manuscript and takes you straight into the editor. More on creating and organising projects.

Click Open File on the home screen, or Open existing in the Projects window, and choose your file. Writing Desk opens Writing Desk documents (.wddoc), Word files (.docx) and markdown files (.md) as they are, and lists recently opened files on the home screen so you can pick up where you left off. Bring in writing you've already started.

Your writing sits in the centre, with the toolbar floating above it. In a project, the left sidebar holds your chapters, The Pad and Story Plotter, with the Resource Hub at the bottom. In a document, it shows an outline of your headings and the files, folders and links you've pinned. Analysis, in the toolbar, opens the proofreading and editorial tools. The menu at the left of the toolbar holds export and Send to Formatter, and the Writing Tracker sits at the top right. Take the tour.

Chapters start with a Heading 2. Press ⌥⌘2, or type ## and a space at the start of a line, then add your chapter title and start writing. Writing Desk saves as you go.

Whichever suits you. Story Plotter is there if you want to map chapters and threads first, but nothing stops you from opening a blank page and writing straight away. Add structure whenever it's useful, not because you have to.

Press ⇧⌘F to enter Focus Mode, which hides the sidebars and everything except your writing. Press ⇧⌘F again, or Esc, to come back.