Writing Desk works with three kinds of file. Each has a job, and you can move a piece of writing from one to another as it grows.
Documents (.md and .docx)
A document is an ordinary markdown or Word file. It’s the right choice for shorter writing: essays, blog posts, articles, newsletters and notes.
- Markdown documents are plain text files that open in any other app.
- Word documents open and save as .docx, so they’re ready to send to anyone using Word.
- Each document has an outline of its headings, a place to pin references, and non-fiction editorial feedback.
Projects
A project is the full workspace for long-form writing, such as a novel. It’s a folder on your Mac containing your manuscript, drafts, and references and notes.
A project gives you chapters, The Pad, Story Plotter, the Resource Hub, comments, chapter variants, version history and the Formatter.
Writing Desk documents (.wddoc)
A Writing Desk document is the file format a project’s manuscript is saved in. In Finder it shows as a single file, with the Kind “Writing Desk Document”. It holds your text along with your chapters, variants and comments.
You can also have a Writing Desk document on its own, outside a project. It keeps comments, chapters and version history, and you can set up a project for it whenever you’re ready: look for the Set up project badge beside its title.
Which should I use?
| You’re writing | Use |
|---|---|
| An essay, post, article or notes | A document (.md) |
| Something you’ll send to people who use Word | A document (.docx) |
| A novel, novella or collection | A project |
| A longer piece that needs comments and version history, without a full project | A Writing Desk document on its own |
Moving between them
- Document to project: use the project control at the bottom of the sidebar. See Turn a document into a project.
- Document into an existing project: choose Add to project… from the same control. The document is linked into the project and stays where it is.