When a piece outgrows a single document, turn it into a project. You’ll get chapters, The Pad, Story Plotter, comments, chapter variants and version history, and your original file stays exactly where it was.
Set up the project
- Open the document (.md or .docx) in Writing Desk.
- At the bottom of the sidebar, click the project control. It reads Not in a project.
- Choose Convert to Writing Desk project….
- Click Set up project, then give your project a name, choose its type and, if you like, a word count target.
Writing Desk creates the project folder, copies your writing into it as the manuscript, and opens the project.
What happens to your original file
Your original .md or .docx is copied, never moved or changed. You’ll find it exactly where it was, and you can keep it, archive it or delete it.
Check your chapters
Projects use Heading 2 to mark the start of each chapter. If your chapters don’t appear in the sidebar, put the cursor in each chapter title and press ⌥⌘2.
Convert without a project
If you’d like comments, chapters and version history without a full project folder, click Convert without a project in step 4 instead. Writing Desk creates a Writing Desk document (.wddoc) next to your original.
You can set it up as a full project later: click the Set up project badge beside the file title. When you do, the Writing Desk document moves into the new project as its manuscript.