Normal Mode Tutorial: From Chapter Outline to an Editable Draft
Normal mode is for writers who want to focus on the chapter in front of them. You move in a steady loop: define this chapter's route, write its draft, then continue to the next chapter.
Choose it when you like discovering the story as you write or when the distant plot is still flexible. A work's mode is fixed when the work is created.
Prepare the story settings
Open Settings at the top of the workspace and add at least a one-line premise, genre, story background, and main characters. Keep book-wide facts here. Put chapter-specific constraints in that chapter's Parameters or Refinement tools.
Step 1: Build a route you can actually write
Open a chapter and stay in the Outline stage. Select “Generate options for step 1” to receive several possible directions.
- Compare what each option changes, not only how attractive its title sounds.
- Choose the direction closest to your intention.
- Edit its title and detailed description under “Make this beat precise.”
- Save, then design the next step—or enter the Draft stage when the route is clear enough.
Choosing an option does not erase the comparison. Select any beat in the route later to see the whole original batch, the selected option, and your final edited wording.
How detailed should the route be?
A useful beat names the character's action, the resistance they meet, the new information revealed, and the changed situation at the end. Two to five beats are often enough. Do not pre-write every sentence of the chapter inside the outline.
You may draft after a single beat. A quiet outline reference remains above the editor; expanding it does not move you out of the Draft stage. Use “Edit outline” only when you truly want to change the route.
Step 2: Watch the draft arrive in real time
In the Draft stage, check the target length and extra instructions, then select “Generate draft.” Text appears directly in the editor while the preview updates beside it.
While generation is running, you can:
- read the text that has already arrived;
- expand the chapter outline and check for drift;
- stop and keep everything generated so far;
- edit the completed draft directly.
Step 3: Rewrite only the weak passage
If the chapter's direction works, do not regenerate the whole draft. Select a passage in the central editor, open Refinement, and give a focused instruction such as “reduce explanation and increase physical tension.” Only the locked selection is rewritten.
Use the outline reference when you only need to check intent. Enter outline editing only when the plot itself must change; this keeps reviewing and restructuring as two separate actions.
Common questions
Can I pick a different option later? Yes. Select the beat in the route to reopen its original option batch. Choosing another option replaces that beat's current title and description.
Will my edited wording disappear? No. Once saved, it becomes the applied content. The interface also preserves the original options so the difference remains visible.
Is a short pause during generation an error? Check whether the live word count is still moving. Arrived text remains visible and saved; use “Stop and keep” when you want to interrupt.
Next
To plan several chapters before drafting, read the Super mode tutorial. For a book-wide chapter map, read the Master mode tutorial.