Outline with 14 story structures — Three-Act, the 15-Beat Sheet, Hero’s Journey, Kishōtenketsu, genre shapes like Mystery and Romance, and more — or start from scratch. Switch structures without losing work, then Build Chapters turns your blocks into the manuscript. Already have chapters? Link them to your blocks.

A subway map of your book: one line per character running down the scenes, showing where each one has the point of view, is on stage or is only mentioned — and where someone has dropped off the page.

Find the right name for every character. Pick a background from 55 naming traditions, a gender, their age and your story’s year, and get full names that fit the era and the tradition’s customs. Mix a first name from one with a last name from another, or type your own.

Each chapter opens as one writing page with every scene in order. Add bold, italics and bulleted lists, reorder scenes, spot each scene’s point of view by its color, and keep your Story Bible of characters, places and plot threads close by.

A full-screen page on warm paper with typewriter scrolling. Every paragraph but the one you’re on is dimmed, the word count hides, and the controls fade while you type.

Short, free lessons on character, setting, point of view, dialogue, scenes, plot and pacing, revision and getting unstuck. Each one ends with something to try in your own book, and links to it sit beside the fields they explain.

Spelling is checked as you type and learns your characters’ names, so only real typos are underlined. Proofread lists spelling and grammar fixes for a scene, leaves dialogue alone, and Read Aloud plays it back so you can hear how it flows.

Catch ideas typed, spoken or handwritten, transcribed on-device, and turn any of them into a scene. Record voice notes on your Apple Watch Pro and they land in Brainstorming too.

Keep web pages, videos, articles, books, PDFs, images, podcasts and quotes. Paste a link and Braid fills in the details. Cite in MLA, APA or Chicago, and link sources to the scenes that use them.

Export as PDF or Word in Standard Manuscript Format — the layout agents and publishers expect, with a title page, page headers and double spacing — or as a book-style reading copy. Markdown export is always free.

Get feedback on your book from beta readers, critique partners or an editor. Send them chapters to review for free in Braid on iPhone, iPad or Mac, or as a Word copy, and their comments and suggested edits come back on the right scenes.

Your books sync through your own private iCloud across iPhone, iPad and Mac, including voice notes and your daily word counts. There’s no account to create.