Plothold

What's new

New things you can do in Plothold, and things we fixed, newest first.

  • A clearer home page. The home page now shows the story check at work, with the kinds of problems it finds in a book, and puts the free trial within reach wherever you are on the page.
  • More room for your chapter. On a computer, fold the chat away with the arrow at the top of it, and your book takes the whole width. The arrow brings the chat back, and it opens by itself when you ask your partner something.
  • Curly quotes as you type. Quotation marks and apostrophes in your chapters come out curly, in the style of your book's language: “ ” in English, „ “ in German, « » in French and Spanish. Press Backspace straight after one if you want a straight mark.
  • Clearer Page menu. Text sizes go up to Extra large, and line spacing is Tight, Normal or Loose.
  • Your words stay put. If your book changed just as you began to type in a chapter, Plothold could put the chapter back as it was and lose what you had typed. Now what you type always stays.
  • Plothold fits your phone better. The black bar keeps to one row, with Cover, Feedback, the story check, your downloads, your books and your account under More. Your book's tabs keep to one row, with an arrow where more wait, the partner's suggestions show whole, chapters take less room, and the tools above a chapter fit in two rows, so your text starts much higher on the screen.
  • A calmer, tidier workspace. The bar says "Story check: 1 problem" in a red outline, the Chapters tab keeps its ways to read and search on one quiet row, the partner's suggestions show an arrow where more wait, Save changes shows only when you have changes, the chapter says Saved otherwise, and on a larger screen the row stays in view as you scroll. Where you left off steps aside while you write in a chapter.
  • Your shelf first. Once you have books, the ways to start a new one wait behind Start a new book under the heading, with Explore a sample book beside it, so your shelf is the first thing you see.
  • A shorter Plot tab. The Plot tab has two views: the story and its plot, and the title with everything that goes out with the book, such as the blurb, the pages before and after, and your submissions.
  • A clearer Download menu. Your downloads are in two groups, to read and share and to send out or print, and each note sits under the file it is about.
  • Easier to read. Labels and the smallest text are a little larger, each book on your shelf has a colour of its own that stays when you add a book, the shelf shows four books to a row on a computer, and the cards in a row are the same height. The line under each chapter in the list is gone, as each row already gives its words.
  • Buttons that say what they wait for. When a button waits for you, such as Start the book before it has a title, a line under it says what it needs. After you ask for a sign-in link, the page says when you can ask again and reminds you to look in your spam folder.
  • History shows just what changed. When you change only punctuation, History marks only the marks that changed, not the whole word, and a small key says which colour shows words added and which shows words taken out.
  • Clearer chapter rows and threads. Each chapter row starts with where the chapter is (Drafted, Revised…), the chapter board shows each step of a chapter's plan on its own line, and on the Threads tab a thread still waiting for its payoff says Still open under its name.
  • Smoother reading in your story notes. In your synopsis, World entries and character stories, a character's name now shows in bold instead of with a small colour square, so the lines read without a break. On a phone, the picture of where each thread opens and closes shows each thread's whole name.
  • Tidier pages and menus. Character pages have Edit and Interview under the name, the list of your notes in a chapter has a heading, and the Readers tab says what it is for at its top.
  • A shorter Account page. The Account page is about half as long, and on a phone its list of parts is two tidy columns.
  • Easier to start a book. The guided start's examples stay under its questions as you type, and the form to start a new book opens right under its button, narrower, with a Close button.
  • Nicer pages for your readers. At the end of your book, beta readers find a card that takes them to their final thoughts, their forms have a way back to the book, and your editors see your chapters as cards. The privacy policy now opens with a short summary, and it and the terms with a list of their parts.

  • One problem, one card. The story check now shows a problem once, with every chapter it turns up in, so a character who comes back from the dead in two chapters is one thing to fix, not four.
  • Pages for your readers that look like Plothold. Your beta readers and editors now see Plothold's own type and black bar, and their note forms sit on a card.
  • A clearer Readers tab. Each way to share your book is on its own card, with links at the top to jump between them, and the longer explanations folded under How it works.
  • Ask your partner from the margin. When you select words in a chapter, the button to ask about them sits in the margin beside them, so it no longer covers the next line.
  • Focus mode knows your chapter. The bar at the foot of focus mode now shows which chapter you are in.
  • Easier to find your way. The Plot tab has links at the top to each part, the steps of your book in the top bar no longer look like buttons, and every Read all and similar link uses the same arrow.
  • Phone fixes. On a small phone the editor's tools have a row of their own, so more of them show, and the ways to start a book no longer cut off their names.
  • A calmer Account page. Your settings come first, the places to delete things come last, and links at the top take you to each part.
  • A roomier chat. Where you left off folds the story so far under one line, a short chat sits by the message box, and on a phone the messages get more of the screen.
  • Notes from your editor beside a full line. Your editor's notes sit in the margin only when there is room, so the chapter keeps a comfortable line.
  • History first. On the History tab your versions come first, and a what-if opens when you ask for it.

  • Smoother scene moves. Drag a scene onto another chapter on the board as slowly as you like: it now always finds its new chapter.
  • Phone fixes. The sample book button no longer pushes your books page sideways on a small phone.
  • A tidier shelf. A book you delete, a what-if you drop, or a book you leave no longer shows up again for a moment on your books page.

  • What's new. This page. See what changed in Plothold, newest first, from the link at the foot of the home page, your books and the Account page.
  • Interview a character. Press Interview on a character's card and ask them anything. They answer in their own voice, knowing only what the story has shown them so far. Keep the lines you love in their notes with one click. Nothing they say changes your book.
  • A story calendar. The Plot tab now lays out every scene by the day it happens, so flashbacks, time jumps and gaps are easy to see. It also points out a journey that is too fast, or a character in two places at once.
  • What if… Try a big change, like “What if Mara dies in chapter 5?”, in a copy of your book. Your partner can draft there while your book stays exactly as it was. Keep the what-if if you like it, or drop it if you don't.
  • First and last lines. See the opening and closing paragraph of every chapter on one sheet, so you can check your hooks and endings in a few minutes.
  • Who knows what. The Cast tab shows which character learns each secret, in which chapter, and when the reader finds out.
  • An editorial letter. Ask for a letter on your whole draft, the kind a developmental editor writes, with a revision plan you can tick off as you go, biggest task first.
  • Write with a co-writer. Invite another writer to write a book with you. You both work at the same time, with one shared chat and one partner.
  • AI readers. Before you send chapters to real beta readers, three AI readers try them. They say how keen they are to keep going, where they would put the book down, and what confused them.
  • An audiobook kit. The Download menu now makes a script for your narrator, a pronunciation guide and an estimated running time.
  • Better on a weak signal. When the connection is slow, your saves wait safely on your device and go through when it is back. You can also add a chapter while offline.
  • Faster pages. Moving between pages no longer flashes a blank loading screen, and a book starts to load before you click it.
  • Tidier shared links. A link to Plothold shows its name when you share it, and a link to a readers' copy never shows your book's text in the preview.

  • Light and dark. Choose Light, Dark or Match device on the Account page.
  • Notes from your editor. Send your editor or critique partner a private link. They comment on your words and suggest changes, and you keep or reject each one.
  • Explain the craft. Turn it on from the Account page, and your partner adds a line or two on why each suggestion works, in plain words.
  • A council review. Three AI models from different makers read a chapter, score it, and agree on what to fix first. Your partner can then fix those points for you, and you review every change. You can also just ask in the chat: “Ask the council about chapter 3”.
  • A sample book. Explore a sample book, with its cast, threads and first chapters, before you start your own.
  • Your voice. Show your partner a sample of your own prose, and the words you never want, and it drafts closer to how you write.
  • Pictures. Give a character, a place or your book's mood board a picture.
  • Submissions. Keep track of where your book has gone out, and what came back.
  • Writing sprints. Start a timed sprint of 10 to 45 minutes, and see how many words you wrote in it.
  • Where you left off. Come back to a book after a few days and see where you stopped, with its last lines and the threads still open.
  • Read the book. Read your whole book on one sheet, chapter after chapter, the way a reader will.
  • A calmer toolbar. The chapter editor's buttons now sit in one quiet row.
  • Phone fixes. The sprint menu is easier to read, chapter headings no longer break words, and the page no longer scrolls past the app.

  • Chapters on cards. See your chapters as a board of index cards, give each a status (planned, drafted, revised, done) and drag them into order.
  • Scenes. Plan each chapter in scenes, on cards of their own that drag into order.
  • Do it yourself. Add, rename, move, split and delete chapters, and edit your story bible with simple forms, without asking your partner.
  • Search and replace. Find a name or a phrase in every chapter, and change it everywhere in one go.
  • Keep or undo each change. When your partner changes a chapter, see each changed paragraph, old and new, and keep or undo it.
  • Ask about these words. Select words in a chapter and ask your partner about them: make it tighter, add tension, is this in character?
  • I'm stuck. Don't know what happens next? Press I'm stuck and get three small ways forward.
  • Focus mode. Draft with only your chapter on the screen.
  • Notes to self. Leave a note in a chapter, like “check this date”. Readers never see it, and it stays out of your book's downloads.
  • Read through and read aloud. Find repeated words and very long sentences, and hear your chapter read aloud. Both run on your own device.
  • Page settings. Choose the text size, font, line width and line spacing for long sessions.
  • Story shapes. Pick a shape for your story, such as three acts, the hero's journey or Save the Cat, and get its steps as planned chapters.
  • Your book's shape in pictures. See who is in each chapter, the pace of the book, and where each thread opens and pays off.
  • A word goal. Set a word goal and a deadline for each book, and see the words you wrote today.
  • Your path to the end. The Chapters tab shows where your book is, from draft to revise to send out, with one next step.
  • Named drafts. Name a version, like “Draft 2” or “Sent to my editor”, and compare it with your book now, chapter by chapter.
  • A style sheet. See and keep how your book spells names and words, so they stay the same in every chapter.
  • For agents and publishers. Prepare a query letter, a synopsis and comparable titles, and download them as Word or plain text.
  • Front and back pages. Add a dedication, an epigraph, acknowledgements and the other pages before and after the story.
  • Your name on your book. Put your name and contact lines on the downloads.
  • A paperback interior. Download a print-ready PDF for a paperback.
  • More ways to bring in a draft. Bring in a draft from Scrivener, LibreOffice or RTF.
  • Download all your books. Get every book in one zip from the Account page, any time, with or without a plan.
  • Install Plothold. Add Plothold to your phone or laptop as an app, with its own icon and window. The Account page shows how.
  • Keyboard shortcuts. See every shortcut in one place. Press ? when you are not typing.
  • Rename your book. Rename a book and its series on the Plot tab.
  • Where you are signed in. The Account page lists your devices, and you can sign out of the others.
  • Less generic prose. Your partner now follows the Better Writing guide, which cuts writing that sounds generic or machine-made and keeps your voice.
  • Focused on your book. Your partner now sticks to your book and your fiction.
  • Quicker fixes. When something breaks in your browser, Plothold's own server gets a short report so we can fix it. It goes to no one else.

  • A new logo. Plothold's logo is now a stack of three index cards.
  • Open a character. Open a character from the Cast tab to see everything about them.
  • Prices at a glance. The home page shows the prices, what the free trial gives, and that Plothold uses AI.
  • Your language everywhere. Sign-in emails, the email before your trial ends, the story check and Plothold's own chat messages now come in your language.
  • Spellcheck in your book's language. The chapter editor checks spelling in the language your book is written in.
  • Fonts from Plothold. Plothold's fonts now come from Plothold itself, so no font company sees your visit.
  • Clearer first steps. A new writer now sees what happens after they name their first book.
  • Friendlier dead ends. A mistyped link or a missing book now gets a clear page with a way back.
  • Better downloads. A download is named after your book's title, and the EPUB has the cover you kept.
  • Small fixes. The message box says when today's messages come back, in your own time. A message sent while Plothold restarts tells you to send it again. The sign-in page says “offline” when you have no connection. Screen readers now hear “Copied”. On a phone, the book's top bar takes two rows instead of three, and the Download menu fits on the screen.
  • A design pass. We went over the whole app for focus, speed and type.

  • A new look. Plothold now looks like a writers' room board, with an index-card colour for each thread and a bold black bar.
  • Write offline. Read and edit your recent books with a weak connection or none.
  • Book covers. Make a cover for your book with AI.
  • Your blurb. Write a blurb on the Plot tab. It shows on your shelf, in the readers' copy and in the EPUB.
  • Download a PDF. Download your book as a PDF.
  • Suggested replies. Your partner suggests what you might say next, so you can reply with one tap.
  • A Feedback button. Tell us what you think, from anywhere in Plothold.
  • Extra messages. With a plan, you can buy extra messages when you run out.
  • Small things. Press / to jump to the message box. The chat shows a heading for each day. A chapter named in your partner's note opens that chapter. You can send the sign-in link again without typing your address again. On a touch screen, Enter starts a new line. The Download menu closes on Escape. The story check names scenes as “chapter 2, scene 3”.
  • A faster home page. plothold.com shows its words before anything else loads.
  • Security improvements. We made Plothold safer in several places.

  • World and Plot tabs. Your book's world and plot now have tabs of their own, beside a wider chat with smoother replies.
  • A tidier library. Your shelf and a new book's first screen are cleaner, and each cover shows its chapters, its words and when it last changed.
  • Never lose a message. The message box grows as you type, keeps a message you haven't sent, and gives a message back if it can't go.
  • Never lose an edit. Unsaved changes to a chapter stay while you look elsewhere, and Ctrl+S saves.
  • Tab titles. Each page names its browser tab, and a tab you are not looking at shows when your partner has replied.
  • Clearer words. We rewrote the words across the whole app to be shorter and plainer.
  • History by day. A book's history now reads like a ledger, one day at a time.
  • A faster story check. The story check answers at once when nothing it reads has changed.

  • Plans and a free trial. Start with a free trial, then choose a monthly plan. Your plan shows in the app, and we email you before your trial ends.

  • Steadier replies. Your partner's reply now carries on after a short break in the connection.

  • A visual chapter editor. The chapter editor shows italic, bold and scene breaks as they will look, not as symbols.
  • A look of its own. Plothold gets its own colours, type and style.
  • Your partner asks first. When a choice is yours to make, your partner asks and waits for your answer.

  • Beta readers. Share a read-only copy of your book with beta readers, and collect their notes.
  • Series. Put books in a series, and your partner carries characters and facts from one book to the next.
  • French, Spanish and German. Plothold's pages now come in French, Spanish and German.
  • Easier to use. Plothold works better with a keyboard and a screen reader, and on a phone you switch between the chat and the book.
  • Long replies finish. A long piece of work wraps up before its time runs out, and says so if it can't finish.

  • Plothold opens. Chat with a writing partner on one side while your book updates on the other. It plans, drafts and checks your story with you, and shows each step it takes.
  • A guided start. Four short questions take you from an idea to a planned first chapter.
  • Stop and undo. Stop your partner at any time, and undo its last change.
  • Every version kept. See what changed in each version of your book, and go back to any of them. Every book is also backed up each day.
  • Bring in a draft. Bring in a draft from Word, Markdown or plain text, or paste it in.
  • Take your book with you. Download your book as an EPUB, a Word file, a standard manuscript or Markdown.
  • Easy sign-in. Sign in with a link by email, or with Google.
  • Private by design. Your chats go only to AI hosts that keep no copy and do not train on them. You can delete a book or your whole account at any time.

Questions or ideas? Write to hello@plothold.com, or use the Feedback button in Plothold. · Back to Plothold