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The Companion

A second document beside the manuscript

The Companion opens beside the editor and shows one of nine views of the book without navigating away from the scene: the outline, the scene record, the Codex, notes, to-dos, the Word Bank, Phrases, the book’s ideas, and editing tools.

The Companion is a second pane beside the manuscript. It displays one view at a time, selected from its own tabs, so reference material is readable without navigating away from the scene being written.

The views

  • Outline. The book’s structure, beside the scene rather than in place of it.
  • Scene. The record for the open document. Labeled Section instead in a nonfiction project.
  • World. The Codex, reading the same entries and links as World Building. Present in fiction projects.
  • Notes. Notes saved against the book.
  • To-Do. Outstanding items for the book.
  • Word Bank. A word and its definition, kept for the project.
  • Phrases. A line worth reaching for, optionally paired with the plainer version it replaces and a note. Unlike the Word Bank it may be filed to a book, which changes where it sorts rather than whether it appears.
  • Ideas. This book’s ideas, beside the manuscript, so an idea captured elsewhere is available at the point of use rather than in a place you have to go to.
  • Editing. Editing tools for the open document.

Relationship to the Marginalia

The two panels answer different questions and may be open together. The Companion shows a second document you select. The Marginalia shows information about the open scene: what it links, its position among the beats, whether its names match the Codex, and how the project stands.