Applies to ScribeWright 1.1.117

Getting Started

ScribeWright keeps each book in a single project file with the .swj extension. Everything travels in that one file: chapters, metadata, styles, images, and the book’s private dictionary. Copy the .swj and you have copied the whole book.

The Start Screen

When ScribeWright opens without a book, the start screen offers three ways in:

  • New Book asks for a title, the author, whether the book is fiction or non-fiction, a typography preset and where to keep the file, then creates the book with one chapter and saves it right away.
  • Open… browses for an existing .swj book.
  • Import ▾ brings in a manuscript from elsewhere: a Word document (.docx) or an EPUB (.epub). The button’s face repeats whichever kind you imported last; the arrow offers both. The same commands live on the File tab, and you can drop a .swj, .docx or .epub file anywhere on the window.

Below the buttons, Recent books shows a card for each book you have worked on lately: its cover (a book without one wears a stand-in cover until you give it a real one in Book Setup), title, location, and when you last opened it. Double-click a card (or press Enter) to reopen the book. Right-click for Open, Open folder and Remove from list; a book whose file has moved or gone shows (not found) and can only be removed.

By default ScribeWright reopens the last book you were working on, at the chapter you left off. Use File ▸ Close Book (Ctrl+W) to return to the start screen without quitting.

Creating Your First Book

New Book: title, author, kind, typography preset and where the file is saved.
New Book: title, author, kind, typography preset and where the file is saved.
  1. Choose New Book and fill in the dialog: the title (required), the author (offered again next time), whether the book is fiction or non-fiction (this sets the formatting rules Layout Review applies and the wording of the generated copyright page), a typography preset (see Style Editor; the kind picks a sensible default, and you can change it later), and the folder to save to (Documents\ScribeWright unless you say otherwise; the file name comes from the title). If a book of that name is already there, ScribeWright offers a numbered name rather than overwriting.
  2. Press Create. The book opens on Chapter 1, already saved, so autosave and crash recovery are protecting it from the first keystroke. ScribeWright keeps a rolling backup (.swj.bak) beside the file from your next save on.
  3. Start writing, or bring in an existing manuscript with File ▸ Import Word…. Chapters split automatically on Heading 1.
  4. View ▸ Book Setup (Ctrl+Shift+B) holds everything else about the book: language, more authors, cover, fonts. Front matter (title page, copyright, dedication) is added when you want it from Insert ▸ Front Matter ▾.

If Something Goes Wrong

Your work is protected in layers: unsaved new books are autosaved and offered for recovery at the next start; every save is atomic (the previous version becomes .swj.bak); and if the app ever crashes, emergency copies land in the recovery folder and are offered on restart. See Backups & Recovery for where everything lives.

This page is generated from the in-app Help. Report a problem on the support page.