Notes on world-building, craft, and glossaries.
Practical writing on keeping invented worlds consistent, for authors who'd rather spend their time drafting than formatting.
22,025 published books, measured
Five studies of what novels actually do with their casts, their invented vocabulary, their series and their spelling, and every table behind them free to download and free to quote.
Writing software price and AI index
What every tool we have reviewed costs, where it keeps your manuscript, and whether it generates text. One table, dated, with the source beside each row.
13 fillable templates, free
A scene list, a novel timeline, a continuity checklist, a story bible and nine more. Each one downloads as a spreadsheet or a Word document, already the right shape, with no sign-up.
More resources
What Published Fiction Does, by Genre
Thousands of published novels measured and cut by genre, length, era and spelling standard, with every sample size printed.
What Happens to a Series Between Books
1,001 series measured by shared cast. Two volumes hold about a quarter of their vocabulary in common, and roughly one pair in seven spells a shared word two ways.
Where a Novel Loses Track of Its Own Words
322,050 real inconsistencies measured. Two in five are a single slip, three in ten are a decision the book never made, and the sloppy second half does not exist.
Which English Do Published Novels Actually Keep?
Four decisions every manuscript answers whether or not its author makes them, measured across 10,754 published novels.
Best Tools for a Final Manuscript Check
The last pass, in order.
Best Tools for Checking a Series for Continuity
Across books, not within one.
Best Non-AI Editing Tools for Fiction
The shortlist, with its gaps stated.
How to Check a Manuscript Before a Rewrite
Survey the draft before you cut it.
What Changes When a Book Becomes a Series
Book one was never meant to bind you.
Checking a Book You Published Years Ago
The book, and the file, have both moved.
What a Manuscript Scan Does Not Replace
What still needs a person.
How to Choose Between a Tool and an Editor
Software, or a person, or both.
Copyright in Invented Names and Worlds
What is actually protected, and what is not.
Trademarks for Series Titles
When a name is worth registering.
Fan Fiction and Your World
Decide before someone asks.
Licensing Your World to Others
Letting someone else write in your world.
What Publishers Now Ask About AI Use
What contracts and forms now ask.
Proving You Wrote Your Book
The evidence, kept as you go.
Subscription or One-Off Purchase
Price it over a career, not a month.
How to Back Up a Manuscript Properly
The rule, applied to a book.
Cloud Sync Risks for Writers
Sync copies your mistakes too.
Working Offline as an Author
Writing without a network.
Account Security for Authors
The accounts that hold your livelihood.
What to Do If Your Manuscript Leaks
It is out. Here is the order.
Watermarking Advance Copies
Marking copies, and what that buys.
Terms of Service Changes and Your Manuscript
The agreement changes after you agreed.
How to Audit the Tools You Already Use
A list of everything that has your text.
How Fuzzy Name Matching Works
How a tool decides two names are similar.
How Term Extraction Works
How a tool decides a word is unusual.
Why a Dictionary Is Not Enough
Why the spellchecker cannot help you.
What a Stop List Is and Why It Matters
The list of words that are never reported.
False Positives and Why They Matter
Noise costs more than a miss.
Precision and Recall for Authors
Two numbers behind every setting.
How to Evaluate a Manuscript Tool
A test, on your book, before you pay.
Questions to Ask Before Buying Writing Software
The questions worth asking first.
Free Trials and What to Test
A trial is for one question.
How to Test a Tool on Your Own Book
Your book, your errors, a real answer.
What Happens When a Writing Tool Shuts Down
Companies close. Books should not.
Lock-In and How to Avoid It
Can you take your book with you.
Exporting Your Work From Writing Software
Do the export before you need it.
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