1. Click the Sign Up button on the homepage
2. Choose a plan that fits your needs:

• Storyteller ($499) - For individual memoir writers, includes 10 hours voice AI
• Book Builder ($1,499) - For those serious about completing a book, includes 36 hours voice AI
• Writing Coach ($4,499) - For professionals helping others write their stories, includes 120 hours voice AI

1. Enter your name, email, and create a password
2. Complete the one-time payment through Stripe
3. You'll receive a welcome email confirming your account

1. From the Dashboard, click New Project
2. Give your project a meaningful title (e.g., "My Life Story" or "Dad's Memoir")
3. Choose your memoir mode:

• Memoir - Personal reflections with some creative flexibility
• Autobiography - More factual, chronological approach
• Life Sketch - Quick, focused stories for sharing

1. Click Create and you're ready to begin!

Project Types:

• Life Sketch mode
• Autobiography mode
• (Memoir mode not included)
• (Business Book mode not included)

Features:

• Up to 3 projects
• Book Builder for organizing scenes into chapters
• Characters management
• Timeline view
• Coach Reed (writing guidance)
• Quick Stories
• All AI assistants (Nicky, Quill, Reed, Kupe)

Voice AI:

• 10 hours (600 minutes) included

Not Included:

• Source Library uploads
• Manuscript Intelligence (Orion)
• Memoir project mode
• Business Book project mode

Project Types:

• All four modes: Life Sketch, Autobiography, Memoir, and Business Book

Features:

• Everything in Storyteller, PLUS:
• Unlimited projects
• Source Library uploads (photos, documents, audio, video)
• Manuscript Intelligence with Orion
• Business Book mode for entrepreneurs and founders

Voice AI:

• 36 hours (2,160 minutes) included

Project Types:

• All four modes: Life Sketch, Autobiography, Memoir, and Business Book

Features:

• Everything in Book Builder, PLUS:
• Coaching subaccounts for managing clients
• Client dashboard for oversight
• Shared voice quota management

Voice AI:

• 120 hours (7,200 minutes) included
• Shared across all client accounts

1. Choose your plan from the pricing page or during signup
2. Click Get Started or Subscribe
3. You'll be redirected to a secure Stripe checkout page
4. Enter your payment details
5. Complete the one-time payment
6. Your 12-month access begins immediately
7. You'll receive a confirmation email

1. Click your profile icon in the navigation
2. Select Billing or Account Settings
3. You'll see:

• Your current plan name
• Access start and end dates
• Voice AI usage
• Payment history

1. Go to Billing in your account settings
2. Click Upgrade Plan
3. Select your new plan
4. Complete the payment for the new tier
5. Your new features are available immediately
6. Your 12-month period resets from the upgrade date

1. You'll receive email reminders before your access expires
2. On expiration, you lose access to create new content
3. Your existing content is preserved
4. To continue, simply purchase a new 12-month plan
5. All your projects and data will be waiting for you

• All payments are processed securely through Stripe
• Life Sketch Studio never stores your full credit card number
• Stripe is PCI-DSS Level 1 certified (the highest security standard)
• You'll receive email receipts for all transactions

Who writes it: A third party, not the subject themselves

Perspective: Third person ("She was born in 1945...")

Scope: Typically covers the entire life, often including events after the subject's death

Research: Relies on interviews, documents, archives, and external sources

Purpose: To document, analyze, or celebrate a life for historical or public interest

Typical subjects: Public figures, historical persons, notable individuals

Who writes it: You, about yourself

Perspective: First person ("I was born in...")

Scope: Birth to present—the whole life

Structure: Chronological, following the timeline of your life

Tone: Often factual, historical, documentary

Purpose: To record "what happened" as completely and accurately as possible

Focus: Events, facts, dates, people, places—the external record of a life

Choose Autobiography when you want to:

• Create a comprehensive historical record of your life
• Document facts, dates, and events accurately
• Write for family history or genealogical purposes
• Cover your entire lifespan systematically
• Prioritize completeness over emotional depth
• Leave a factual legacy for future generations

The autobiography asks: "What happened in my life?"

Strengths:

• Nothing important is left out
• Provides context and continuity
• Valuable for family historians and researchers
• Creates a complete record

Challenges:

• Can feel like a list of events without meaning
• Readers may struggle to connect emotionally
• The "important" moments may get equal weight with the mundane
• Harder to create narrative tension or flow

The art of autobiography: The best autobiographies weave meaning through the facts. They answer not just "what happened" but "what did it mean to me." Even in factual mode, reflection transforms a timeline into a story.

Who writes it: You, about yourself

Perspective: First person, often with reflection and interpretation

Scope: Selective—specific periods, themes, or transformative experiences

Structure: Thematic or emotional rather than strictly chronological

Tone: Literary, reflective, emotionally honest

Purpose: To explore meaning, identity, and transformation

Focus: The inner life—feelings, growth, struggle, wisdom gained

Choose Memoir when you want to:

• Explore specific themes (family, career, healing, faith)
• Focus on emotional truth and meaning
• Create a literary reading experience
• Share wisdom and insight with readers
• Write something that feels like a "real book"
• Go deep on a few experiences rather than wide across your whole life

The memoir asks: "What shaped me? What did I learn? Who did I become?"

Strengths:

• Emotionally resonant and engaging to read
• Allows artistic interpretation and literary craft
• Can address universal themes through personal experience
• Creates connection between writer and reader

Challenges:

• Requires difficult choices about what to include and exclude
• May leave family members wondering "why didn't you write about X?"
• Demands emotional honesty that can be uncomfortable
• The line between "emotional truth" and "factual truth" requires care

The art of memoir: Memoir is not about recounting events—it's about discovering what those events meant. The memoirist revisits the past with the wisdom of the present, finding patterns and meaning that weren't visible at the time.

A crucial distinction: In memoir, you can shape, compress, and interpret events for emotional truth. You might combine two conversations into one, or adjust timing for narrative flow. This is accepted craft—but outright invention is not. The reader trusts that the essential truth is real.

Who writes it: You, about yourself

Perspective: First person, present or past tense

Scope: One moment, one memory, one scene

Structure: Narrative scene with beginning, middle, end

Tone: Vivid, immediate, often conversational

Purpose: To preserve and share a specific memory

Focus: A single experience rendered in rich detail

Choose Life Sketch when you want to:

• Capture a memory quickly before it fades
• Share a story at a family gathering or in a letter
• Build a collection of standalone stories over time
• Write without committing to a larger project
• Create something complete in a single session
• Focus on one vivid moment rather than a larger arc

The life sketch asks: "What happened in this moment, and why do I still remember it?"

Strengths:

• Low commitment—each story is complete on its own
• Great for capturing memories as they surface
• Perfect for sharing with family or posting online
• Can accumulate into a memoir over time
• Less overwhelming than a full autobiography

Challenges:

• Without larger context, some stories may feel disconnected
• Easy to avoid the harder, more complex memories
• May not reveal the deeper patterns of your life
• Collection of sketches isn't automatically a book

The art of life sketch: A great life sketch reads like a window into a moment—specific, sensory, emotionally true. The reader should feel they were there. Focus on the telling detail: not "we had dinner" but "Mom served the roast on the chipped blue platter she'd inherited from her grandmother."

Who writes it: Founders, entrepreneurs, executives, business leaders

Perspective: First person, authority through vulnerability

Scope: Your business journey—decisions, risks, failures, and lessons learned

Structure: 3 seasons with 17 focused lessons designed for busy founders

Tone: Thought-leadership, conversational authority, anti-promotional

Purpose: To establish credibility through real decisions and their consequences

Focus: Friction, failure, recovery, and earned insight—not just success stories

Choose Business Book when you want to:

• Establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry
• Write an authority book that builds trust with clients and partners
• Share your business philosophy through story rather than theory
• Create something like "Let My People Go Surfing" or "Shoe Dog"
• Document the real decisions, risks, and tradeoffs behind your success
• Build credibility that opens doors for speaking, consulting, or business growth

The business book asks: "Why should readers trust how I think? What decisions have I made, and what did they cost me?"

Strengths:

• Builds genuine authority through vulnerability
• Creates connection with readers who face similar challenges
• Differentiates you from competitors who just market their success
• Provides lasting credibility beyond a marketing campaign

Challenges:

• Requires honest reflection on failures and mistakes
• Must resist the urge to be promotional
• Demands specificity about real decisions and their consequences
• The "trust filter" means readers will detect inauthenticity

The art of business book: Great business books don't claim authority—they earn it through story. Instead of saying "I'm an expert," you show the specific decisions you made, the personal risks you took, the tradeoffs you struggled with, and the wisdom you gained from real consequences. Authority comes from friction, not biography.

The trust filter: Every scene in a Business Book project is evaluated against this question: "Why should the reader trust how this person thinks?" Readers trust:

• Personal risk (what you put on the line)
• Specific decisions (not just outcomes)
• Real consequences (what actually happened)
• Honest tradeoffs (what you gave up)
• Earned insight (wisdom from experience, not theory)

Your mode primarily affects how the AI Biographer guides you and how the AI Writer crafts your scenes:

• Autobiography mode: More focus on dates, facts, chronology, completeness
• Memoir mode: More focus on reflection, meaning, emotional truth
• Life Sketch mode: Shorter, more immediate, scene-focused
• Business Book mode: Focus on decisions, risks, consequences, and earned authority through story

You can create multiple projects in different modes. Some writers start with Life Sketch to capture memories quickly, then create a Memoir project to weave select stories into a larger narrative. Business Book is designed specifically for entrepreneurs and founders who want to build thought leadership.

Note: Business Book mode is available on Book Builder and Writing Coach plans only.

Always acceptable:

• Reconstructing dialogue (you don't remember exact words)
• Compressing time (combining similar events)
• Omitting irrelevant details
• Changing names to protect privacy
• Interpreting events through current understanding

Requires disclosure:

• Changing identifying details significantly
• Writing about others' private experiences
• Significant departures from chronology

Never acceptable:

• Inventing events that didn't happen
• Claiming experiences you didn't have
• Fabricating people who didn't exist
• Presenting fiction as fact

The reader's trust is sacred. When in doubt, err on the side of transparency.

Every time you remember something, your brain rebuilds the memory from fragments—and subtly changes it in the process. This isn't a flaw; it's how memory works.

What this means for life writing:

• You won't remember conversations word-for-word—that's normal
• Your perspective on events may have shifted over decades—that's growth
• Two people can remember the same event differently—both can be "true"
• Some memories feel vivid but may be partially constructed—trust the emotional core

The good news: Memoir isn't journalism. You're not required to have perfect recall. What matters is emotional truth—the essence of what happened and what it meant.

Transitions: Moving, first days, last days, changes in status

• The day you left home for college
• Your first week at a new job
• The moment you realized you'd become a parent

Conflicts: Internal struggles, relationships, decisions

• Choosing between obligation and desire
• Standing up to someone (or failing to)
• The fight that changed a relationship

Realizations: Moments of sudden clarity

• When you understood something about your parents
• The day you discovered what you wanted to do
• Recognizing a pattern you'd been repeating

Sensory anchors: Tastes, smells, sounds that transport you

• Your grandmother's kitchen
• The sound of your father's car in the driveway
• A song that still makes you cry

Objects: Things that carry meaning

• An inherited piece of jewelry
• A childhood toy you kept
• The first thing you bought with your own money

The answer doesn't need to be dramatic. It might be:

• "This is when I learned that kindness matters more than being right."
• "This shows who my mother really was."
• "I still carry this moment with me."
• "This changed how I see everything that came after."

If you can't answer "So what?", the story might:

• Need more reflection to find its meaning
• Belong as a brief mention rather than a full scene
• Be interesting only to you (which is fine—but know your audience)

The exception: Some stories matter simply because they capture a time, place, or way of life that no longer exists. The meaning is preservation itself.

This is the surface: actions, dialogue, setting, sequence.

• "We drove to the lake house on a Friday in August."
• "My father said he had something to tell us."
• "The sun was setting when we pulled into the gravel driveway."

Tips for the external layer:

• Be specific: "1987 Ford Taurus" not just "the car"
• Use sensory detail: sights, sounds, smells, textures, tastes
• Ground the reader in time and place
• Show action, don't just summarize

This is the inner life: emotions, reactions, thoughts in the moment.

• "My stomach tightened when I saw his expression."
• "I wanted to run but couldn't move."
• "For the first time, I saw my father as someone who could be afraid."

Tips for the internal layer:

• Name emotions specifically: "anxious" is clearer than "bad"
• Show physical sensations: racing heart, dry mouth, clenched fists
• Include thoughts you had in the moment
• Don't overexplain—trust readers to feel with you

This is wisdom: the meaning you've made, the pattern you see, the insight gained.

• "I understand now that he was saying goodbye in the only way he knew how."
• "That summer taught me that families can break and still hold together."
• "Looking back, I see this was when everything changed."

Tips for the reflective layer:

• Don't over-moralize—trust readers to draw conclusions
• Reflection works best in small doses
• Let the story speak for itself when possible
• Reserve reflection for moments that truly need interpretation

Too much external: Reads like a police report. "This happened, then that happened." No emotional connection.

Too much internal: Becomes navel-gazing. "I felt this, I felt that." No grounding in reality.

Too much reflective: Feels preachy. "The lesson here is..." Readers stop trusting the narrator.

The ideal balance: The external carries the story, the internal creates connection, the reflective provides occasional depth. Let scenes breathe. Not every paragraph needs reflection.

Your perspective is yours: You have every right to tell your experience of events—how you felt, what you saw, what it meant to you.

Their inner life is theirs: Be careful about claiming to know what others thought or felt. "My mother seemed sad" is safer than "My mother was devastated."

Private information requires care: Medical issues, financial troubles, relationship problems, secrets—consider the impact of disclosure.

Ask when possible: If someone is living and your story involves them significantly, consider having a conversation. Not for permission, but for relationship.

Changing names: A simple note ("names have been changed") provides protection without deception.

Changing identifying details: Location, profession, physical description—can be modified if essential for privacy.

Composite characters: Combining multiple people into one—acceptable if disclosed and if the emotional truth remains.

Omission: Sometimes the kindest choice is simply not to include something.

The deceased: Greater latitude, but families still read. Write with awareness.

The living: More care required. Would you read this scene to their face?

Villains are rarely simple: Even people who hurt you had their own struggles. Showing complexity makes your story more believable—and you more trustworthy as a narrator.

Avoid score-settling: If your primary motivation is revenge or vindication, wait. Write when you've gained enough distance to be fair.

You can be angry: Honest emotion is welcome. But self-righteousness pushes readers away.

The best revenge is a good story: A well-told, emotionally honest account is more powerful than a screed.

Chronological: Follow the timeline of your life. Birth to present (or a defined period like "my twenties").

• Advantage: Easy for readers to follow
• Challenge: Life doesn't naturally build toward a climax

Thematic: Organize around ideas, patterns, or threads. "Fathers," "Work," "Faith," "The Body."

• Advantage: Creates deeper exploration of meaning
• Challenge: Can feel fragmented; requires more craft

Hybrid: Most successful memoirs blend both—roughly chronological, but with thematic chapters or sections.

Even true stories benefit from narrative structure:

A question or tension: What was unresolved at the start? What were you seeking, fleeing, or struggling with?

Development: How did events unfold? What obstacles arose?

Change: How were you different by the end? What did you learn, lose, gain, or become?

Not every chapter needs a dramatic arc, but your overall memoir should have movement—a sense that something has happened to the narrator.

First lines matter: Don't start with your birth unless you have a remarkable birth story. Start where the energy is—in the middle of action, or with a provocative statement.

• Weak: "I was born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1952."
• Stronger: "My mother kept a packed suitcase under her bed for thirty years."

Endings should resonate: Don't just stop when you run out of material. Find a moment that echoes your themes, that feels like closure (even if life goes on).

Circular structure: Ending where you began—literally or thematically—creates satisfying symmetry.

Read your words aloud: If you wouldn't say it, don't write it.

Don't imitate: Admire other memoirists, but write like you.

Embrace imperfection: Perfect prose can feel distant. Your quirks are your charm.

Talk first, write later: The AI Biographer helps with this—speaking your stories often captures your natural voice better than writing them.

Trust your humor: If you're funny in life, be funny on the page. Don't get artificially serious.

Life Sketch Studio offers two primary modes:

Historical Fiction Mode: The AI crafts polished, story-like prose. Vivid imagery, scene-setting, literary techniques. Good when you want your memoir to read like a published book.

Nonfiction Mode: The AI stays close to your exact words with minimal embellishment. Good when authenticity and your natural voice matter most.

Consider:

• Historical Fiction Mode can feel less "you"—review carefully and refine
• Nonfiction Mode may need more manual editing for flow
• You can use different modes for different stories
• Refinement lets you adjust after the fact

Neither mode is "better"—it depends on your goals and preferences.

Telling instead of showing: "My grandmother was kind" vs. showing her slipping a five-dollar bill into your pocket every visit.

Overexplaining: Trust your reader. If the scene is written well, you don't need to spell out the meaning.

Chronological captivity: Not every story needs to start at the beginning. Start where it's interesting.

Hero narrator: If you're always right and everyone else is wrong, readers get suspicious.

Apologizing for your story: "This probably isn't interesting, but..." Stop. Tell the story or don't.

Rushing the good parts: Slow down in moments that matter. Speed through the connecting tissue.

Drowning in detail: Not every meal needs a menu. Include details that do work—evoke mood, reveal character, ground the reader.

Avoiding the hard stuff: The moments you're afraid to write are often the ones that matter most.

Joy: Rediscovering forgotten moments, honoring people you've loved, seeing patterns of meaning.

Grief: Mourning losses again, missing people who are gone, confronting the passage of time.

Anger: Revisiting old wounds, feeling injustices fresh again, facing what others did.

Shame: Remembering your own failures, the things you wish you'd done differently.

Healing: Processing experiences through narrative, making peace with the past, forgiving yourself and others.

Connection: Sharing your story creates intimacy with readers—family, friends, or strangers.

• It's okay to pause when material is difficult
• You don't have to write everything at once
• Consider what you need before and after hard writing sessions
• Talking to someone (friend, therapist) about difficult memories can help
• Your well-being matters more than your word count

1. Open a lesson from your project's season view
2. Click Start Conversation or the microphone button
3. Nicky will greet you and begin asking questions
4. Speak naturally or type your responses
5. Take your time—there's no rush

1. Click the microphone button to start voice mode
2. Speak clearly when prompted
3. The AI will transcribe your words in real-time
4. Wait for the AI to respond (you'll hear it speak)
5. Click the microphone again to reply

Tips for better voice recognition:

• Find a quiet environment
• Speak at a natural pace
• You can say "um" and "uh"—the AI understands natural speech

1. Type your response in the text box at the bottom
2. Press Enter or click Send
3. The AI's response will appear as text
4. Continue the conversation at your own pace

When text mode is helpful:

• When you're in a noisy environment
• If you prefer to compose your thoughts carefully
• When you want to copy/paste something you've written elsewhere

Teach Phase:

• The AI explains the theme (e.g., "childhood home" or "first job")
• You'll learn why this topic matters for your story
• No pressure to share yet—just listen and think

Apply Phase:

• The AI asks open-ended questions
• Share whatever comes to mind
• There are no wrong answers
• The AI will ask follow-up questions to help you remember more

Close Phase:

• The AI summarizes key points from your conversation
• You can add anything you forgot
• The conversation wraps up, ready to become a scene

The AI may repeat if your answer was very short or unclear. Try:

• Providing more detail in your response
• Answering the specific question asked
• Saying "I don't remember that" if you truly don't—that's okay!

1. Check that your browser has microphone permission
2. Make sure your microphone is connected and not muted
3. Try using a different browser (Chrome works best)
4. Refresh the page and try again
5. Fall back to text mode if voice continues to have issues

Simply clarify in your next message:

• "Actually, I said [correct information]"
• "Let me rephrase that..."
• "I meant [clarification]"

The AI will adjust based on your correction.

When generating or regenerating a scene, Quill automatically:

Uses Character Context:

• Recognizes people by name or nickname from your Characters list
• Includes relationship details (mother, childhood friend, mentor)
• Incorporates physical descriptions and personality traits
• Uses character significance to understand their importance

Uses Timeline Context:

• References life phases (childhood, college years, early career)
• Understands when events happened relative to each other
• Maintains temporal consistency across your memoir
• Places scenes in proper historical context

Why this matters:

• Characters are portrayed consistently across all your scenes
• Relationships are described accurately each time
• Your memoir feels like a unified story, not disconnected episodes
• Regenerating scenes preserves the context you've already established

1. Add Characters Early - The more details in your Characters list, the richer your scenes
2. Include Aliases - Add nicknames so Quill recognizes "Gram" as your grandmother
3. Note Relationships Clearly - "Father's business partner" gives more context than just a name
4. Build Your Timeline - Adding events helps Quill place your scenes in the right era
5. Link Scenes to Events - Linked events are always included when regenerating that scene

Historical Fiction Mode:

• Uses vivid imagery and sensory details
• May add scene-setting and atmosphere
• Crafts dialogue that feels natural
• Includes narrative transitions
• Creates a reading experience similar to a published memoir

Best for: When you want your final memoir to feel like a professionally written book with evocative prose.

Nonfiction Mode:

• Preserves your exact words as much as possible
• Minimal creative additions
• More like a direct transcription with light editing
• Maintains your natural speech patterns

Best for: When you want the scene to sound exactly like you, or when accuracy is more important than polish.

1. Open your Project Settings
2. Find the AI Writer section
3. Toggle between "Historical Fiction" and "Nonfiction" mode
4. Save your changes
5. Future scenes will use the new mode

Note: This doesn't affect scenes already generated—only new ones.

Choose a style inspired by famous memoir writers:

• Maya Angelou - Lyrical, poetic, emotionally rich
• Ernest Hemingway - Spare, direct, powerful simplicity
• Toni Morrison - Musical, culturally rooted, vivid imagery
• David Sedaris - Witty, self-deprecating, humorous
• Mary Karr - Raw, honest, conversational
• And more...

To select a style:

1. Go to Project Settings → AI Writer
2. Choose from the Style dropdown
3. Save your changes

If the preset styles don't fit your voice, you can create unlimited custom writing styles. This feature is available to Book Builder and Writing Coach plan subscribers.

To create a custom style:

1. Go to your Default AI Settings (from the user menu)
2. Navigate to the Custom Styles section
3. Click Create New Style
4. Use the AI Style Wizard to generate a custom style from:

• A text prompt describing the voice you want
• A sample of your own writing for the AI to learn from

1. Name your style and save it

Once created, your custom styles appear alongside the author-inspired presets in any project's AI Writer settings. You can create as many styles as you need and switch between them at any time.

Note: Storyteller plan subscribers can use the author-inspired preset styles but cannot create custom styles.

The AI can learn from samples of your own writing:

1. Go to your Default AI Settings
2. Create a new custom style
3. Choose "Learn from my writing"
4. Paste samples of writing you've done (letters, journals, etc.)
5. The AI analyzes your patterns and vocabulary
6. Your custom style will echo your natural voice

1. Complete your conversation with Nicky
2. Click Generate Scene or wait for automatic generation
3. Quill processes your conversation (this takes a moment)
4. Your new scene appears in your Scenes collection
5. Review and edit as needed

1. Open the scene you want to improve
2. Click Refine Scene
3. Tell the AI what to change:

• "Make it shorter"
• "Add more detail about the house"
• "Remove the dialogue"
• "Make it less formal"

1. Click Apply Refinement
2. Review the updated scene
3. Repeat until you're satisfied

• Have longer, more detailed conversations with Nicky
• Share more sensory details and specific memories
• In Project Settings, increase Quill's maximum token limit
• Try refining with "Expand this scene with more detail"

• Use Nonfiction Mode for closer accuracy
• Refine the scene with specific corrections
• Check that important details were clear in your conversation
• Some creative interpretation is normal in Historical Fiction Mode

• Longer conversations take more time to process
• Check your internet connection
• Refresh the page if it's been more than 2 minutes
• Very long conversations may need to be split into parts

Use Quick Stories when:

• A memory pops into your head unexpectedly
• Someone reminds you of a story you want to capture
• You want to write about something not covered by lessons
• You're between lessons and want to keep writing

Use Lessons when:

• You want guided exploration of life themes
• You're not sure what to write about
• You want to progress through your memoir systematically
• You're new and want more structure

1. From your project Dashboard, click Quick Story
2. The AI Biographer will ask what you'd like to talk about
3. Describe the memory or topic you want to explore
4. Have a conversation as you would in a lesson
5. When done, the AI Writer generates your scene

• Quick Stories appear in your Scenes collection like any other scene
• They're tagged with the Season that best matches the time period
• You can include them in your Book Builder
• They'll show up on your Timeline view

1. Open your project from the Dashboard
2. Click Source Library or Source Materials in the navigation
3. You'll see all your uploaded files organized by folders
4. Use the toolbar at the top to upload, create folders, or manage files

1. Navigate to the folder where you want your files (or stay at root level)
2. Click the Upload button in the toolbar
3. Select one or more files from your device
4. Wait for the upload and processing to complete
5. Your files appear with a status indicator showing processing progress

What happens during processing:

• Images are analyzed for text (OCR) - perfect for handwritten letters or documents
• Audio and video files are transcribed using AI
• Documents are parsed for text content

1. Click the Upload button
2. Select multiple files (hold Ctrl/Cmd to select more than one)
3. Or drag and drop multiple files onto the upload area
4. A progress bar shows the status of all uploads
5. Large audio/video files process in the background - you can continue working

1. Click on any file in the Source Library
2. You'll see the asset workspace with:

• The extracted text (if applicable)
• File details and metadata
• Options to edit, download, or generate content

1. Open any image asset from the Source Library
2. Look for the View Original Image button in the toolbar
3. Click to open a full-resolution view of your image
4. Compare with the transcription to verify unclear words
5. Close the viewer when done

This is especially helpful when:

• Handwriting is difficult to read
• OCR may have misinterpreted letters
• You need to see context around the text

1. Open the asset you want to edit
2. The extracted text appears in an editable field
3. Make corrections as needed (fix OCR errors, add punctuation, etc.)
4. Click Save Changes when done
5. Your edited text will be used when generating scenes

1. Open any source asset that has extracted text
2. Click the Generate Scene button
3. Choose your scene style:

• Historical Fiction - Polished, expressive prose
• Nonfiction - Clear, factual summary
• Copy Direct - Use the source text as-is

1. Select options for extracting characters, events, and themes
2. Click Generate
3. Review the generated scene
4. You'll be taken to the scene editor to refine it

1. In the Source Library, select multiple files by checking their boxes
2. When 2 or more files are selected, the Merge button appears
3. Click Merge Selected
4. Choose which files to include (only files in the current folder are shown)
5. Enter a title for the merged document
6. Click Merge
7. The new merged file appears in the same folder as the source files

Tip: Merged assets combine all the text from your selected files in order, making it easy to work with multi-page documents.

1. In the Source Library, click the New Folder button
2. Enter a meaningful name (e.g., "Mom's Letters" or "1985 Photos")
3. Click Create
4. Your folder appears in the file tree

1. Select the file(s) you want to move
2. Right-click or use the menu to select Move
3. Choose the destination folder
4. Click Move to confirm

1. Select the item you want to rename
2. Right-click or use the menu to select Rename
3. Enter the new name
4. Press Enter or click outside to save

1. Check your internet connection
2. Ensure files are under size limits (100MB for video, 20MB for others)
3. Try uploading one file at a time
4. Refresh the page and try again

1. Ensure the image is clear and well-lit
2. Handwriting needs to be reasonably legible
3. Try cropping to just the text area
4. Very old or faded documents may need manual transcription

1. Large audio files take longer to process
2. Check back in a few minutes
3. Clear speech works better than background noise
4. Multiple speakers may affect accuracy

1. Open your project from the Dashboard
2. Click on Scenes in the navigation
3. You'll see all your generated scenes listed
4. Scenes are organized by the Season they belong to
5. Click any scene to read or edit it

1. Open the scene you want to edit
2. Click the Edit button
3. Make your changes in the text editor
4. You can:

• Fix typos or errors
• Add or remove paragraphs
• Change wording or phrasing
• Add sections the AI missed

1. Click Save when done

1. Open the scene you want to improve
2. Click Refine Scene
3. Describe what you want changed:

• "Make it more emotional"
• "Shorten this to half the length"
• "Add dialogue between me and my father"
• "Focus more on the setting"

1. Click Apply
2. Review the new version
3. Accept or refine again

1. Open the scene you want to delete
2. Click the menu (⋮) or Settings icon
3. Select Delete Scene
4. Confirm the deletion

Warning: Deleted scenes cannot be recovered. Consider exporting important scenes first.

1. Open the scene you want to export
2. Click Export or the download icon
3. Choose your format (Markdown or Word document)
4. The file downloads to your computer

1. Open your project from the Dashboard
2. Click Book Builder in the navigation
3. You'll see your chapter structure (or a blank slate to start)

1. In Book Builder, click Add Chapter
2. Enter a chapter title
3. The new chapter appears in your chapter list
4. You can reorder chapters by dragging them

1. Open the chapter you want to add to
2. Click Add Content or the plus icon
3. Select Add Scene
4. Choose from your available scenes
5. The scene is added to the chapter
6. Repeat for additional scenes

1. Open the chapter where you want to add content
2. Click Add Content
3. Select Add Chapter Note
4. Write your content in the editor
5. Click Save
6. Position it in the chapter order by dragging

To reorder chapters:

1. Click and drag the chapter by its handle
2. Move it up or down in the list
3. Release to drop in the new position

To reorder scenes within a chapter:

1. Open the chapter
2. Click and drag any scene
3. Drop it in the desired position

1. Click Preview in Book Builder
2. See your complete manuscript as it would appear
3. Navigate between chapters
4. Note any gaps or ordering issues
5. Return to Book Builder to make changes

1. Click Export in Book Builder
2. Choose your format:

• Word Document (.docx) - For further editing or printing
• Markdown (.md) - For plain text or web use

1. Configure export options if available
2. Click Download
3. Your complete manuscript downloads to your computer

Templates are professional chapter structures that give your memoir a solid foundation:

• Classic Memoir Arc - Traditional life story structure with childhood through reflection
• Business Origin / Authority Book - For founders and thought leaders sharing their journey
• Short-Form / Starter Book - A condensed structure for shorter memoirs

Each template creates chapters with meaningful titles and descriptions to guide your content placement.

1. Open your project's Book Builder page
2. Click Templates or the template icon
3. Browse available templates and their descriptions
4. Click Preview to see the chapter structure
5. Click Apply Template to add it to your book
6. Your Book Builder now has the template's chapters ready for scenes

Note: Applying a template works best on a fresh book. If you already have chapters, consider starting with a new project for the template.

Classic Memoir Arc is ideal if you're:

• Writing a full life story
• Following a chronological approach
• Including childhood through present day

Business Origin / Authority Book is ideal if you're:

• Writing a business or professional memoir
• Sharing your entrepreneurial journey
• Building thought leadership

Short-Form / Starter Book is ideal if you're:

• Writing a focused, shorter memoir
• Just getting started with memoir writing
• Creating a family legacy piece

Chapter Templates are available on:

• Book Builder plan - Full access to all templates
• Writing Coach plan - Full access to all templates

Storyteller plan users will see templates but need to upgrade to apply them.

Chronological Structure:

• Chapters follow life timeline (Childhood → School → Career → Present)
• Easiest for readers to follow
• Best for linear life stories
• Use Timeline to identify natural chapter breaks at life transitions

Thematic Structure:

• Chapters organized by theme (Love, Work, Loss, Growth)
• Allows jumping between time periods
• Best for memoirs exploring specific ideas
• Use Characters to identify relationship-based themes

Hybrid Structure:

• Broadly chronological with thematic sections
• Chapter 1-3: Early years; Chapter 4-6: Career theme; Chapter 7-9: Family theme
• Balances readability with depth
• Most common in published memoirs

Ideal chapter length:

• 2,000-5,000 words per chapter (10-20 minute read)
• 3-8 scenes per chapter typically
• Consistent length helps readers pace themselves

Balance considerations:

• Don't let one chapter dominate (avoid 50% of book in one chapter)
• Each chapter should have emotional purpose
• Early chapters hook readers; late chapters pay off

Strategic approach:

1. Estimate word count per scene (scene previews show length)
2. Group scenes to hit target chapter length
3. Ensure each chapter has its own arc (beginning, middle, end)

Templates give you starting structure—then customize:

Classic Memoir Arc template:

• Designed for full life stories
• Has natural progression from childhood to reflection
• Works best when you have scenes from all life phases
• Customize by merging chapters for periods with fewer stories

Business Origin template:

• Designed for thought leadership books
• Opens with credibility, builds to insights
• Works best with clear before/after transformation
• Customize by adding personal chapters if your story needs warmth

Short-Form template:

• Designed for focused memoirs
• Gets to the point quickly
• Works best when you have a specific message
• Customize by adding depth chapters if you have rich material

Within each chapter:

1. Opening hook - Start with action, tension, or vivid scene
2. Context building - Background scenes that set up the chapter's arc
3. Rising action - Increasing stakes or emotional intensity
4. Payoff scene - The moment readers are waiting for
5. Reflection - Brief transition or looking-back moment

Across the book:

• Early chapters establish who you were before
• Middle chapters show transformation in progress
• Final chapters reveal who you became
• Consider ending with a scene that echoes your opening

Step 1: Timeline review

• Identify your story's 5-10 major turning points
• These become potential chapter anchors

Step 2: Character mapping

• Note which key characters appear in which time periods
• Ensure important relationships get adequate coverage

Step 3: Chapter drafting

• Use a template as starting structure or create chapters from scratch
• Assign turning-point scenes first
• Fill in with supporting scenes

Step 4: Balance check

• Preview each chapter to assess length
• Verify character distribution (no one disappears mid-book)
• Check emotional variety (not all heavy chapters in a row)

Step 5: Polish

• Add chapter notes for transitions between scenes
• Write chapter introductions for context
• Consider an opening or closing author's note

Problem: Chapter feels scattered

• Solution: Identify the single theme or question for this chapter
• Remove scenes that don't serve that theme
• Move those scenes to more fitting chapters

Problem: Chapter is too long

• Solution: Split into two chapters at natural break point
• Or remove scenes that are nice but not essential

Problem: Chapter has no emotional arc

• Solution: Reorder scenes to build tension
• Add a chapter note transition to create reflection
• Consider if these scenes belong together at all

Problem: Book feels repetitive

• Solution: Vary emotional tone chapter to chapter
• Alternate heavy and lighter chapters
• Combine similar scenes rather than repeating themes

1. Open your project from the Dashboard
2. Look for Writing Coach in your navigation
3. Click to open the Manuscript Intelligence dashboard
4. You'll see your current analysis or options to begin

1. In Manuscript Intelligence, find the Claim section at the top
2. Click Edit or Set Claim if you haven't set one
3. Write your claim in one or two sentences
4. Click Save
5. Orion will use this to evaluate how well your content supports your central message

If you're unsure what your claim should be:

1. Click Suggest Claims in the Claim section
2. Orion will analyze your existing scenes
3. Review the 3 suggested claims with explanations
4. Click on any suggestion to use it
5. Edit to make it your own

1. In Manuscript Intelligence, click Run Analysis
2. Choose your analysis type:

• Quick Analysis - Fast overview focusing on top priorities
• Full Analysis - Comprehensive deep-dive across all dimensions

1. Wait while Orion examines your content (usually 15-30 seconds)
2. Review your scores and recommendations

1. Click on any score card (Overall, Claim Alignment, etc.)
2. A chat panel opens on the right
3. Ask Orion questions like:

• "Why is my score low in this area?"
• "What specific chapters need work?"
• "How can I improve this dimension?"

1. Orion provides personalized guidance based on your manuscript
2. Close the panel when finished

1. Review the issues list in Manuscript Intelligence
2. Click on an issue to expand details
3. Read the description and suggested action
4. Click Go Work On This to navigate to the relevant section
5. Make your improvements
6. Return and re-run analysis to see your progress

1. Find the issue you want to work on in the Issues list
2. Click Work on this next to the issue
3. The page will scroll to show your Active Strengthening Session card
4. Click Get Guidance to receive personalized coaching from Orion
5. Orion will suggest specific next steps tailored to your issue
6. Work on the suggested improvements
7. Click Get More Guidance if you need additional help
8. When finished, click Mark Complete to close the session

• Focus on one issue at a time - Complete the current session before starting another
• Follow Orion's suggestions - The guidance is tailored to your specific manuscript
• Ask for more guidance - If the first set of suggestions isn't enough, click again
• Don't rush - Take time to thoughtfully implement the changes
• Re-run analysis after - See how your improvements affected your scores

Run analysis after significant changes to your manuscript - typically after adding several scenes or reorganizing chapters. Frequent analysis on minimal changes won't show meaningful differences.

New content can temporarily lower scores if it:

• Introduces themes not yet developed
• Creates structural imbalance
• Doesn't immediately connect to your claim

This is normal during the writing process. Scores typically improve as you develop and integrate new material.

Orion provides guidance based on memoir best practices, but you know your story best. Use the insights as suggestions, not requirements. Some "issues" may be intentional creative choices that serve your narrative.

Yes! Early analysis can help guide your writing direction. However, the most valuable insights come when you have substantial content (10+ scenes) and clear organization through the Book Builder.

1. Open your project from the Dashboard
2. Look for the Source Materials tab or link in your project navigation
3. You'll see a folder view showing all your uploaded materials
4. Use the search bar at the top to find specific files by name

1. Navigate to your Source Materials section
2. Click the New Folder button (folder icon with a plus sign)
3. Enter a meaningful name for your folder (e.g., "Childhood Photos" or "Mom's Letters")
4. Click Create or press Enter
5. Your new folder appears in the list

1. Find the file you want to move
2. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) next to the file name
3. Select Move to Folder
4. Choose the destination folder from the list
5. Click Move to confirm

Tip: You can also drag and drop files between folders if your device supports it.

1. Find the folder you want to rename
2. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) next to the folder name
3. Select Rename
4. Type the new name
5. Press Enter or click outside to save

1. Navigate to the folder where you want to add files (or stay at the root level)
2. Click the Upload button
3. Select one or more files from your computer
4. Wait for the upload progress bar to complete
5. Your files appear in the current folder

Supported file types:

• Images: JPG, PNG, GIF, WEBP
• Documents: PDF, DOC, DOCX, TXT
• Audio: MP3, WAV, M4A
• Video: MP4, MOV (under 100MB recommended)

1. Click the Upload button
2. In the file picker, hold Ctrl (Windows) or Cmd (Mac) to select multiple files
3. Alternatively, you can drag multiple files directly onto the upload area
4. A progress indicator shows the status of all uploads
5. Large files process in the background—you can continue working

1. Check your internet connection
2. Ensure the file is under the size limit (100MB for video, 20MB for other files)
3. Try uploading one file at a time
4. Refresh the page and try again
5. If problems persist, try a different browser or clear your browser cache

1. Use the search bar at the top of Source Materials
2. Check if the file was placed in a different folder
3. Look in the root folder (outside any subfolders)
4. Files processing in the background may take a moment to appear—wait and refresh

Currently, deleted files cannot be recovered from within the app. For important materials:

• Keep original copies on your computer or cloud storage
• Contact support if you need to recover recently deleted content

1. Open your project from the Dashboard
2. Click Timeline in the navigation
3. Your events and scenes appear in chronological order
4. Scroll up for earlier events, down for later ones

Events are automatically extracted when:

• You mention dates in conversations ("In 1985...")
• You reference ages ("When I was 12...")
• You describe significant moments
• Scenes are generated with temporal markers

You can also add events manually.

1. Click Add Event in the Timeline view
2. Enter the event title
3. Set the date (can be approximate)
4. Add a description if desired
5. Link it to a scene if relevant
6. Click Save

• One event can be linked to multiple scenes
• One scene can reference multiple events
• Links help you see coverage of important moments
• Unlinked events may need scenes written

To link an event to a scene:

1. Open the event
2. Click Link to Scene
3. Choose from available scenes
4. The link is created

Use the Timeline to:

• Identify gaps - See periods of your life without scenes
• Plan what to write next - Focus on important uncovered events
• Check chronology - Make sure your story flows correctly
• Balance coverage - Ensure you're not over-focusing on one period

When you generate or regenerate a scene, Quill (the AI Writer) automatically:

1. Matches mentioned dates and eras - Scans your conversation for dates, ages, or life phases
2. Retrieves relevant events - Pulls in matching timeline events for context
3. Maintains temporal grounding - Places the scene in the right historical period
4. Preserves continuity - Uses event descriptions for consistent world-building

Example: If your Timeline shows "Started at MIT" in 1978 with the description "Moved to Cambridge, felt out of place but excited," Quill will use that context when writing any scene set during your college years.

Linked Events: When you regenerate a scene, any timeline events previously linked to that scene are automatically included—even if the dates weren't explicitly mentioned in the new conversation.

Smart Matching: The AI looks for:

• Specific dates ("In 1985...")
• Life phases ("During college...", "In my twenties...")
• Event titles and descriptions that match your conversation
• People mentioned who appear in timeline events

1. Click on the misplaced event
2. Edit the date to correct it
3. The event will move to its proper position

If dates are approximate, the system does its best to order them logically.

Events are extracted automatically, but sometimes they're missed:

• Make sure dates/ages were mentioned in the conversation
• Try adding the event manually
• Check that the scene has been fully processed

1. View your complete timeline - Look at all events from start to finish
2. Identify turning points - Which events changed your life's direction?
3. Find natural chapter breaks - Major life transitions often make good chapter endings
4. Spot the emotional peaks - These are the moments readers will remember
5. Note cause and effect - See how early events led to later outcomes

This bird's-eye view helps you understand your life's narrative shape.

Look for these opportunities:

• Empty periods - Years with few or no events may have hidden stories
• Transition zones - The spaces between major events often contain growth
• Single-event years - One event per year might mean you're missing context
• Unbalanced coverage - If 80% of your events are from one decade, explore others

Action: For each gap, ask yourself: "What was happening during this time? What was I learning or struggling with?"

One event, multiple scenes:

Major life events deserve multiple perspectives:

• A wedding might link to: getting engaged, planning stress, the ceremony, the honeymoon reflection
• A career change might link to: the frustration before, the decision moment, the first day, looking back

Multiple events, one scene:

Some scenes capture several events:

• A single family gathering scene might reference births, deaths, moves, and traditions
• A road trip scene might pass through multiple milestone locations

Strategic benefits:

• See which events have rich scene coverage
• Identify orphan events that need their stories told
• Understand which moments you've explored deeply vs. briefly

Use Timeline to organize your Book Builder chapters:

1. Group by life phase - Events cluster naturally into periods
2. Find theme connections - Events from different eras may share themes
3. Track character appearances - See when key people entered/exited your life
4. Balance your book - Ensure each chapter covers meaningful time periods

Workflow:

1. Open Timeline to see your full chronology
2. Identify 5-10 major turning points
3. These become potential chapter anchors
4. Build chapters in Book Builder around these anchors
5. Use scene links to ensure coverage

Events are categorized by type:

• Personal - Individual growth and decisions
• Family - Births, deaths, marriages, gatherings
• Career - Jobs, promotions, pivots
• Education - Schools, learning, mentorship
• Location - Moves, travel, places that shaped you
• Milestone - Formal markers (graduations, retirements)

Strategic use:

• Filter by category to find theme-based chapters
• Ensure you're not over-indexing on one category
• Cross-reference categories (e.g., career events near family events often create tension stories)

1. Open your project from the Dashboard
2. Click Characters in the navigation menu
3. You'll see your character list on the left
4. Click any character to view their full profile

1. Click the Add Character button
2. Enter the character's name (required)
3. Fill in optional details:

• Relationship - How they're connected to you
• Description - Physical description, personality
• Aliases - Other names they go by
• Birth/Death dates - If known
• Birthplace - Where they're from
• Occupation - What they do/did
• Significance - Why they matter to your story
• Notes - Private notes for yourself

1. Click Save

When you complete a conversation or generate a scene:

1. The AI scans for names and people mentioned
2. New people appear as Suggestions in your Characters page
3. You can:

• Accept - Add them to your character list
• Reject - Dismiss the suggestion
• Merge - Combine with an existing character (if it's a duplicate)

This helps you build your cast naturally without manual data entry.

1. Look for the Suggestions section or badge
2. Click on a suggestion to review it
3. The AI provides what it knows about this person
4. Choose an action:

• Accept - Creates a new character
• Reject - Removes the suggestion
• Merge - If this person already exists under a different name

1. After accepting, you can edit to add more details

1. Open one of the duplicate characters
2. Click Merge or the merge icon
3. Select the character to merge with
4. Choose which details to keep from each
5. Confirm the merge
6. The duplicate is removed and linked to the surviving character

1. Click on the character you want to edit
2. Click the Edit button
3. Update any fields
4. Click Save

You can update characters anytime as you remember more details.

When you generate or regenerate a scene, Quill (the AI Writer) automatically:

1. Identifies people mentioned - Scans your conversation for names and aliases
2. Retrieves their profiles - Pulls in relationship, description, and significance
3. Maintains consistency - Portrays each person the same way across all scenes
4. Uses context intelligently - Only includes characters actually mentioned

Example: If your Characters list shows "Gram" is your maternal grandmother who was a seamstress with silver hair and gentle hands, Quill will describe her consistently whenever she appears in any scene.

Linked Characters: When you regenerate a scene, any characters previously linked to that scene are automatically included in context—even if they weren't explicitly mentioned in the new conversation.

1. Open your project's Characters page
2. Click on any character to view their profile
3. Scroll down to see the Appears In Scenes section
4. You'll see a count and list of all scenes this character is linked to
5. Each scene shows its title and any role notes

1. Open the character's profile
2. Find the Appears In Scenes section
3. Click Link Scene
4. A dialog shows all available scenes not yet linked
5. Click on a scene to link it to this character
6. The scene now appears in the character's scene list

1. Open the character's profile
2. Find the scene you want to unlink in the Appears In Scenes list
3. Click the unlink button next to the scene
4. The scene is removed from the character's list

• The First Mentioned In field shows where this character first appeared
• This helps you trace when someone entered your story
• It's automatically set when AI suggests a character from a scene
• You can use this to find the original context for each character

Linking characters to scenes helps in several ways:

• Track appearances - Know exactly which scenes feature each person
• Maintain consistency - When Quill writes, it can access character context
• Plan your book - See who appears where as you organize chapters
• Character arcs - Track how a person's story develops across scenes
• Merge safety - When you merge characters, all scene links transfer automatically

Not everyone who appears in your life belongs in your memoir. Consider:

1. Core characters - People who appear across multiple life phases
2. Catalysts - People who triggered major changes (mentors, rivals, guides)
3. Mirrors - People who reflect aspects of yourself
4. Contrasts - People whose differences illuminated your path
5. Supporting cast - Important but secondary figures

Exercise: Sort your characters by significance. The top 5-10 should appear repeatedly in your scenes.

Characters reveal patterns:

• Recurring relationship types - Do you have multiple mentors? What does that say?
• Character arcs - How did key people change over your story?
• Absence patterns - Who's missing that should be there?
• Conflict sources - Which relationships drove your growth?

Strategic approach:

1. Review your top 10 characters
2. Note the significance you wrote for each
3. Look for common threads (independence, belonging, creativity)
4. These threads are potential memoir themes

Track character arcs:

Link characters to scenes showing their evolution:

• First meeting scene
• Conflict or turning point scenes
• Resolution or farewell scenes

Find missing stories:

If a major character is only linked to 1-2 scenes, ask:

• What other moments shaped this relationship?
• Are there untold stories with this person?

Balance your cast:

Review scene counts per character:

• Overrepresented characters may dominate your narrative
• Underrepresented important people need more scenes

Some memoirs organize by character rather than time:

• Character-focused chapters - "My Father's Lessons," "The Mentor Years"
• Relationship arc chapters - Track one relationship from beginning to present
• Ensemble chapters - Show multiple characters interacting

Workflow:

1. Open Characters and note the top 5 most significant
2. Filter linked scenes for each character
3. Consider chapter structures that highlight key relationships
4. Use Book Builder to arrange scenes by character journey

The AI uses your character profiles when writing. Include:

• Physical details that matter - Not just hair color, but gestures, expressions
• Voice patterns - Did they speak formally? Use catchphrases?
• Defining habits - Actions that revealed character
• Emotional signature - What feeling did they evoke?
• Evolution - How they changed over time (useful for consistency)

Example:

Instead of "Grandma - kind old woman"

Write: "Gram - Silver-haired, always humming while cooking. Spoke softly but firmly. Smelled of lavender and bread. Made everyone feel capable. Later years: slower but still sharp, worried about being a burden."

1. Open your project from the Dashboard
2. Click AI Settings in the project menu (or the gear icon)
3. You'll see tabs for different AI customization options

• Warm & Encouraging - Supportive, gentle prompting
• Curious Explorer - Asks lots of follow-up questions
• Direct & Efficient - Gets to the point quickly
• Reflective Guide - Encourages deeper introspection
• Storyteller's Friend - Conversational and casual

Choose the style that makes you most comfortable sharing your memories.

• Balanced - Clear, readable prose (default)
• Lyrical - Poetic, evocative language
• Minimalist - Clean, spare prose
• Journalistic - Factual, documentary style
• Conversational - Warm, personal voice
• Literary - Rich, complex sentences
• Memoir Classic - Traditional memoir voice

You can also create custom styles or provide writing samples for the AI to learn from.

• Nonfiction - Faithful to your exact words and memories. The AI organizes and polishes but doesn't embellish.
• Historical Fiction - The AI adds sensory details, dialogue, and scene-setting based on your memories.

Nonfiction is more accurate; Historical Fiction is more immersive. Choose based on your memoir goals.

• English
• Spanish
• French
• German
• Italian
• Portuguese
• Japanese

The AI will converse and write in your chosen language. You can set a default at the user level and override it per project.

• AI Model - Choose between GPT-4o (highest quality) or GPT-4o-mini (faster, more economical)
• Temperature - Controls creativity (lower = more consistent, higher = more varied)
• Top P - Another creativity control
• Max Tokens - Maximum length of AI responses

Most users can leave these at default settings.

1. Go to your Profile Settings
2. Look for Default AI Settings or similar
3. Configure your preferred:

• Language
• Voice style
• Writer style
• Scene mode

1. Save your defaults

New projects will use these settings automatically.

• Writing in a different language for a specific project
• Experimenting with a different writing style
• Working on a project for someone else
• Trying a more creative or more factual approach

Project settings only affect that project—your defaults remain unchanged.

When generating or regenerating a scene, you can add guidance like:

• "Focus on the emotional tension"
• "Include more dialogue"
• "Keep it under 500 words"
• "Write from a child's perspective"

This temporary guidance is used for that specific generation only.

1. Click your profile icon or name in the top navigation
2. Select Profile Settings or Account
3. You'll see tabs for different settings categories

• Name - Your display name
• Email - Contact email address
• Phone - Optional phone number
• Bio - A short description about yourself
• Date of Birth - Used for timeline calculations
• Address - Street, city, state, zip, country

This information is private and used only within the app.

1. In Profile Settings, find your current photo or placeholder
2. Click on the photo or the camera icon
3. Select an image from your device
4. The photo uploads automatically
5. Your new photo appears across the app

To remove your photo, click the delete or remove option.

1. In Profile Settings, find the Password or Security section
2. Click Change Password
3. Enter your current password
4. Enter your new password
5. Confirm the new password
6. Click Save or Update

Choose a strong password with letters, numbers, and symbols.

1. On the login page, click Forgot Password
2. Enter your email address
3. Check your email for a reset link
4. Click the link (valid for 24 hours)
5. Enter your new password
6. Log in with your new password

If you don't receive the email, check your spam folder.

• Interface Language - The language used for buttons, menus, and labels
• Content Language - The language the AI uses for conversations and writing

You can set a default language here, and override it per project in AI Settings.

1. In Profile Settings, find the Timezone dropdown
2. Select your timezone (e.g., EST, PST, GMT)
3. Save your settings

This ensures dates in your timeline display correctly.

You can toggle notifications for:

• Account updates
• Feature announcements
• Tips and inspiration
• Subscription reminders

Adjust these based on your preferences.

• Use a unique, strong password
• Don't share your login credentials
• Log out on shared devices
• Update your password periodically
• Keep your email address current for recovery

1. Contact support for account deletion requests
2. Note that deletion is permanent
3. Export your manuscripts first if you want to keep them
4. All projects and data will be removed

Consider exporting your work before requesting deletion.

1. You must have the Writing Coach plan ($4,499/year)
2. Click Coach Dashboard in your main navigation
3. You'll see your list of clients and management options

If you don't see this option, you may need to upgrade your plan.

1. In the Coach Dashboard, click Invite Client
2. Enter the client's email address
3. Add an optional personal message
4. Click Send Invitation
5. The client receives an email with instructions to join
6. Once they accept, they appear in your client list

Clients create their own login but are linked to your coaching account.

When a client joins your coaching workspace:

• They get their own login credentials
• They can create and manage their own projects
• They share your Voice AI quota
• Their data is private to them (you can view progress, not content)
• They benefit from your plan's features

Clients don't need their own paid subscription.

The Coach Dashboard shows:

• Which clients are active
• How many projects each client has
• General progress indicators
• Voice AI usage per client

You cannot read client content directly—privacy is maintained.

• Your 120 hours is shared across all your clients
• Track usage in the Coach Dashboard
• See which clients are using voice AI
• Set expectations with clients about usage

Plan your client load based on expected voice AI needs.

For each client, you can:

• View their account status
• See their voice AI usage
• Remove them from your coaching workspace

Removing a client doesn't delete their work—it just unlinks them from your account.

• Set expectations - Let clients know about shared voice quota
• Track usage - Monitor voice AI consumption regularly
• Stay organized - Keep notes on each client's progress
• Communicate - Use external tools for coaching conversations
• Plan capacity - Don't take on more clients than your quota supports

The Coach Dashboard requires the Writing Coach plan:

• Price: $4,499 for 12 months
• Includes: All Book Builder features plus coaching subaccounts
• Voice AI: 120 hours (7,200 minutes)

To upgrade:

1. Go to Billing in your account settings
2. Select the Writing Coach plan
3. Complete the payment
4. Coach Dashboard becomes available immediately

• Missing details - The scene lacks important information
• Wrong tone - It doesn't feel right emotionally
• Too long or short - Length doesn't match your needs
• Missing dialogue - You want more conversation
• Wrong focus - The AI emphasized the wrong parts
• Empty scenes - You created a manual scene and want help filling it

1. Go to your Scenes or Library page
2. Find the scene you want to improve
3. Click the Refine button
4. A conversation opens with Nicky
5. The scene's current content is shown for context
6. Start chatting about what you'd like to change

Nicky will ask questions and help you think through improvements:

You might say:

• "I want to add more about how I felt that day"
• "Can we include the conversation I had with my mother?"
• "This scene should feel more hopeful at the end"
• "I want to cut this down to half the length"
• "Let me tell you more about what the house looked like"

Nicky will:

• Ask clarifying questions
• Help you remember details
• Suggest approaches
• Confirm understanding before generating

1. When your conversation feels complete, click Generate Scene
2. Choose your options:

• Overwrite - Replace the original scene
• Create New - Keep the original and make a new version

1. Select the writing style (Nonfiction or Historical Fiction)
2. Optionally add writer guidance
3. Click Generate
4. Preview the result
5. Accept or continue refining

Refine Existing Content:

• Quill reads your current scene and improves it based on your conversation
• Preserves the structure, tone, and details you already have
• Makes targeted improvements while keeping what works
• Best when: The scene is mostly good and needs polish or additions

Fresh Start:

• Quill writes a completely new scene from your conversation
• Ignores the previous scene content entirely
• Creates something new based purely on what you discussed
• Best when: The original scene missed the mark and you want to try again

Use Refine Existing when:

• You like the overall scene but want specific changes
• "Add more about the garden" or "Expand the dialogue"
• "Make it shorter" or "Change the ending"
• The scene captures your memory but needs adjustment

Use Fresh Start when:

• The scene doesn't feel right at all
• You've shared new details that change the story significantly
• You want to see a completely different interpretation
• "Let's try this from a different angle"

Overwrite:

• Replaces the original scene with the new version
• The original content is lost
• Good when you're sure about the improvements

Create New:

• Keeps the original scene untouched
• Creates an additional scene
• Good for experimenting or keeping backups

Tip: Combine "Fresh Start" with "Create New" when you want to try a completely different version while keeping your original safe.

1. Create a new scene with just a title
2. Click Refine on that scene
3. Have a conversation with Nicky about what this scene should contain
4. Share the memory, the details, the emotions
5. Generate the scene when ready
6. Choose Overwrite to fill in your empty scene

This is a great way to capture a specific memory you have in mind.

Characters and Timeline:

When regenerating a scene, Quill automatically includes:

• Characters mentioned in your refinement conversation
• Characters previously linked to the original scene
• Timeline events matching dates or eras you discuss
• Timeline events previously linked to the original scene

This means you don't lose important context when refining—people and events you've already established stay consistent.

Example: If your original scene featured Aunt Margaret and was set during "Summer 1975," both remain available to Quill even if you don't mention them again in the refinement conversation.

These hours are for your 12-month subscription period.

Voice AI hours are consumed when:

• You speak to Nicky using the microphone
• The system transcribes your speech to text
• Each minute of speaking counts as one minute of usage

Voice AI hours are not used for:

• Typing messages to Nicky
• Reading or reviewing scenes
• Any other app activities

Only actual voice conversations count against your quota.

1. Go to Billing or Account Settings
2. Look for Voice AI Usage or similar
3. You'll see:

• Total hours in your plan
• Hours used so far
• Hours remaining

Check this periodically to pace your usage.

When your Voice AI hours are exhausted:

• You can still use text-based conversations with Nicky
• Voice input will be disabled until your plan renews
• All other features continue working normally

You can always type your memories instead of speaking them.

• Plan your sessions - Focus on important memories during voice sessions
• Prepare talking points - Know what you want to cover before starting
• Use text for quick things - Save voice for detailed storytelling
• Monitor your usage - Check remaining hours monthly
• Pace yourself - Spread usage across your 12-month period

For accurate voice recognition:

• Use a quiet environment
• Speak clearly at a normal pace
• Use a good microphone (built-in or external)
• Minimize background noise
• Pause briefly between thoughts

The AI works best with clear, natural speech.

If you have the Writing Coach plan:

• Your 120 hours are shared with all your clients
• Track individual client usage in the Coach Dashboard
• Set expectations with clients about quota
• Consider how many clients your hours can support

If you need more Voice AI hours:

• Upgrade to a higher plan for more included hours
• Wait for your plan to renew for a fresh allocation
• Use text conversations to preserve remaining hours

Contact support if you have questions about your usage.

Kupe can help you with:

• Navigation - "How do I get to the Book Builder?"
• Feature explanations - "What is Manuscript Intelligence?"
• Step-by-step guidance - "How do I upload photos to my Source Library?"
• Troubleshooting - "Why can't I see my scenes?"
• Best practices - "What's the best way to organize my chapters?"
• Understanding your plan - "What features does my subscription include?"
• Writing inspiration - "Can you suggest some writing prompts?"

1. Look for the Kupe button in the bottom-right corner of any page
2. Click the button to open the help chat panel
3. Type your question or speak using voice mode
4. Kupe will respond with helpful guidance

The help button is available on every page, so you can get help wherever you are in the app.

1. Click the Kupe help button to open the chat
2. Type your question in the input field
3. Press Enter or click Send
4. Read Kupe's response
5. Ask follow-up questions as needed

Kupe remembers your conversation, so you can have a back-and-forth dialogue.

1. Open the Kupe help chat
2. Toggle the Voice Chat switch to enable voice mode
3. Press and hold the microphone button to record your question
4. Speak your question clearly
5. Release the button when you're done speaking
6. Wait a moment while Kupe processes your question
7. Kupe will respond with both:

• Spoken response - A brief audio reply you'll hear
• Text response - Full details displayed in the chat

• Speak clearly - Natural pace works best
• Keep questions focused - One topic at a time
• Wait for responses - Let Kupe finish before asking the next question
• Use quiet environments - Background noise affects recognition
• Grant microphone access - Your browser will ask permission the first time

If Kupe is speaking and you want to stop the audio:

1. Look for the Stop button that appears while audio is playing
2. Click it to immediately stop playback
3. The text response remains visible in the chat

When you ask Kupe a question:

• Kupe sees which page you're currently viewing
• Responses are tailored to your current location
• If you're in Book Builder and ask "How do I add a scene?", Kupe knows you mean adding to a chapter
• If you're in Source Library and ask the same question, Kupe explains generating scenes from materials

This makes help more relevant and useful.

1. Open the Kupe help chat
2. Click History at the top of the chat panel
3. You'll see a list of previous conversations
4. Click any conversation to view it
5. Click New Conversation to start fresh

1. After receiving an answer you found useful
2. Click This was helpful at the bottom of the chat
3. The conversation is marked as resolved
4. This helps improve Kupe's responses over time

Kupe might suggest which AI to use for specific tasks.

Good news! Talking to Kupe via voice chat does not consume your Voice AI hours.

Your Voice AI hours are only used when speaking with Nicky (the AI Biographer) during memoir conversations.

Feel free to chat with Kupe as much as you need without worrying about quota.

If voice chat isn't working:

1. Check that your browser has microphone permission
2. Look for a blocked microphone icon in your browser's address bar
3. Click it and allow microphone access
4. Refresh the page and try again
5. Make sure no other app is using your microphone

If Kupe gives an unexpected answer:

1. Try rephrasing your question
2. Be more specific about what you need
3. Mention which feature or page you're asking about
4. Start a new conversation for a fresh context

If you can't hear Kupe's voice responses:

1. Check your device volume
2. Make sure your device isn't muted
3. Try a different browser if issues persist
4. Check that audio isn't blocked in browser settings