Every stage of a story, in one place.
Word is the file every office exchanges, and where most writing starts. Plot is built for the story itself: outline it, write the treatment or series bible in prose, and turn it into a script for film, TV or the stage in the same document when you're ready. Word files go in and come back out.
Where Microsoft Word is strongest
Where the IDE model changes the work
Version control, structured changes, and reviewable AI
A treatment imported from Word stays prose, and the scene you can already hear becomes script right where its beat sat.
One document, every stage
Treatment
Night Shift
Mara works nights at the city archive. She needs a reason to stay when the building closes, and the reason finds her.
INT. CITY ARCHIVE — NIGHT
Mara files the last box. At the far end of the stacks, a desk lamp switches on.
MARA
We closed an hour ago.
Next beat: the lamp belongs to someone who has been dead for ten years.
A side-by-side look at where each tool stands today. Some Inkwell features are in active development — see the roadmap for current status.
Word has templates for how a page looks. In Plot each format has its own parts and an outline to start from, from a series bible's sections to a stage play's character cues.
In Word, a script is paragraphs formatted to look like one. In Plot, each scene heading, character cue and line of dialogue is that element, so a treatment paragraph becomes one where it stands and the pages come out in screenplay form.
In Word, comparing two versions means Review, then Compare: you pick two files and Word builds a third with revision marks. Plot compares any two save points of the same document, in place.
| Capability | Plot | Microsoft Word |
|---|---|---|
| Story formats: treatment, series bible, film, TV and stageWord has templates for how a page looks. In Plot each format has its own parts and an outline to start from, from a series bible's sections to a stage play's character cues. | First-class | Partial or limited |
| Prose and script in one documentIn Word, a script is paragraphs formatted to look like one. In Plot, each scene heading, character cue and line of dialogue is that element, so a treatment paragraph becomes one where it stands and the pages come out in screenplay form. | First-class | Partial or limited |
| Final Draft (FDX) and Fountain exportUpgrade to Writer | First-class | Not available |
| Real-time co-authoringUpgrade to Pro | First-class | First-class |
| Named save pointsIn Word, comparing two versions means Review, then Compare: you pick two files and Word builds a third with revision marks. Plot compares any two save points of the same document, in place. | First-class | Partial or limited |
| Alternate versions in one document (draft lines) | First-class | Not available |
| Comparison by scene, heading and paragraph | First-class | Partial or limited |
| AI edits reviewed one at a time | First-class | Partial or limited |
| Production tools (revision colors, locked pages, reports)Upgrade to Pro | First-class | Not available |
Feature and pricing details link to the first-party pages used for verification.
Stay with Word when the job is page layout, print, or a contract that has to travel as a .docx with tracked changes. Move to Plot when the document holds a story, whether an outline, treatment, series bible or script, and you want its drafts named, compared and kept in one place as it grows.
It depends on what the Word document holds. If it holds a story, whether an outline, treatment, series bible, or a script for film, TV or the stage, Plot fits: it imports the .docx, keeps the prose as prose, and turns each scene into script in the same document when it's ready, with one history for all of it. If it is a contract, report or newsletter laid out for print, Word or another office suite is still the right tool.
You can format one by hand, but Word only sees paragraphs, so the page breaks, character cues and FDX file a production expects are up to you. Plot writes the script as screenplay elements and keeps them in the same document as the treatment they came from. Select a paragraph or beat, choose Turn into script, and it becomes a scene heading, action or dialogue with the same words. See how prose and script share a draft.
Yes. Plot imports a .docx as a treatment with its headings, lists and emphasis, keeps comments as notes after the text they were on, accepts tracked changes on the way in, and lists what changed once the import finishes. A script written in Word can come in as screenplay pages instead. See importing a Word document into Plot.
Yes. Plot exports a treatment or outline as a Word file (.docx), with its notes as Word comments, so a reviewer who works in Word opens it the usual way. The script exports as a PDF, Final Draft (FDX) or Fountain file.
Plot keeps history by round instead of by keystroke. Name a save point before each round, then compare any two save points by scene, heading and paragraph. AI edits arrive as changes you accept or reject one at a time. The nearest thing in Word is Review, then Compare Documents, which builds a third file with revision marks.
Word comes with Microsoft 365. In the US, Personal is $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, and Family is $12.99 a month or $129.99 a year for up to six people. Office Home 2024 is a one-time $179.99 purchase. Word for the web is free with a Microsoft account; its files are saved in OneDrive, which includes 5 GB free. Plot has a Free plan with the full Plot editor, and its pricing lists what each plan adds.
The Free plan includes the full editor and AI skill passes.
