Skip to content
Inkwell

Learn Inkwell in ten minutes

The shortest path through everything that is new: one project, one scene, a save point, a draft line, an AI pass, and the changes it proposes.

1 min readUpdated
Try it in Plot

Ten minutes is enough to see what makes Inkwell different from a word processor: the draft is structured, every moment you name can be restored, alternate versions live side by side, and AI proposes changes you review rather than pasting them over your work. Each step below has a longer article of its own.

Where the ten minutes happen: the outline (1) on the left, the page in the middle, and the companion sidebar (2) with Chat, Skills, Notes, and History. The command palette (3) reaches all of it.
Where the ten minutes happen: the outline (1) on the left, the page in the middle, and the companion sidebar (2) with Chat, Skills, Notes, and History. The command palette (3) reaches all of it.

  1. Create a project

    Open Plot and choose New project. Give it a title and pick a starter — a blank screenplay, or the Learn Inkwell template, which opens with a short script and notes that point at each feature. Full details: Create your first project.

  2. Write one scene

    Type a scene heading such as INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT and press ↩. Press ⇥ to move between screenplay elements — action, character, dialogue — or jump straight to one with ⌘⌥3 and its neighbors. The formatting is automatic. See Write your first scene.

  3. Make a save point

    Press ⌘⇧S, name the moment ("first pass at the kitchen scene"), and confirm. The save point appears in the History tab on the right. You can compare against it or restore it at any time. See Make a save point.

  4. Try a draft line

    From the History tab, create a draft line — a parallel version of the whole script. Rewrite the scene there without touching the original. Switch between the two whenever you like. See Try a draft line.

  5. Ask for an AI pass

    Open the Chat tab and type what you want — "tighten the dialogue in this scene". The Dramaturg has read the whole script; on Auto it answers a question here and puts an instruction's changes on your page. For a named pass, the Skills tab has Dialogue Pass and the rest. See Your first AI pass.

  6. Read and decide on the changes

    Each proposed change shows in the page as markup. Accept the ones that earn their place, reject the rest, and make a save point when you are done. See Read the changes.

What next

  • Create your first project

    Start writing in Plot from a blank page, a starter template, a Final Draft or Fountain script, or a Word document, and find it again on the projects page.

    How-to · 2 min read

  • Make a save point

    Name the moment your draft is in so you can compare against it later or bring it back, in one shortcut from the page.

    How-to · 1 min read

  • Your first AI pass

    Tell the Dramaturg what to change in a scene, read the changes it puts on your page, and decide on each one — or run a named skill from the Skills tab.

    How-to · 1 min read

  • Find your way around the editor

    What the two sidebars hold, what the command palette can reach, and the handful of shortcuts that open and close each panel.

    Concept · 2 min read

Related requests

What writers have asked about this — open the request to follow it.

Was this helpful?

Still stuck?

Three ways forward — pick the one that matches what you need.

All articles in this section