You have three ways to start a project:

1. New Book — start fresh. Give it a title, genre, and a short premise. You can fill in everything else later.
2. Import Manuscript — upload a .docx file. LuminaProse extracts the text and optionally identifies characters and locations automatically.
3. Try Sample Story — load a pre-built example with characters, outline, and a couple of chapters. Great if you want to see how everything connects before committing to your own project.

Once you're inside the Writer, you'll see:

• A top bar with the book title, your plan, and AI usage meter
• A left panel (WriterInfoBar) with section tabs: Manuscript, Book Information, ARC/Outline, Manuscript Versions
• A right panel with AI tabs: Bible, Chat, Generate

The Bible tab (right panel) is where your world lives. Characters, locations, and themes you add here are loaded automatically by every AI operation — generation, editing, summaries, and chat.

Characters

Add a character with a name, role, physical appearance, personality, and goals. The more you fill in, the more consistent the AI's portrayal will be. You don't need every field — even a name + one-line bio helps.

Extracting characters: If you already have a manuscript, click Extract from book in the Bible header. The AI will identify the characters it can see and let you review them before adding.

Locations

Same pattern: name, type, description. A brief paragraph is enough. Include sensory details — the AI will echo them when setting a scene in that location.

Themes

Add the thematic threads you want to sustain across the book. These are included in context when generating or editing prose, keeping the AI aligned with your intent.

Open ARC/Outline in the left panel. This is a free-text area where you write your story structure: acts, chapters, plot beats, character arcs. No special format required.

Generating an outline

If you have a premise and genre filled in, click Generate to get an AI-suggested arc. Review it, reshape it, delete what doesn't fit. Then click Enhance to deepen it.

Creating characters from the outline

Once you're happy with your arc, click Create characters from ARC/Outline. The AI will identify the characters mentioned and pre-fill their basic details. Review and save the ones you want.

Using Chat for beats

The Chat tab (right panel) is a good brainstorming partner. Ask it: "What should happen in Act 2?" or "Give me three possible turning points." Copy the result into ARC/Outline and refine it yourself.

The Generate tab (right panel) turns beats into draft prose. Here's the flow:

1. Pick a chapter or section to work on.
2. Paste or write the beats for that section in the prompt area — what happens, who is present, what the emotional arc is.
3. Select your model. Higher-tier models produce better prose; use a fast model for rough drafts.
4. Click Generate. The AI drafts prose using your beats + Bible context.
5. Review the output. Click Insert into Manuscript to accept it, or refine the beats and generate again.

Draft Guidelines

In the Generate tab, the Draft Guidelines sub-tab lets you add standing instructions specific to generation — prose style, POV, tense, forbidden words. These apply every time you generate.

The Manuscript tab is a rich text editor. Select any text and the AI toolbar appears with one-click edits:

Manuscript Versions

The Manuscript Versions tab (left panel) lets you save a full snapshot of the manuscript at any point. Click Save current manuscript as snapshot before any big rewrite. If you don't like the result, return to Versions and click Make this Version Active.

The Chat tab (right panel) is your editorial partner. It can:

• Review a scene: "Does this scene work? Is the pacing right?"
• Check voice: "Is Mara's dialogue consistent with how I established her in Chapter 1?"
• Catch plot holes: "I have the character arrive by train but earlier he had no money for travel. Does this need a fix?"
• Brainstorm: "What are three ways this scene could end that would increase tension?"

Using Pin for AI with Chat

Select a specific passage in the Manuscript, click 📌 Pin for AI, then switch to Chat. The Chat tab will include your pinned passage as the primary focus. Ask: "Review this paragraph for pacing" and the AI will respond specifically to that text, not the whole scene.