Start your book
Starting a book
Create the book, describe it in a sentence, and start talking.
What it is
A book in CharmWriter is called a project. You can write it by speaking, by typing, or by switching between the two whenever you like — the microphone is an option, never a requirement. Creating one takes a title and nothing else — every other field (author, premise, genre, protagonist, point of view, tense, tone, target audience, target length, book language) is optional and editable at any point afterwards. The settings you provide are not filing metadata: they are fed into every AI request as craft instructions, so a book set to first-person past tense with a wry tone is drafted that way from the first sentence.
Where to find it: Dashboard → "Write it with Charm", the middle of the three tiles. Later, two ways in: Workspace → click the book title in the header, or Dashboard → tap the book → Edit details.
What this covers
- New book setup (title, author, premise, genre)
- Craft settings: point of view, tense, tone
- Book language, separate from interface language
- AI-detected craft settings after your first session
- Your first page, shown as a book page when Charm first drafts prose in the chat
- Your chapter shown as a book when you finish a session, open at what you just wrote
- A writing appointment: say when you will write next and get one reminder
- Your library: shelf, covers and list views
- Continue where you left off
- Book preview from the library
- Trash and restore
- Edit any book setting later, from the workspace or the dashboard
- A cover, once your first chapter exists
How to use it
- 1
Create the book
On the dashboard, click "Write it with Charm", the middle tile. On your very first visit it glows for a few seconds to show you where to start, and nothing opens until you press it — the dashboard is yours to look around first. Type a title — that is the only required field. Click "Start Writing" and you are in the workspace.
- 2
Add a premise if you have one
A premise is one or two sentences describing what the book is about. It is worth writing: it goes into every AI request, so the very first thing Charm says to you reacts to your actual story rather than greeting you generically.
- 3
Set the craft fields, or let the AI decide
Under Craft you can set point of view, tense and tone, or leave them on "Let AI decide". If you leave them unset, CharmWriter reads your first session and locks in whatever your own prose was already doing.
- 4
Choose the book language
Under The Book, set the language your book is written in. This is independent of the interface language — you can use CharmWriter in English while your manuscript is Ukrainian.
- 5
Start talking
The workspace opens in Listening mode. Press the microphone or start typing and tell Charm about your story. Nothing is drafted yet — this first stretch is you talking and Charm asking questions.
- 6
Meet your first page
The first time Charm turns your conversation into prose on a new book, the passage is shown to you set as a book page rather than as another chat message. Keep it and it is saved to Chapter 1; choose "Not yet" and it stays in the chat with the usual Save button. This happens once per book: every passage after it is yours to keep with the Save to Chapter button under the message. It belongs to the chat — in a spoken session Charm shows the prose on the manuscript page as it writes and saves it to the chapter for you, so there is nothing left to keep.
- 7
Finish the session and see what you wrote
When you are done, finish the session — press Finish on the session panel, or in a spoken session say "finish this session" or "I'm done". CharmWriter then opens your chapter as a book, on the page where this session's writing begins, with how many words you added, which chapter they went into, and one thing to think about next time. You can turn back through the earlier pages: it is your real chapter, so it is a little longer every time you finish. It appears only after you say you are finished, and never in the middle of a session.
- 8
Say when you will write next
On that same screen CharmWriter asks when you will write next, offering tomorrow morning, tomorrow evening or in a few days. Pick one and a single email arrives at that time, opening with the pages you have just written. It is one email and never a second: coming back before it falls due cancels it quietly, and "Change my mind" on the card cancels it too. Switch the question off altogether in Settings → Writing → Writing reminders.
- 9
Come back through your library
The dashboard remembers every book. The Continue card takes you straight back to the most recent unfinished one; tapping any book on the shelf offers Talk to Charm, Continue writing, or Preview book — and, quietly under those, Move to Trash.
What it gives you
One required field
You can be inside your book thirty seconds after signing up. Everything else can be decided later, once the story has told you what it wants to be.
Craft settings that actually steer the prose
Point of view, tense and tone are not labels. They are instructions in every draft request, which is why chapter twelve still sounds like chapter one.
The app fills in what you skip
Leave genre, point of view, tense or tone unset and CharmWriter detects them from your first session rather than guessing up front or nagging you.
A library, not a file list
Books appear as spines, covers or rows, with the real cover image once you have one. Deleted books go to Trash and can be restored.
What each setup field actually does
Title, author and premise appear in the finished book and in exports. Book form says what the book *is*: a novel is one continuous story, a collection is separate stories or essays. It is not cosmetic — a collection is judged story by story, so CharmWriter stops looking for one arc across the whole book, stops flagging characters who do not recur, and stops suggesting that two people who share a name are the same person. Genre shapes the AI's sense of pacing and register, and picks the cover colour in your library, which is why every genre in the picker wears a swatch of the cover it will give you. If none of them fit, choose "Something else…" below the grid and name your own. Protagonist gives Charm a name to anchor questions around. Point of view and tense are hard constraints on drafted prose. Tone is a one-line description of how the book should feel — "dry and understated", "warm and nostalgic" — and is respected in every draft.
Target audience and target length are softer. Length sets the word-count goal shown in the workspace header, which you can click and change at any time.
You will also see a fourth category, Book cover, wearing a padlock. That is not a field to fill in and nothing is missing: covers are drawn from the story itself, so the panel opens once your first chapter exists. It is listed here rather than hidden so you know it is coming.
Sessions and chapters are different things
This trips up almost everyone at first. A session is one conversation — one sitting where you talk or type. A chapter is a part of the finished book. Several sessions usually feed one chapter, and a single long session can supply two.
You do not need to manage this. Talk in sessions, save prose to chapters, and the app keeps them straight.
Good to know
- Changing point of view or tense after you have written sessions will warn you first — it changes how everything afterwards is drafted, but it does not rewrite chapters you already have.
- The title is required because it names the book everywhere, including exports. You can change it whenever you like.
- Book language should be set before you write much. Changing it mid-manuscript will not translate what already exists.
- The writing appointment sends one email and then stops. There is no streak, no second reminder, and nothing happens if you miss one.
Questions
Do I need to know my whole plot before I start?
No. Most writers start with a title and a rough idea, and discover the rest by talking. CharmWriter is built for that order of working — it asks questions precisely so you do not have to arrive with an outline.
Can I write more than one book?
Yes. There is no limit on how many books you can create, and each keeps its own Story Bible, chapters and settings. Credits are shared across your whole account.
My genre is not in the list. What do I choose?
Open the genre picker, choose "Something else…" underneath the grid, and type your own — "cosy crime", "cyberpunk western", whatever you actually call it. Charm uses what you type when it drafts. You can also leave genre unset and let it be detected from your first session.
I am writing short stories, not a novel. Does that work?
Yes — set Book form to "Collection" when you create the book, or later from the book title in the workspace header. Each story is then judged on its own: the whole-book review looks at whether each piece lands and how they are ordered, rather than hunting for one arc, and characters who appear in only one story are no longer reported as missing. Everything else — sessions, the Story Bible, export — works exactly the same.
Can I change the genre or tone later?
Yes. Click the book title in the workspace header to reopen every setting, or tap the book on the dashboard and choose "Edit details" — the same panel, without loading the workspace. Changes apply to what you write next, not retroactively.
Will CharmWriter email me to keep writing?
Only if you ask it to. At the end of a session you can say when you will write next, and one email arrives at that time, leading with the pages you just wrote. There is no second reminder for that appointment, returning early cancels it, and Settings → Writing → Writing reminders switches the question off for good. Separately, if you create a book and never write in it, you may get one "your book is waiting" message. Every email carries an unsubscribe link.
What happens if I delete a book by mistake?
It goes to Trash, not oblivion. Deleting is itself two deliberate steps — tap the book on the dashboard, choose "Move to Trash" under the three actions, and confirm — and the toast that follows carries an Undo. After that, toggle Trash on the dashboard to see deleted books and restore them. Permanent deletion is a third, separate action, taken from inside Trash.
Start your first chapter
Every new account starts with two free credits, enough to talk a whole chapter through, have it drafted, and see how it reads.
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