Setting up your editor
Open Alasdair - Chapter II and leave its excerpt on screen. It's easier to find a comfortable setup with some writing in front of you. These controls work for concept documents too, and are different.
Start with the text
Open Settings → Editor for appearance controls and a live preview. For quick changes while writing, use Aa in the application footer. The document's top bar has Editor settings for writing behaviour and changing modes.
Text font, Font size, and Line height are a good place to start. The full settings panel also has width and paragraph-spacing controls.
| If the page feels… | Try… |
|---|---|
| Too small or tiring to read | Increase the font size. |
| Too wide to follow comfortably | Reduce the editor width. |
| Too crowded | Increase line height or paragraph spacing. |
| Too loose | Reduce spacing before shrinking the letters. |
Title font and size are separate. I would start with the prose and adjust the rest when something bothers you. There are enough ways to procrastinate on a novel already.
Know which editor you're changing
Segment and concept editors have separate appearance preferences within a project. Your scene-writing setup can differ from your worldbuilding.
These preferences are for working in the editor. The manuscript has its own page layout, which we'll set up later.
Put formatting where you want it
In Editor settings, enable Fixed editor toolbar to keep formatting controls visible at the top or bottom. You can choose whether the selection's bubble menu stays available as well.
Leave the fixed toolbar off if you prefer to select text and format it from there. The formatting guide walks through both options.
Choose the context you can see
Show document outline toggles the outline of headings inside this document. Show references and backlinks toggles its reference area. The project outline and right sidebar have their own controls.
You can also adjust the scrollbar, paragraph indentation, and dialogue highlighting (which highlights dialog). Use what helps you read and write.