We’ve just launched an open beta for our new Import Novel feature. Import Novel is designed to take a completed manuscript or work-in-progress and intelligently populate your Story Bible based on that work.

<aside> 📙 Beta Objectives:

During this free open beta, we’d like to better understand where Import Novel shines and where it struggles. Specifically, we’re hoping to gather feedback on the user experience, AI accuracy, and general performance of the tool. Some questions we have include:

How does it handle large or complex manuscripts?

Is the AI accurately identifying story elements like characters and world-building?

Is it generating accurate outlines?

How does it perform when importing less structured inputs like long-form notes?

What inputs (file types, formats, or otherwise) might cause it to fail?

What do authors enjoy about the feature? What do they wish was different?

Given that, after you use the tool, please provide feedback using the form at the bottom of this page.

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<aside> 📗 How to Use Import Novel:

Accessing the new tool is easy!

1. Click the new Import button in the upper left corner of your Sudowrite home page, where all of your projects appear.
2. Either drag a file into the Import modal that appears, or click to Browse and select something from your computer. (Supported file types include: .txt, .doc, .docx, .rtf, .odt)
3. The tool will automatically create a new Sudowrite project (using the document title as its title), and begin the import process. The project will remain in a greyed-out state while the import is ongoing, with details on which step of the process it’s currently on. (FYI: While this process typically takes a few minutes, it could take up to 10 minutes or more, depending entirely on the amount/complexity of the source material.)
4. When complete, the substance of the imported file will appear in a single document inside of the Sudowrite project, and the Story Bible will be completed.
5. Review and edit as desired—then, let us know how it went! </aside>

<aside> 📒 What to Know:

• Word Limits: The import is optimized for documents up to a max of 120k words. Larger files may fail to import. (In some cases, smaller files may as well—be sure to let us know if they do.)
• New Projects Only: So as to not conflict with existing Story Bible data, the Import Novel flow will always create a new Sudowrite project.
• Character Handling: This comprehensive Import Novel tool focuses on importing a story’s primary characters, typically in the 5-7 character range. (If you want to import all of your story’s characters, that can be done after the fact using the existing Characters import function.)
• Outline Length: Lengthy outlines will be saved as separate documents titled "Full Outline," if it’s determined that they exceed Story Bible’s current limitations. (We’re working on moving towards a structured outline free of word limits—so this is just an interim solution.)
• Naming Conventions: The tool may generate placeholder names for unnamed characters. These are editable. </aside>

<aside> 📘 Planned Changes:

• Chapter Breaks: Right now imports will place the full text in a single document. We have plans to update this so that the full text is broken up into chapters to better pair with the outline.
• Improved Outline: We plan to update Story Bible’s outline so that is stuctured and unlimited, similar to Characters and Worldbuilding, in the future. This means the future Import function will not require creating a separate document to accommodate lengthy outlines. </aside>

<aside> 📕 Tracked Issues:

• Performance: The import process may be slow as we assess infrastructure needs.
• Size Limitations: Potential for overloading the context window with large files.
• Accuracy: Occasional inaccuracies in character or world-building elements.
• Formatting: RTF files retain formatting better than TXT files. </aside>

https://airtable.com/app6hpugKK6OWrc8a/shra59LplanbyogXk