- Updated our toolbar in the manuscript, as well as the interactions for bringing the toolbar up.
- Added support for paragraph and heading styles in the manuscript.
- Updated keyboard shortcuts for functions like: creating a chapter break (Alt+Enter); creating a scene break (Ctrl+Enter); adding a footnote (Ctrl+Alt+F); adding a link (Ctrl+K); adding a note (Ctrl+N); and adding a comment (Ctrl+M).
31/10/2024
📖 NaNoWriMo Project Template
Create your project from our NaNoWriMo template based on the 3-act structure, and get a full breakdown of what to write each day!
🧮 Wordcount Syncing to NaNoWriMo
Link your project in First Draft Pro to your NaNoWriMo profile to automatically sync your wordcount to NaNoWriMo.
🧭 NaNoWriMo Day-by-day Writing Guide
Use our day-by-day writing plan for NaNoWriMo (based on the 3-act structure) to guide you, as you work through our daily checklists of what to write.
🆓 First Draft Pro's Free Plan
The new free plan gives you access to all the basic features of the app, and you can unlock advanced features (like comments, images, track changes, and collaboration) by upgrading to the premium plan.
22/09/2023
🧙 Magic import for new projects
First Draft Pro now provides a hassle-free 'Quick Import' option for your existing .doc and .docx documents! It works just like magic :)
✨ AI summarization on the outline
Turn on AI summarization when importing your manuscript, and we'll automatically summarise every scene and create an associated scene card for this on your novel outline. Or: use the auto summarise feature on the outline to update the summary for any scene.
🆓 Free (forever) plan with option to upgrade 🔼 to a premium subscription
First Draft Pro's pricing model has changed slightly. Our new forever free plan gives you access to all our basic features. When you're ready to level-up, you can unlock every feature with a premium subscription.
10/06/2023
📍 Plotlines 2.0
Keep track of specific storylines and character arcs (in fiction manuscripts) and topics or arguments (in non-fiction manuscripts) with plotlines – now with improved plotline movement and oragnisation, and scene allocation, and summaries of scenes per plotline.
🎨 Change the colour of scene cards
Change scene card colour to make it easier to differentiate between scenes that are part of different plotlines, points of view, locations and more.
🔗 Link a URL in your manuscript
Add hyperlinks to text within your manuscript or notes in order to keep references and source material in easy reach, or for linking to any webpage that may be relevant to your writing.
⌨️ Write in typewriter mode
Typewriter Mode is designed to boost your focus and streamline your writing process. As the name suggests, this feature simulates the experience of using a typewriter by keeping the line of text you're currently typing in the centre of your screen, and eliminating the need to scroll as you write – allowing you to stay immersed in your writing.
11/05/2023
🎬 Add a prologue
Now you can add a prologue to any project by checking a box in your project settings.
🔍 See the name of a scene in the left navigation
Scenes in your left navigation menu now have the full scene name visible (to make navigating through your manuscript easier) – rather than saying Scene 1, Scene 2, etc.
🔢 Remove chapter numbers if you're writing short stories or poetry
If you're writing a novella, a series of short stories, a poetry collection, or other work that does not have "chapters" like a novel, you can now turn chapter numbering off by checking a box in your project settings.
📚 Improved writing experience for non-fiction writers
We made improvements to the writing experience for non-fiction writers, so that you can write non-fiction and academic projects in First Draft Pro as well!
New features for non-fiction writers include:
- "Scenes" in a non-fiction project are called "sections"
- "Plotlines" in a non-fiction project are called "arguments"
- Add a preface to your manuscript
- Manage your references with footnotes
- Remove chapter numbers, and write with a focus on sub-topics
07/03/2023
🫶 Usability improvements
We made improvements to offline syncing, and changed keyboard shortcuts so that they matched what you're used to in other writing apps. We also fixed a bug that was preventing you from being able to see your tracked changes. Whoops!
Here are the updated keyboard shortcuts:
- enter = new paragraph
- shift-enter = new line
- ctrl-enter = new scene
- alt-enter = new chapter
03/11/2022
New features in this release prioritize focus, productivity, version history, and sharing.
🔦 Activate deep focus mode
Remove all distractions while you write by switching into focus mode.
🌙 Write in dark mode when you're in focus
Easily turn on dark mode when you are writing full-screen for increased focus, productivity, and less eye-strain!
😊 Share your writing with friends and beta readers
You can create a read-only link to a shared excerpt of your work-in-progress and send this to your friends, writing buddies, your mom, or anyone else you choose! Readers will only be able to read the chapters that you include in the excerpt, and they won't be able to edit your work.
📃 Text width will now max out on very wide screens
We've reduced the width of your manuscript text on very wide screens to make it easier to scan text as you write.
👣 Insert footnotes in your manuscript
Keep references associated with your text directly in your manuscript using footnotes.
👻 Accessing your version history
Revert to prior versions and see previously saved snapshots of your scenes.
29/07/2022
New features in this release prioritise offline accessibility and auto-saving functionality.
🌴 Write from anywhere, offline
If your connection drops, you'll automatically switch into offline mode. When your connection stabilises again, you'll go back online. You can manually switch to offline mode if you want to. Just use the toggle button at the bottom left of your screen.
🔒 Your work is now even more secure!
Your work was secure before (don't worry), but ensuring it remains as secure as possible is a big priority for us. So, we've made additional improvements to how auto-save works behind the scenes.
01/05/2022
We're excited to announce that we've officially launched subscriptions in First Draft Pro! A subscription gives users access to all First Draft Pro's features: from plotting, writing and note-taking, to collaboration.
🆓 14-day free trial
Anyone can try First Draft Pro out for 14 days to see if it's a good fit for their writing process.
✅ Choose the plan that works best for you
We've made monthly and annual plans available, and no matter which plan you sign up for, you’ll only start paying after the end of your 14-day free trial ends.
👨🏿🤝👨🏻 Accounts for collaborators
You can invite as many collaborators to your projects as you like. They'll need an active subscription in order to work with you in First Draft Pro.
✨ Bulk licensing
If you’re part of a team or writing group, or if you represent an agent or publishing house, you can purchase multiple licenses for your authors.
📓 Educational licensing
If you’re an educator, you can purchase an educational license for use in your classroom.
🛡️ Trusted payment portal
First Draft Pro uses STRIPE to process monthly online payments. You can manage your billing details through your account settings. We accept all major credit cards.
07/03/2022
We are beyond excited about these brand-new First Draft Pro features.
📑 Manage notes in First Draft Pro!
There's a whole new tab in your project for notes! Create notes, delete notes, and organise notes into folders. Format your notes or add images. Link notes to other notes to create a wiki. Link notes into scenes for easy reference.
🗑️ Delete scenes or chapters from a dropdown menu on the card
Delete directly from scenes and chapter cards (no more drag and drop to delete!)
➡️ Collapse the right side menu while writing
Create more space for writing by collapsing the right side menu pane.
19/02/2022
We've made another round of improvements thanks to the feedback from our incredible beta users:
🖼️ Add images to your projects
You can add images to your projects from the toolbar bubble, and resize and format them easily. Images will be included in your file when you export your work to Google Drive, but some formatting changes are not maintained (we’re working on that!🙃)
🔼 Navigate through your manuscript with up and down arrows
Use up and down arrows to navigate through your manuscript quickly.
👈👉 Scroll left and right on the outline using your mouse wheel
Use your mouse wheel to scroll left and right on the outline, as well as using the click-and-hold action.
💙 Enjoy all the other design improvements we’ve made for you
We’ve disabled story arc settings for non-fiction projects. We’ve cleaned up the formatting of text indentations in block quotes, and in paragraphs following block quotes. We’ve refined the design of the buttons to split chapters/scenes, and profile images, and made word count totals more legible.
30/01/2022
We've made some exciting improvements thanks to the feedback from our (completely wonderful) private beta users:
📃 Connect your Google account to export your project to Google Drive
You can connect your Google Drive account by clicking on the Google Drive icon, and export any of your projects to Google Drive.
🗑️ Delete scenes and chapters by dragging them into the trash
Delete any of your scenes or chapters by dragging them into the trash can at the bottom right corner of your screen.
✏️ Edit chapter and scene title text easily
Edit any "Add chapter title", "Add scene title", and "Add description" text with one click wherever you see it in the app. Edit project title and descriptions directly on a project card.
💌 Send an invitation to collaborators to have them join your project
Now you can send an email invitation to any collaborator to ask them to join your writing project – even if they don't have a private beta account yet!
28/12/2021
🥳 First Draft Pro has been released into private beta!
Find out more about using First Draft Pro from our how-to articles.