Guide

How to write in Folio

Two desks, same tools. Start at the first manuscript if this is new. Skip to the seasoned notes if you already know how a book is built.

The desk

Three panes. On a phone, chapters and Shape hide behind the list and panel buttons.

Manuscript
Chapters, a foreword, interviews, links, and the author bio. Add any of them whenever you want.
The paper
Type, talk, or paste. Same page. Cmd or Ctrl + Enter starts the next chapter.
Shape
Grok suggests. You keep, rewrite, or throw it out. Locked pages and guest words are skipped.

For newbies

You do not need a plan. You need a title and the next sentence.

1
Give it a title — or paste the links
Title is enough to open the desk. Or use Book from links: paste an X profile, articles, or a blog, and Folio drafts chapters from the words that are already there.
2
Write the first page
Talk if your hands are busy. Type if you already hear the sentence. Paste if it lived somewhere else. Folio does not care how it arrived.
3
Next chapter when this one is done
Use Next chapter, or Cmd / Ctrl + Enter. It opens the following chapter, or starts a new one at the end.
4
Shape is a suggestion
Tighten, expand, or match voice. You read the proposal and keep it or not. Nothing writes itself into the book.
5
Put names in the bible
Characters, places, and rules live there. Continuity uses them so a later chapter does not rename your people.
6
Export when you want a copy
Manuscript settings → Export. You get a Markdown file: foreword, chapters, interviews, sources, then About the author.

Talk uses the browser microphone. Allow it once. Chrome is the most reliable. Work stays in this browser until you export.

For seasoned authors

Folio is an editor that remembers. Use it like a desk, not like a chatbot.

1
Lock the voice first
A short voice lock beats a long prompt. “First person. Short sentences. Dallas. No purple prose.” Put it on the book, then Match voice when a page drifts.
2
Guest pages stay guest pages
A foreword may be spoken or pasted from someone else. Mark it as theirs. Continuity will not rewrite it into your diction. Interviews are transcripts — they stay.
3
Interviews become scenes, not replacements
Paste the Q&A. Then Write a scene from this. Folio drafts a new numbered chapter in your voice. The transcript is still there.
4
Links stay links
Book from links on the library, or Paste links on the desk. An X profile is enough — Folio reads the articles and posts, then writes a full chapter from each one. No word cap. You approve the chapters. The sources stay.
5
Add a chapter later. Then check the book.
New scenes change earlier facts. Check the whole book. You approve every rewrite. Lock a finished page so it is skipped.
6
History is a stack, not a graveyard
Each keep saves a version of that page. Restore if Shape went too far. Ten versions, then the oldest drops.
7
About the author is a page, not a form
Type it, talk it, or Draft a bio from the book. Your name on that page is the byline on the shelf and in the export.

The book is yours.

Grok can tighten a page. It cannot decide what the book is. If a rewrite feels wrong, throw it out and keep typing.