Getting started with Charc

Ten guides, in order. Together they cover the whole journey — from making a project and writing your first chapter to designing the printed page, collaborating, and bringing in a book you started elsewhere. Already have a manuscript? Start with guide ten and work back.

1

Starting your first project in Charc

The dashboard, the tabs, and what everything does.

Creating your account · The dashboard · Inside a project — the tab bar · The guided tour · Your first scene
2

The Write tab: writing your first chapter

What the editor does, and what it deliberately doesn’t.

The editor is the whole point · Pageless view and page view · The rich text toolbar · Scenes as the unit of writing · Undo and snapshots · The reference panel · Focus mode · What’s paid · Autosave and leaving safely
3

Building your story: the Outline tab

The structure that feeds everything else.

How the outline connects to the manuscript · The three node types · What’s inside a node · Drag to reorder · List view and card view · Scene colors and flags · The right-click context menu · The sidebar outline tree · Starting from a template · What’s next
4

Your project's knowledge base: entity tabs, documents, and the reference panel

Build your world. Keep it at your fingertips while you write.

Everything that feeds the manuscript · Characters and setting · The block system · Text blocks and the document editor · Custom entity tabs · Pinning to the reference panel · The reference panel in full · The loop
5

Tracking your draft: progress, phases, and streaks

Watch the book grow. Keep yourself honest.

The project dashboard · Draft phases · Word targets, from the book down to the scene · The daily goal and streaks · The part you don’t do
6

Exporting and backing up your work

One window to publish from. One habit that protects the book.

One window · Choosing what goes in · The page design · File formats · Seeing it as a reader will · Presets · Include and Processing · The copy that isn’t for readers
7

Designing the printed page: formats, typography, and chapter openings

You write the words. The format makes them a book.

A format is the whole design in one bundle · The page itself · Body typography · Chapter openings · Headers, footers, and page numbers · Scene dividers · Seeing it while you write · Formats and presets, kept straight · A word on screenplays
8

Front matter and covers: the book around the book

The pages before chapter one, and the cover around all of it.

What front matter is · Built from templates, not from scratch · Putting a page into the body of the book · Covers · Print-ready means print-ready
9

Writing together: coauthors, editors, and alpha readers

Who can touch what — and how their version stays separate from yours.

Inviting someone · The three roles · Writing at the same time · Comments · Their copy, beside yours · Sharing a scene with someone who has no account · The changes feed
10

Bringing an existing manuscript into Charc

Your book already exists. Here’s how it moves in.

What you can bring in · How your file becomes chapters and scenes · What survives the trip · After the import

Looking for something specific?

The help center is searchable and goes deeper on individual features. Results point at the exact section rather than the top of a page.

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