Asengana Updates – New Manuscript Menu and one-page editing for Scenes and Chapters

by Emanuel

2022, Asengana, Monthly Product Release Update
April 17, 2022

Having a product “live” it’s just the beginning. Once we made sure we have all the basic functions writer’s need from a writing software, we moved towards continuous improvement. Sometimes improvement means a major change as is the case this month.

We continue to do user research and most writer’s needs go towards having complex information provided by simple interactions. One of the key performance indicators for the improvement of a user interaction is very simple: fewer clicks or fewer pages than before.

This is what we did with the current update: create a one-page for editing scenes and chapter details and a simpler more intuitive Manuscript Menu for every book/project.

Updates

1. Manuscript Menu

With the move to a new framework for writing a book – DABL = Discovery, Alpha, Beta, Live – restructured the menu from one when the secondary level required a page refresh and will permit only to view that group of items to one that allows a better overview.

Also, because one question that made us really feel like we failed some of our users was “where do I write?”. The manuscript itself was hidden as a level 2 menu and required 2 clicks to get to it.

The new structure starts with the Manuscript and continues with:

Discovery – Research. Here we grouped all the elements that are part of your research process: Research notes, Character profiles, Location files, Timeline Summary, etc.

Alpha – Planning. This includes the Manuscript Structure page, where you can use drag and drop to change the order or placement of the scenes in various chapters, the Chapter list, which we will talk more about below, as well as analytics feature like Time or Character Map.

Beta – Manuscript Progress. During the actual writing process you have access through split-screen to your research and planning elements. Under this menu you have the actual tools that will help you be more efficient as a writer:

  1. A Kanban Board allowing to manage better your time and your progress scene by scene
  2. The Burndown Chart to have a realistic view on your daily progress as well and an estimate of the work still needed to finish your book
  3. Manuscript Drafts page which allows you to save versions of your manuscript and restore them when needed.

Live – Export to ePub. The most important export function is export to ePub because this allows you to have a ready to publish book. You can also export in Word or PDF format.

Asengana Updates - New Manuscript Menu and one-page editing for Scenes and Chapters 1

2. Chapter List

This update was a long time coming because the original approach we had was moving you back and forth between individual scene pages, chapters, manuscript and it was a… complicated. We unified in one page with in page editing the chapter and scenes details. Editing multiple scene required going back to the manuscript so you can edit the next scene.

Every scene has several elements that are useful to be seen in the split screen on the Manuscript page: assigned chapter, date, POV, location, pattern, additional characters, notes, settings, etc. Now you can edit each one of them for every scene in the same page.

We kept the Manuscript Structure page where you can change the scene order separate because it requires a separate thinking process. While one page allows to narrow down the elements for a page, the other allows you to change the flow of the entire story.

Asengana Updates - New Manuscript Menu and one-page editing for Scenes and Chapters 2

3. UI improvements

There is also a list of small improvements as making more visible the buttons that activate the split screen on the Manuscript page and changes in the design of pages for various screen resolutions.

 

You can find out more about how we got to this solution from her: How to build a free tool for writers – the KISS way.

This is it for April 2022. Remember to share the news of the platform with your writer friends and use our Concierge Service Desk for comments and feedback.

Start writing now… or you can spend your time on the couch watching movies based on other people's books.

Lay the groundwork for your future success as a storyteller by using the most powerful writing & project management software for authors.

Plan and research your book

Keep all your research in one place. Confidently plan for the elements of your book, no matter how complex: idea, outline, synopsis, plot structure, characters and sensory mapping of locations.

Write daily and monitor your progress

Real Kanban project management for authors. Swiftly accessing the timeline and the detailed insight of your character’s journey will help you focus and nurture your writing mindset.

Write your book distraction-free

Save time with our manuscript structure templates. They will guide you scene by scene, offering pre-defined plot points. Enhanced tracking features enable effortless getting back into writing.

Get things done - idea to eBook

No more wasting time on endless rewrites. Structured creativity thanks to productive persistence.
When you decide your book is ready for the world, the ePub convertor is one click away. Congratulations, you are ready to publish!

Asengana

It takes more than a proficient writing process to turn a blank page into a novel.

It’s a journey from a writer distracted by the use of multiple tools - for writing, time and project management - to being an author capable to plan efficiently and write multiple books at the same time using one platform.

Plan, write, and finish your book!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This