Projects & Templates

Create, open, and organize your writing projects.

Creating a new project

From the Welcome Screen or from File → New Project, you can start a fresh project:

1. Choose a template (or Blank).
2. Select a folder on your computer.
3. Name your first POV character.
4. Click Create.

Braidr creates the project folder with a character markdown file, a timeline.json, and a notes/ directory. You can add more characters at any time from the POV View.

Templates

Templates pre-populate your character files with plot point sections — the structural beats that guide your story. Each template creates a different set of sections:

Blank

No sections. Start from scratch and add your own as you go. Good for writers who have their own process or are experimenting.

Three-Act Structure

The classic story framework:

• Act 1 — Hook, Inciting Incident, First Plot Point
• Act 2 — Rising Action, Midpoint, Crisis
• Act 3 — Climax, Resolution, Denouement

Save the Cat

Based on Blake Snyder's popular beat sheet:

• Opening Image, Theme Stated, Setup
• Catalyst, Debate, Break into Two
• B Story, Fun and Games, Midpoint
• Bad Guys Close In, All Is Lost, Dark Night of the Soul
• Break into Three, Finale, Final Image

Hero's Journey

Joseph Campbell's monomyth structure:

• Ordinary World, Call to Adventure, Refusal of the Call
• Meeting the Mentor, Crossing the Threshold
• Tests & Allies, Approach to the Inmost Cave, The Ordeal
• Reward, The Road Back, Resurrection, Return with the Elixir

Opening an existing project

Click Open Project from the Welcome Screen, or use File → Open Project, and select the folder containing your timeline.json. Braidr reads all .md files in the folder as character files.

Recent projects

The Welcome Screen shows your most recently opened projects for quick access. Braidr remembers where you left off — your last open view, selected character, and scroll position.

Project file structure

A typical Braidr project folder looks like this:

my-novel/
├── Frodo.md              # POV character file
├── Aragorn.md            # POV character file
├── Gandalf.md            # POV character file
├── timeline.json         # Reading order & metadata
└── notes/
    ├── notes-index.json  # Notes index
    ├── middle-earth.html # Knowledge base note
    └── magic-system.html # Knowledge base note

See File Format for the full specification of each file.

Backup and version control

Since your project is a folder of plain text files, you have many options for backup:

• Cloud sync — Put the project folder in Dropbox, iCloud, Google Drive, or OneDrive. Changes sync automatically.
• Git — Initialize a git repo in your project folder. Commit changes to track your revision history. Braidr's markdown format works perfectly with git diffs.
• Manual backup — Copy the project folder to an external drive or zip it up.