Pertrace

Write everything. Know everything.

A quiet room for writing a novel, with a studio of craft tools one keystroke away.

Start writing Read the contents

Sign in to keep your books on every device, or keep them in this browser.

Download for Mac macOS 12 or later · Apple Silicon and IntelDownload for Windows Windows 10 or 11 · 64-bit

Pen and watercolor drawing of a writing table under an open window, a harbour and a lighthouse beyond.
Plate I The writing table.

The galley

One page, held still.

Simple mode keeps only the page: a measured column, typewriter scrolling, a spotlight on the paragraph you are in. The page never moves when you open a tool beside it.

Chapter three of the demo novel, in Simple mode.
Plate II Chapter three of the demo novel, in Simple mode.

Twelve studios

The craft, beside the prose.

Each studio reads your chapters and draws the structure underneath them: what is at stake, who stands against whom, where the tension rises and falls. Escape returns you to the sentence.

The studios

  • Stakes matrix
  • Opposition studio
  • Tension spline
  • Scene polarity
  • Catharsis curve
  • Cadence waveform
  • Story beats
  • Subplot threads
  • Corkboard
  • Pitch & query
  • Prose diff
  • Craft overview
The tension curve across four chapters, against a three-act guide.
Plate III The tension curve across four chapters, against a three-act guide.
A brass compass and drafting dividers on a folded sheet.

The assistant

Help that shows its work.

Pin the page, a character or a source, and ask. Every answer says what it read and what made it, and nothing on your page changes until you have seen the change and accepted it.

A summary of the open chapter, built from the pinned page.
Plate IV A summary of the open chapter, built from the pinned page.

Two languages

Menus in one language, the novel in another.

The interface follows you; the book follows its own language. Spellcheck, the dictionary (TDK for Turkish, Wiktionary for English), word counts, readability and sorting all belong to the book.

Language settings, with the interface in Turkish.
Plate V Language settings, with the interface in Turkish.
An open notebook with a dip pen and a crimson ribbon.

The shelf

Every book gets a cover.

Twenty-five watercolor covers to choose from. When a draft is ready, compile it to Markdown, plain text or HTML, or carry the whole workspace away as one file.

Plate VI Some of the covers in the pen-and-watercolor set.
A stack of three cloth-bound books tied with string and a sprig of lavender.

Begin on the first page.

Pertrace is in preview. It runs in your browser, on Mac and on Windows, and your account keeps your books in step.

Start writing

Download for Mac macOS 12 or later · Apple Silicon and IntelDownload for Windows Windows 10 or 11 · 64-bit