Moving from Word or Google Docs

What you’ll need (2 minutes)

A Word document saved as .docx, or a Google Docs document downloaded as Microsoft Word (.docx). Keep the original document.

Preparation takes about two minutes if your export is ready. Import time depends on the size of your book.

Move your manuscript

1. Prepare your export

   In Word, save a copy in .docx format. In Google Docs, choose File > Download > Microsoft Word (.docx). Check the downloaded copy before importing it into Mythwrite.

2. Open Import

   In Mythwrite, open Projects and choose Import. In Import files, choose browse files and select your export. Start with one file, up to 50 MB.

3. Review the detected chapters and scenes

   Choose Import 1 File to open Import preview, or use the eye button labelled Preview structure. Expand the chapters and compare the titles, scene divisions and text with your original. You can rename or merge detected chapters and scenes before importing. Remove only material you do not want to keep.

4. Complete Book Setup

   In Import Options, complete Book Setup. Review Genre, perspective, tense and English style. Keep the detected structure unless you want the whole manuscript in one scene.

5. Bring in the book

   Choose Import with Structure. Read the Import complete summary and any warnings. Open the new book and compare the start and end of every chapter, text around scene breaks, and bold and italic passages with your original.

What comes across

• Manuscript text and basic emphasis, such as bold and italics, from the DOCX.
• Chapters and scenes that the preview detects. This is a reconstruction from the document, rather than a copy of the original app’s project structure.

What does not come across

• Comments, tracked-change history and Google Docs version history do not become Mythwrite review history. Resolve edits in your export copy if you want a settled draft.
• Fonts, margins, page layout, headers and footers are not recreated as a print design. Do not rely on page breaks alone to define chapters.
• Story bible entries, chapter summaries and notes are not created as separate fields from a normal DOCX. Check front matter and any text before the first detected chapter carefully.

Tips for checking your structure

For predictable chapter detection, use standalone titles such as Chapter 1: Arrival. Heading 1 with Chapter 1 works; Heading 1 with an arbitrary title alone is not enough. Multiple Heading 2 titles are also recognised as chapters. Use a standalone ***, --- or # between scenes. Numbered Heading 3 or Heading 4 titles such as Scene 1: Arrival can mark scenes. Page breaks and blank lines alone do not mark scene boundaries. Short lines of prose can be mistaken for chapter titles, and text before the first detected chapter can be left out of the outline. Check front matter as well as the chapter text. For Markdown or Obsidian, import a .md or .markdown manuscript: use # for the book title, ## for chapters, and ### or #### for scenes. Include all scene text below a scene heading, and put front matter into a chapter if you want it retained in the outline. Standalone ***, --- or # can divide scenes when there are no scene headings. A vault ZIP is not a manuscript bundle; combine the notes you want into a manuscript file first. Obsidian wikilinks, embeds, backlinks and vault metadata are not converted into Archivum relationships.

A hand with your book

Stuck? Email us your export at [email protected] and we’ll set it up for you.