The Desk
Write the manuscript as plain prose. No forms, no fields. Just the page.
Interactive fiction, authored like a screenplay
Write the story.
Then play it.
Nightwriter is a writing desk for branching, playable narrative. Prose on one side, stagecraft on the other, and a corkboard that shows every path at once.
The Window
Stage the scene behind glass: cast, sets, cues, and branching logic.
The Corkboard
See every path as a board of pinned cards and threaded string.
Playable
Step into the story and play it the way a reader eventually will.
Plain answers
What is Nightwriter?
Nightwriter is a writing tool for interactive fiction. You write your story as plain prose, like a screenplay. The branching, choices, and game logic live on a separate layer, so the manuscript stays clean. The story plays in a browser, with no engine to set up.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. The manuscript is plain text. Staging a scene is done visually, not in a programming language: who's in it, what the reader can choose, where each choice leads.
How is it different from Twine or ink?
Those are excellent tools and we recommend them often. The difference is the split: in Nightwriter your prose and your game logic never share a file. If you've ever fought macros in the middle of a paragraph, that's the problem we're working on.
Can I play what I write?
Yes, immediately. You can step into the story at any point and play it the way a reader will, then jump back to writing.
When can I use it?
Nightwriter is in development and not yet released. Early access is opening gradually. Leave your email below and you'll hear when it's your turn.
“A story isn't a flowchart. It's a room you walk through. Nightwriter lets you build the room and walk it in the same afternoon.”
Clint, in the journal
Early access is opening slowly
Leave an email and you'll be among the first writers let in.
One email to confirm, one when it opens. Nothing in between.