1 · The Desk
Write it
Write the story as plain text. A few simple marks show where a scene starts, who is speaking, and where the reader gets a choice.
The five marks you need →
Interactive fiction, authored like a screenplay
Write the story.
Then play it.
Nightwriter is a writing tool for stories where the reader makes the choices. You write it as plain text, and play it like a visual novel.
How it works
2 · The Window
Stage it
Staging happens on a clipboard beside the story, not in the text. Here are the two choices from the scene above, and where each one leads. A choice can also wait until the reader has found something earlier. You don't write any code.
3 · Playable
Play it
Step into the story at any point and play it the way a reader will. This is the same scene again, at the moment the reader chooses. Then go straight back to writing.
Where it stands
Works today
- Writing the manuscript, with choices in the text
- Staging scenes: sets, cues, and conditions on choices
- The Corkboard, as rows or as a free map
- Playing the story from the top or from any scene
- Playing on a second screen while you steer from the first
On the way
- Publishing a finished story as a file you can share or upload
- A desktop app
- Looks for the stage beyond the noir one shown here
Nightwriter is made for a parent making up stories for their kids, a grandparent who tells the grandkids a different version every time, a student with a whole world in their head.
Why Nightwriter exists →Plain answers
What is Nightwriter?
Nightwriter is a writing tool for interactive fiction. You write your story as plain text. The choices, and the rules for when they show up, are kept apart from your story text, so the text stays easy to read. The story plays in a web browser, so there is nothing extra 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.
Can I publish what I make?
That's where Nightwriter is headed: a finished story published as a file you can share with family, or upload for anyone to play. It's the big piece being built now.
Is my story locked into Nightwriter?
No. A story is two plain text files: the manuscript, and a separate file for the staging. Download them whenever you like, open them in any text editor, and bring them back in.
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.
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.