Ariadne

Plot, write & publish — the novel writing app

Find the thread of your novel.

Plan, write and publish your story, all from one file. No more plot holes found a year too late, no more files and drafts scattered across six apps and a notebook — one plot, one manuscript, all in one app.

Plan, write and publish your novel — the whole story, first chapter to last, in one app.

Join the waitlist

Early access and founding-member pricing. One email when Ariadne launches.

Native Mac & PCWorks offlineYour novel is one fileImports from Scrivener

The thread
123456789101112 The sale The letter in the kiln Midpoint Climax
Chapter 5 Now

Two Pens

Ines and the buyer meet at the notary. Neither signs.

Written
Chapter 6 1987

Glass Pears

Tomas teaches her to blow a pear. The first one cracks.

Written
Chapter 7 Now

The Kiln Shed

She finds the letter he never sent, under the cooling rack.

Next to write
Chapter 8 1991

Ash Year

The fire, as Vera remembers it.

Planned

The whole plot on one threadChapters that know who, where and whenBeats ticked off as you writeA strand for every characterA version saved every day you writeAll of it in one file

Inside Ariadne, with a sample novel. Every panel here is from the real app. · scroll sideways to see all of it

Sound familiar?

Most writers give up when they can no longer see the beginning or the end of their story.

Ariadne puts the whole book in front of you. You plan out first to last chapter, write your story and then publish. Your entire plot - visualized.

Forty thousand words in, chapter 19 contradicts chapter 4 — and I found out in revision.

In Ariadne the plot stays in view while you write. A contradiction shows up the day you type it, not a year later in an editor’s notes.

My novel lives in six places: outline in one app, drafts in another, research everywhere.

One file holds the plot, the chapters, the characters, the notes and every earlier version. Nothing to sync, nothing to lose.

I open the manuscript after a week away and can’t remember what happens next.

Every chapter opens with its beats and the people in the room beside the page. You’re writing in seconds, not re-reading for an hour.

The idea behind Ariadne

Three dashboards. One book.

Novels rarely stall for lack of talent. They stall when the writer loses the line — what this chapter is for, what the next one owes the last. Ariadne begins with the turning points that hold your story up, then unwinds the thread chapter by chapter, so there is always a line in your hand.

  1. IdeaThe book in one line, its timelines and the people in it.
  2. ResearchNotes that link themselves to chapters and characters.
  3. PlotEvery turning point, beat and chapter, first to last.
  4. WriteEach chapter with its beats, a dictionary and every session.
  5. PublishManuscript, ebook and print from the same file.
1.

Plot

Three views of the same story: the line it follows, the people in it, and the times it moves through. Change one and the others keep up — no outline in one app slowly drifting away from the draft in another.

Your whole book on one thread — first chapter to last.

Plan your first to last chapter.

Start with the line: the turning points that carry the book from first page to last, and the stretches between them. Hover a numbered marker to see what each piece does — click it to read more.Tap a numbered marker to see what each piece does.

1The whole book at a glanceTurning points, beats and chapters on one thread, first page to last. One look tells you where you are. 2Every card knows who, where, whenThe people in the scene, the place and the moment live on the card — and stay in step with the draft. 3A beat becomes a chapterJot a beat the moment you know what happens. One click turns it into a chapter, with everything carried over. 4Ideas wait on the lineA scene without a home stays in view until it finds its place — not lost in the margins of a notebook.
Turning pointChapter 7
The letter in the kiln
Ines finds the letter her father never sent, under the cooling rack.
InesThe kiln shedNow
Beat
Vera at the door. She knew the letter was there all along.
Vera
Make it a chapter
Chapter 8Planned
Ash Year
The fire, as Vera remembers it.
VeraTomas1991
  1. 1

    The whole book at a glanceTurning points, beats and chapters on one thread, first page to last. One look tells you where you are.

  2. 2

    Every card knows who, where, whenThe people in the scene, the place and the moment live on the card — and stay in step with the draft.

  3. 3

    A beat becomes a chapterJot a beat the moment you know what happens. One click turns it into a chapter, with everything carried over.

  4. 4

    Ideas wait on the lineA scene without a home stays in view until it finds its place — not lost in the margins of a notebook.

Characters

Everyone you name on the plot gets a card, and a strand that runs beside the story — so the cast stays as visible as the plot.

1A card for every characterRole, portrait, the chapters they appear in — and a full document behind every face on the plot. 2Mood boards — coming soonBoards for characters and places, pinned beside their documents. 3The story’s tension, drawnThe arc rises and falls above the chapters, so you can see where the book tightens — and where it sags. 4Spot who goes quietEvery character runs as a strand through the chapters. A strand that stops is a character your readers will forget — you’ll see it first.
I

Ines Marr

Protagonist 12 chapters · 4 turning points Back to sell the orchard by Friday. Document →
T

Tomas Marr

Her father 6 chapters · 1987–1991 Saved the kiln, not the house. Document →
V

Vera Alves

Supporting 5 chapters · both timelines Knew about the letter all along. Document →
  1. 1

    A card for every characterRole, portrait, the chapters they appear in — and a full document behind every face on the plot.

  2. 2

    Mood boards — coming soonBoards for characters and places, pinned beside their documents.

  3. 3

    The story’s tension, drawnThe arc rises and falls above the chapters, so you can see where the book tightens — and where it sags.

  4. 4

    Spot who goes quietEvery character runs as a strand through the chapters. A strand that stops is a character your readers will forget — you’ll see it first.

Timelines

One lane for each time the story moves through: a childhood, a war, the present.

1A lane for every timelineA childhood, a war, the present — each time the story moves through gets its own lane, chapters in reading order. 2Memories, tied in goldWhen a chapter remembers another, a gold thread runs between them — time jumps you can see, not just keep in your head. 3Drag a chapter through timeMove a chapter between lanes and it moves in time — the plot and the chapters keep up on their own. 4Not placed? Not lost.A chapter you haven’t placed in time waits in its own row until you know where it belongs.
Now20197 chapters
5✓Two PensThe notary, LeiriaIDInes & Daniel
7◐The Kiln ShedThe orchardIInes
Then1987–19915 chapters
6✓Glass PearsThe kiln shed, 1987ITInes & Tomas
8Ash YearVera’s cottage, 1991VTVera & Tomas
Not placed1 chapter
9FrostWhere does this go?

One lane for each timeline, chapters in reading order. A gold thread ties a chapter to the one it remembers.

  1. 1

    A lane for every timelineA childhood, a war, the present — each time the story moves through gets its own lane, chapters in reading order.

  2. 2

    Memories, tied in goldWhen a chapter remembers another, a gold thread runs between them — time jumps you can see, not just keep in your head.

  3. 3

    Drag a chapter through timeMove a chapter between lanes and it moves in time — the plot and the chapters keep up on their own.

  4. 4

    Not placed? Not lost.A chapter you haven’t placed in time waits in its own row until you know where it belongs.

Swipe for Characters and Timelines →

2.

Write

Write each chapter with everything it needs beside it: its beats, the people in the room, what comes next, a dictionary with synonyms, and every earlier session of the text. You never leave the page to check a word — and you never dig through final_v3_REAL.docx for the paragraph you cut last month.

Every chapter with its beats, its people and every draft beside the page.

1Find & replace, Split, FocusThe tools wait in the toolbar: find and replace across the book, two chapters side by side, or nothing but the page. 4Nothing is overwrittenEvery writing session is saved as its own version. Cut a scene without fear — Saturday’s draft is still there. 2The chapter, beside the pageBeats to tick off as you write — and the next chapter waiting when you finish this one. 3It knows who’s on the pageMention a name and Ariadne suggests adding them to the scene. Double-click any word for the dictionary, and swap in a synonym with one click.
Chapter 7
The Kiln Shed

The shed smelled the way it always had, of ash and hot metal and the oranges he used to eat between batches. Ines had come for boxes. She found the cooling rack still warm.

Someone had been here. She laid her hand flat on the steel the way he had taught her, as if glass could tell you what it remembered, and under the rack, folded twice, was an envelope with her name on it in his square capitals.

Ines did not open it. She put it in her coat pocket, next to the keys to a house that was no longer hers, and went on packing as if nothing in the shed had changed. Tomas would have laughed at her for that.

1,240 wordsSaved
Write: the chapter list, the page, everything about this chapter, the dictionary and every session of it · scroll sideways to see all of it
  1. 1

    Find & replace, Split, FocusThe tools wait in the toolbar: find and replace across the book, two chapters side by side, or nothing but the page.

  2. 2

    The chapter, beside the pageBeats to tick off as you write — and the next chapter waiting when you finish this one.

  3. 3

    It knows who’s on the pageMention a name and Ariadne suggests adding them to the scene. Double-click any word for the dictionary, and swap in a synonym with one click.

  4. 4

    Nothing is overwrittenEvery writing session is saved as its own version. Cut a scene without fear — Saturday’s draft is still there.

3.

Publish

The week an agent asks for your manuscript is not the week to fight a word processor. Fill in the title page, copyright and blurb once; each format takes what it needs and makes its own files, ready for an agent, a store or a printer.

One manuscript. Every format. Ready when you are.

1Standard manuscriptIndustry-standard formatting for agents, editors and competitions — from the same file you wrote in. 2One EPUB, every storeKindle, Apple Books, Kobo and Google Play — one file, checked against each store’s rules. 3Print-ready, cover includedInterior and cover sized for a paperback or hardcover, ready for the printer. 4Audiobook — coming soonNarration through your own ElevenLabs account, chapter by chapter, checked against the stores’ rules.
Publish
One manuscript, every format. Fill in the book once; each format takes what it needs.
The manuscript
15 chapters, 9 of them written
9 written2 drafting4 planned
Before you publish
6 chapters aren’t written yetOpen the plot →
Synopsis is empty, for agentsFill in the book →
Formats
Manuscript
For an agent, an editor or a competition, with query letter and synopsis.
Ready to make
Make it
Ebook
One EPUB for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo and Google Play.
Needs a cover
Set up
Print
Print-ready interior and cover, 5.5 × 8.5 in on cream paper.
Needs a cover and ISBN
Set up
Audiobook Coming soon
Connect your own ElevenLabs account and narrate the book chapter by chapter. Ariadne sends each chapter, keeps one audio file per chapter and checks them against the stores’ rules.
ElevenLabs · on your own plan
  1. 1

    Standard manuscriptIndustry-standard formatting for agents, editors and competitions — from the same file you wrote in.

  2. 2

    One EPUB, every storeKindle, Apple Books, Kobo and Google Play — one file, checked against each store’s rules.

  3. 3

    Print-ready, cover includedInterior and cover sized for a paperback or hardcover, ready for the printer.

  4. 4

    Audiobook — coming soonNarration through your own ElevenLabs account, chapter by chapter, checked against the stores’ rules.

Coming soon

Connects to the tools you already use.

Your own accounts, on your own plans. Ariadne only sends what you choose to send.

Canva

Covers at the exact sizes, scenes as slides or a short film, and launch posts.

Pinterest

Mood boards for characters and places, pinned right next to them on the plot.

ElevenLabs Coming soon

Voiceovers for readings, book trailers and your Canva slides, made in your own ElevenLabs account from the scenes you send.

Moving from Scrivener

Bring your Scrivener project. All of it.

Drop in your .scriv project — the whole binder comes across, sorted.

Years of work in Scrivener is not a reason to stay stuck there. Drop in a .scriv project or a zip: Ariadne reads the binder, makes a start on sorting it, and shows you what each part becomes before anything comes across.

  • Chapters with their text, titles and status
  • Character sheets become character cards
  • Research and notes come along as notes
  • Snapshots become chapter versions
  • Old drafts are matched to the chapter they belong to

Scrivener 3 and Scrivener 2 projects. Your .scriv stays exactly as it was.

Also imports from Google Drive Dropbox
Import from Scrivener

The Glass Orchard.scriv · Scrivener 3 · 39 documents. Say what each part of your binder is. Ariadne has made a start; look at the ones marked.

In your binderWordsBecomes
The Book15Chapters
Chapter 13,240Chapter 1
The long pane2,980Chapter 4
ACT II–Act
Drafts10Versions
Chapter 4 rewrite2,940Version
Ch 4 · The long pane76% the sameLooks right
Kiln night1,810Version
Ch 7 · The Kiln ShedNewer than the chapterKeep the chapterUse this draft
Characters6Character cards
Research25Notes
CancelImport as a new book…

Your book

Your novel is one file, and it’s yours.

The plot, the chapters, the characters, the notes and every version live together in a single file on your Mac. Copy the file and you’ve copied the book.

Works offline
Plot, write and save without a connection. Write on a plane.
Every version kept
A version of each chapter is saved every day you write it.
As many books as you like
One file per book, no extra fees for the next one.
Back it up your way
iCloud, Dropbox, a USB stick. It’s a file.
Private by design
Your manuscript never leaves your Mac unless you send it somewhere yourself.
No AI in your draft
Ariadne writes none of your book. Connections to outside apps stay off until you turn them on.

The full list

Everything in Ariadne.

Every feature in the app, and the connections to tools you already use.

Hover any feature to read more.Tap any feature to read more.

Plot6 features
  • Turning points, beats and chapters on one threadLay out the whole book first to last, then fill the stretches between the turning points.
  • Character cards with portraits, roles and documentsEveryone you name gets a card — with a full document behind it for backstory and notes.
  • The story’s tension drawn above the chaptersSee where the book tightens and where it sags, before a reader does.
  • A strand for every character, chapter by chapterSpot the character who goes quiet for ten chapters at a glance.
  • Timelines side by side, memories linked in goldPast and present in their own lanes; a gold thread ties each memory to its moment.
  • Ideas wait on the line until they find a placeJot a scene the moment it arrives. It stays in view until you know where it goes.
Write6 features
  • The chapter’s beats and people beside the pageTick beats off as you write; anyone you mention is suggested for the scene.
  • Dictionary and one-click synonymsDouble-click any word for its meaning and a better one, without leaving the page.
  • A version saved every session — nothing overwrittenCut boldly. Saturday’s draft is still there whenever you want it back.
  • The next chapter waiting when you finishFinish a chapter and the next one opens with its beats ready.
  • Find & replace, Split view and Focus modeSearch the whole book, write two chapters side by side, or see nothing but the page.
  • Word counts by chapter, session and bookKnow how much you wrote today, this chapter and in total.
Publish5 features
  • Standard manuscript for agents and competitionsThe formatting agents and editors expect, straight from your book.
  • EPUB for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo and Google PlayOne ebook file, checked against each store’s rules.
  • Print-ready interior and coverSized for paperback or hardcover, ready for the printer.
  • Title page, copyright and blurb filled in onceEvery format reuses them — no retyping, no mismatches.
  • Written, drafting and planned — progress at a glanceOne bar shows how close the book is to done.
Your book
  • One file per book, as many books as you like
  • Works offline — write on a plane
  • No account needed to write
  • No AI in your draft
  • Back it up your way: iCloud, Dropbox, a USB stick
  • Every version of every chapter, kept
Connections
Scrivener import Google Drive Dropbox Canva Coming soon Pinterest Coming soon ElevenLabs Coming soon

Your own accounts, on your own plans — every connection stays off until you turn it on, and nothing leaves your Mac unless you send it.

Ariadne gave Theseus a ball of thread, so he could walk into the labyrinth and find his way out again.The myth, and the name
Alisa Eriksen
Alisa Eriksen, the maker of Ariadne

From the maker

I didn’t set out to sell writing software. I built Ariadne because my own novel kept slipping out of my hands — the plot in one app, the draft in another, the research everywhere. This is the app I needed at 40,000 words, and I’m writing my book in it now.

Alisa Eriksen

Maker of Ariadne · novelist in progress

@alisa.eriksen@writewithariadne

Questions

Asked and answered.

When can I use it?
Ariadne is in the final stretch of building. The waitlist gets in first, with early access before the public launch.
I’m not a plotter. Is this for me?
Ariadne doesn’t demand a finished outline. Jot a beat when you know what happens and leave the line open where you don’t — the thread fills in as you discover the story.
Does AI write my book?
No. Plotting, writing and publishing work with no AI at all. Optional connections to outside apps are off until you turn them on, and nothing leaves your Mac unless you send it.
Who owns my manuscript?
You do, in the plainest sense: it’s a file on your Mac. Copy it, back it up, take it with you. No account is needed to write.
I have years of work in Scrivener.
Bring it. Ariadne reads your binder — chapters, characters, notes, snapshots, old drafts — and shows you what each part becomes before anything comes across.
What will it cost?
One simple subscription with everything included, and no extra fee per book. Founding members lock in the launch price for as long as they subscribe.

Coming to Mac

Be among the first to write with Ariadne.

The first chapters of a book decide the rest. So do the first readers of an app.

  • Early access, before the public launch
  • Founding-member price, locked for as long as you subscribe
  • A short letter as the build progresses — no spam, ever

Founding members lock in the launch price for as long as they subscribe. One email when Ariadne opens. Privacy