Finis in six videos

Short tutorials for writers, about a minute each: from your first project to the exported book.

The videos show Finis on the Mac. On the iPad you’ll find the same panels and the same keys, with touch. iPad Help →

1 0:59

Start your first book

Create a project, find your way around the window and write the first line.

Transcript

Open Finis: Finis opens on the Library: start something new, open your work, or find the books you keep.
Pick a template: Choose New… and pick a template. Novel makes a Manuscript folder for the book and one for your notes.; Give it a name, or keep Novel, and choose Create.
Write: Your new project opens on Chapter 1, ready for the first line.; Just write. Finis saves on its own, a second after your last keystroke.
Find your way: On the left, the sidebar holds your chapters, your notes and your images.; On the right, the inspector keeps each chapter’s status, tags, synopsis and goal.
Explore the example: Want to see Finis at work first? Open Pride and Prejudice from the Library.; A whole novel, with its notes and plates, in your own copy to change as you like.

2 1:07

Parts, chapters and notes in the sidebar; the whole book on a board, in an outline, in one text.

Transcript

Parts and chapters: The sidebar is your book: folders for its parts, documents for its chapters and scenes.; Each one is a plain Markdown file, in a real folder on your Mac.
Add a chapter: ⌘N adds a new document right below the one you’re in. Press Return to give it a name.; ⌥⌘N makes a folder and ⌃⌘N a note. Drag any row to move it.
Notes: Notes hold characters, places and research: always at hand, and always out of the book.
The board: Press ⌘2 for the board: a card for each chapter, with its status, length and opening lines.; Drag the cards to change the order, even from one part to another. The sidebar follows.
The outline: ⌘3 shows the outline: a row for each chapter, with synopsis, status, tags and length. Click a column to sort.
Continuous text: ⌘4 lays a whole part out as one text, to read straight through and write right there.

3 1:02

A quiet page, formatting without symbols, Focus and the typewriter, the paper you like.

Transcript

A quiet page: The page is Markdown, but quiet: you see the shape of your text, not its symbols.
Format: Aa opens Format: bold, italic, headings, quotes and lists, each beside the sign Finis writes for it.; Or keep your hands on the keys: ⌘B for bold, ⌘I for italics.
Writing modes: Writing Modes: the typewriter keeps your line at the top, middle or bottom of the window…; …and Focus dims all but the sentence or paragraph you’re writing.
Focus: With Focus on the sentence, only the one you’re writing stands out.; And with the typewriter, your line stays in the middle as the page moves up.
Paper and type: In Settings, choose your paper: Light, Sepia or Dark.; And your typeface: Literata, made for long reading, or iA Writer Quattro.

4 1:13

Statuses and tags, goals, a date or a daily pace for the book, statistics, and the end of the day.

Transcript

Status and tags: In the inspector, each chapter has a status: Idea, Draft, Revision or Done.; Tags gather what chapters share: a character, a place, a thread of the plot.
Goals: Give a chapter a goal in words: at least, about or at most.; A ring beside its name fills up as you write, and turns green when you get there.
A date for the book: Give the whole book a goal and a date, and choose the days of the week you write.; Every day, the top of the sidebar tells you how many words to write today.
Every day: No date? Turn on Every Day for a steady pace: so many words on each day you write.; The top of the sidebar counts today’s words against it.
Statistics: The ring at the bottom of the sidebar opens the statistics: the chapter, its part, the whole book.; Words, reading time, and how much you wrote over the last week or month.
Call it a day: At the end of every chapter sits the F. of Finis.; Click it to see the words you wrote today. Call It a Day keeps a version of each chapter you worked on.

5 0:56

Comments, suggested changes and versions: reread without losing a word.

Transcript

Comments: Select a passage and press ⇧⌘K to leave a comment.; Comments stay in your text, marked with ✳, and stay out of the book.
Suggestions: With Track Changes While Writing (⌃⌘R), what you type becomes a suggestion.; Nothing is lost: what you cut stays, marked, until you decide.
Review: The Review tab lists every comment and suggestion: accept or reject each one, or all of them at once.
Versions: Before a big edit, save a version of the chapter, with a name of its own.; Choose a version to compare it word by word with the text as it is now, and restore it if you need to.

6 0:56

From project to book in one step: Word, a manuscript, a printed-book PDF, ePub, or paper.

Transcript

Export the book: When the book is ready to share, choose File › Export Book, or press ⇧⌘E.
Choose a format: Word for publishers, a manuscript in the standard format, ePub for e-readers, or a PDF laid out like a printed book.; Beside each format, the title page and the first chapter as they will look.
Your choices: Number the chapters as you like, and say whether the book’s folders are parts or chapters.; Add a title page, and leave out what isn’t ready yet.
Print: File › Print (⌘P) opens the same sheet, starting from the chapter you’re in.; The whole book is one click away; Print… hands the pages to your Mac.

Every feature, with its steps and keys, is in the Help. Help →