> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.quarkle.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How to Import Your Manuscript into an AI Writing Tool

> Bring an existing novel draft into Quarkle: supported file formats, how AI builds character and world profiles automatically, and what to verify first.

If you're not starting from scratch, this is the path: bring your draft in, let Quarkle read it, and check its work before you lean on it.

## Bring in your draft

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Import">
    In the editor's left rail, click **Import**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose your file">
    Quarkle imports **PDF**, **Markdown (.md)**, and **plain-text (.txt)** files. Pick one or several at once.
  </Step>

  <Step title="It's brought in as chapters">
    Each file becomes one or more chapters in your manuscript map. Large files may take a moment.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  Import opens your system's file picker directly, there's no in-app dialog to walk through. Full reference: [Import & export](/getting-started/import-and-export).
</Note>

<Frame caption="The three-panel editor, your imported chapters on the left.">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/quarkle/5WUUaYl-dgOEAFoM/images/app/editor-overview.jpg?fit=max&auto=format&n=5WUUaYl-dgOEAFoM&q=85&s=875303bf06d7efb790316bcd112c71ce" alt="The Quarkle editor with its left rail, manuscript, and Creative Companion panels" width="1512" height="794" data-path="images/app/editor-overview.jpg" />
</Frame>

## Let the Atlas build itself

You don't need to set anything up. As soon as your chapters are in, Quarkle starts building the Story Atlas: characters, world, a summary per chapter. This first pass reads each chapter in full; later edits only re-read the diff.

<Frame caption="The Story Atlas filling in from an imported manuscript.">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/quarkle/HrAp7UTT41GKfNkT/images/app/atlas-files.jpg?fit=max&auto=format&n=HrAp7UTT41GKfNkT&q=85&s=de4dd6d1c615703a2c614ef65783f531" alt="The Story Atlas file tree with System notes and auto-discovered Character and World notes" width="1568" height="721" data-path="images/app/atlas-files.jpg" />
</Frame>

It runs in the background at low priority, so it won't compete with anything you're doing. Watch the **sync** status; when it stops spinning, the Atlas has caught up. A big manuscript can take a few minutes.

<Tip>
  Don't start asking Chat detailed questions about your world the moment an import finishes. Give the sync a minute to actually complete first, otherwise you're asking about characters the Atlas hasn't built profiles for yet.
</Tip>

## Check its work before you lean on it

Once the first sync finishes, don't just trust it blind. Spend ten minutes reviewing what Quarkle inferred:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Skim the character list">
    Open each character note it created. Are the role, personality, and relationships right? These are Quarkle's best inference from the text, not verified facts.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check the world entries">
    Same idea for places, factions, or rules of your world it picked up on.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Read a chapter summary or two">
    Spot-check that summaries actually track what happens. If your manuscript has a complex POV structure or unreliable narration, this is where it's most likely to need a correction.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Fix what's wrong, freeze what's right">
    Edit anything inaccurate directly. Once a note is correct, [freeze it](/guides/mastering-the-story-atlas#freeze-finished-notes) so it stays that way.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  This upfront check matters more the longer and more complex your manuscript is. A 5,000-word short story's Atlas is easy to verify at a glance; a 100,000-word novel with a dozen POV characters is worth the ten minutes before you lean on Chat for relationships across the whole book.
</Note>

## Write your standing preferences once

Have voice, tense, or style rules that should apply from your first new chapter? Set them now instead of repeating them in every chat. Open **Your preferences** in the Atlas, or just tell Chat directly and it'll record them for you. See [Memory](/ai/memory).

<Card title="Next: Undoing a Bad Edit" icon="arrow-right" horizontal href="/guides/undoing-a-bad-edit">
  Checkpoints, restores, and Atlas version history, and when to reach for which.
</Card>