Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers to the questions writers ask most. For in-depth explanations, follow the links to the relevant documentation articles. If your question isn't here, check Common Issues or learn how to get help.

General

What is Genesis Writer?

Genesis Writer is an AI-powered creative writing platform built for novelists and long-form fiction writers. It combines a rich text editor with 16 AI models, character management, brainstorming tools, writing styles, manuscript analysis, and import/export — everything you need to write, develop, and polish a novel in one place. See What is Genesis Writer? for a full overview.

Is Genesis Writer free?

Yes. The Starter plan is free forever — no credit card required. It includes 25,000 one-time tokens, 3 AI models, up to 3 projects, and 50 MB of storage. It's a real plan you can write with, not a time-limited trial.

Paid plans start at $19.99/month (Writer plan) and unlock all 16 models, unlimited projects, more tokens, and premium features like character chat, portraits, and custom styles. See Subscription Plans & Pricing.

What AI models are available?

Genesis Writer offers 16 models from four providers:

• Anthropic — Claude 4.5 Haiku, Claude 4.5 Sonnet, Claude 4.6 Sonnet, Claude 4.6 Opus
• OpenAI — GPT-4.1 Nano, GPT-4.1, GPT-5 Mini, GPT-5.2, GPT-5.4
• Google — Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite, Gemini 2.5 Pro, Gemini 3 Flash, Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite, Gemini 3.1 Pro
• xAI — Grok 4.1 Fast, Grok 4

Starter plan users get access to 3 models (Grok 4.1 Fast, GPT-4.1 Nano, Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite). Subscribers get all 16. See Choosing a Model for a detailed comparison.

Is my writing private?

Yes. Your projects are private by default and only accessible to you. No one else can see your drafts, characters, outlines, or any other project content. We never use your writing to train AI models. Your creative work is yours alone.

Tokens & Billing

What are Genesis Tokens?

Genesis Tokens are the unified currency that powers all AI generation in Genesis Writer. Instead of dealing with different billing models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and xAI separately, you have one token pool that works across all 16 models. Every AI operation — text generation, image creation, character chat, and more — draws from this single balance. Different models consume tokens at different rates depending on their pricing tier. See The Token Economy for the full breakdown.

Do tokens expire?

It depends on your plan:

• Starter tokens never expire. They're a one-time grant of 25,000 tokens that stays in your account until you use them.
• Subscription tokens reset every 30 days from your billing date. Your balance is refreshed to the full monthly allocation — unused tokens from the previous period do not roll over.

What happens if I run out of tokens?

You can still use Genesis Writer — the editor, project management, formatting, export, and import all work without tokens. What stops is AI generation: Write, Continue, Rewrite, Expand, character chat, portrait generation, and other AI-powered features.

To get more tokens, you can either wait for your monthly reset (paid plans) or upgrade your plan for a larger allocation.

Can I get a refund on tokens?

For AI generations: yes, automatically. If you click Discard on the Inline Generation Toolbar, the tokens reserved for that generation are fully refunded to your balance. You only pay for text you keep.

For subscriptions: contact support through the in-app feedback button. Refund requests are handled on a case-by-case basis.

Writing & AI

Does the AI write my entire book?

No. Genesis Writer is a co-writing tool, not an auto-pilot. You write your story. The AI assists by continuing your prose, rewriting passages, generating ideas, and helping you develop characters and worlds. Every decision about what to keep, discard, or change is yours.

The best results come from treating the AI as a creative partner. You provide the direction, the characters, and the vision. The AI helps you execute faster and explore possibilities you might not have considered.

Can I use Genesis Writer for commercial projects?

Yes. You own everything you write. Text you compose and AI-generated content you choose to keep are both yours to publish, sell, or use commercially. Genesis Writer makes no claim to your creative output.

How does the AI know about my characters?

Genesis Writer builds a context package from your project every time you generate text. This includes your character profiles, personality traits, locations, worldbuilding entries, and the surrounding text from your current draft. The AI reads this context before it writes, so it stays consistent with your story world.

The more detail you put into your character profiles and project settings, the better the AI's output. An empty project gets generic prose. A project with rich characters and world details gets prose that feels like it belongs. See Context Building & Story Bible.

What's the difference between Write and Continue?

Continue picks up from the last sentence in your editor and extends it. It reads the ending of your prose and generates the next paragraph, scene beat, or passage as a natural continuation. Use Continue when you want the AI to keep the story moving forward from exactly where you stopped.

Write generates new prose based on your project context but starts fresh. It's better for beginning new scenes, chapters, or passages where you want the AI to work from context rather than continuing a specific sentence.

See AI Write & Continue for a detailed comparison with examples.

Features

Can I import my existing manuscript?

Yes. Genesis Writer supports importing from four formats:

• DOCX — best results, preserves bold, italic, headings, lists, and alignment
• Markdown — good results, preserves headings, bold, italic, and links
• TXT — plain text only
• PDF — text extraction only, no formatting preserved

For the best experience, use DOCX. If your manuscript is in Google Docs, export it as DOCX before importing. See Importing Documents.

Can I export to Word or PDF?

Yes. You can export your drafts in three formats:

• DOCX — formatting preserved, ready for Word or Google Docs
• PDF — print-ready, formatting preserved
• EPUB — for e-readers and digital publishing

You can also export a combined manuscript that merges multiple draft nodes into a single file. See Exporting Your Work.

What are writing styles?

Writing styles control how the AI writes. They define the vocabulary, sentence rhythm, prose density, tone, and narrative approach the AI uses when generating text. Think of them as presets for the AI's voice.

Genesis Writer includes 30+ preset styles covering genres from literary fiction and romance to sci-fi and horror. Subscribers can also create custom styles with their own instructions and multi-stage template pipelines. See What Are Writing Styles?

What are beta readers?

Beta readers are AI personas that read your work and provide structured feedback. Each beta reader has a specific focus area — some concentrate on pacing and plot structure, others on character development, worldbuilding, or prose craft.

You submit a passage, and the beta reader returns a detailed analysis with strengths, areas for improvement, and specific suggestions. It's like getting feedback from a critique partner, available whenever you need it. See What Are Beta Readers?

Account & Data

Can I use Genesis Writer offline?

No. Genesis Writer is a web application that requires an internet connection. AI generation, autosave, and project syncing all depend on server communication. If you lose connection temporarily, the editor will show “Unsaved changes” and retry saving when your connection returns.

Is there a mobile app?

Not currently. Genesis Writer is optimized for desktop and laptop browsers. The writer interface uses a three-panel layout designed for larger screens. You can access it on a tablet browser in a pinch, but the experience is best on a screen 1024px wide or larger.

Can I collaborate with other writers?

Projects are currently single-author. There is no real-time collaboration or shared editing. However, you can use export and import to share drafts with collaborators, and inline comments are useful for leaving notes during a review exchange.

What happens to my data if I cancel?

If you cancel a paid subscription, you keep access to all features until the end of your current billing period. After that, your account reverts to the Starter plan. Your projects, drafts, characters, and all other data are preserved — nothing is deleted. You can still access and edit your work, but AI generation will be limited to Starter tier models and your remaining token balance.

Can I change the theme or appearance?

Yes. Genesis Writer includes four visual themes you can switch between in Settings:

• Author's Study — warm cream and soft rose, a light theme inspired by a writer's study.
• Saffron Night — a warm, sunset-toned dark theme.
• Everforest — an earthy, forest-green dark theme.
• Nord Pastel — a cool, arctic-toned dark theme.

Your theme preference is saved to your account and applied across all devices.

Can I export all my data?

Yes. You can export individual drafts as DOCX, PDF, or EPUB from the writer, or export a combined manuscript that merges all your drafts into one file. Your account settings page also has a data export option that downloads all your account data. See Exporting Your Work.