📖 Creative Writing LaTeX Framework

A beginner-friendly LaTeX template for writing novels, with automatic version control between original and edited drafts.

Perfect for authors who want professional-quality book formatting without learning complex LaTeX commands.

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✨ Features

• Simple Setup — Edit a few clearly-marked files to configure your book
• Original/Edited Workflow — Write in "Original" files, let editors work in "Edited" files, switch between versions with one setting
• Multiple Book Formats — Instantly switch between A5 novel, A4 draft, US Letter, 6×9 trade paperback, or 5×8 pocket book
• Chapter Parts System — Break long chapters into manageable parts
• Professional Styling — Drop caps, scene breaks, character dialogue formatting built-in

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🚀 Quick Start for Authors

Step 1: Get Your Own Copy

Option A: Fork on GitHub (Recommended)

1. Click the Fork button at the top-right of this page
2. This creates your own copy under your GitHub account
3. Clone your fork to your computer (see below)

Option B: Use as Template

1. Click the green "Use this template" button
2. Name your new repository (e.g., "MyNovel")
3. Clone to your computer

Option C: Download ZIP

1. Click the green "Code" button → Download ZIP
2. Extract to a folder on your computer
3. (Optional) Create a new GitHub repository and upload the files

Step 2: Clone to Your Computer

git clone https://github.com/Burve/CreativeWritingLaTeXFramework.git

Or use GitHub Desktop for a visual interface.

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🛠️ Required Software

1. LaTeX Distribution

Install a LaTeX distribution for your operating system:

OS	Recommended Distribution
Windows	MiKTeX or TeX Live
macOS	MacTeX
Linux	TeX Live (sudo apt install texlive-full)

2. Code Editor with LaTeX Support

Recommended: Visual Studio Code with the LaTeX Workshop extension.

Installing LaTeX Workshop:

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. Search for "LaTeX Workshop"
4. Click Install

Building Your Book:

• Open main.tex in VS Code
• Press Ctrl+Alt+B to build (or save the file — it auto-builds)
• The PDF appears in the same folder

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📁 Project Structure

YourNovel/
├── Author/                      ← 📝 YOU EDIT THESE
│   ├── book-settings.tex        ← Title, author, format settings
│   ├── chapters.tex             ← List of your chapters
│   └── frontmatter.tex          ← Characters, dedication, etc.
│
├── Chapters/                    ← 📝 YOUR CHAPTER CONTENT
│   ├── chapter1.tex             ← Chapter definition (title, parts)
│   ├── chapter2.tex
│   └── Parts/
│       ├── Original/            ← Your original writing
│       │   ├── ch01_part01.tex
│       │   └── ch02_part01.tex
│       └── Edited/              ← Editor's corrections
│           ├── ch01_part01.tex
│           └── ch02_part01.tex
│
├── Commands/                    ← ⚙️ Mostly system files
│   ├── characters.tex           ← 📝 YOUR character name shortcuts
│   └── additional_commands.tex  ← 📝 Add custom styling commands
│
├── Context/                     ← 📋 Reference materials (notes, profiles)
└── main.tex                     ← ⚙️ System file (don't edit)

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📝 How to Use

Configure Your Book

Edit Author/book-settings.tex:

% Your book's title
\def\bookTitle{My Amazing Novel}

% Author name
\def\bookAuthor{Your Name}

% Page format: a5novel, a4paper, usletter, 6x9book, 5x8book
\def\pageFormat{a5novel}

% Version: "edited" or "original"
\def\chapterVersion{edited}

Add Chapters

1. Create chapter content in Chapters/Parts/Original/:

   • Copy an existing file like ch01_part01.tex
   • Rename it (e.g., ch02_part01.tex)
   • Write your content

2. Create chapter definition in Chapters/:

   • Copy chapter1.tex → chapter2.tex
   • Update the chapter name and part references

3. Register the chapter in Author/chapters.tex:

   \subfile{Chapters/chapter1.tex}
   \subfile{Chapters/chapter2.tex}

Writing Content

In your chapter part files (Chapters/Parts/Original/ch01_part01.tex), you can use:

% Regular paragraph
This is normal narrative text.

% Character dialogue
\say{Alice}{Hello, how are you?}
\say{Bob}[whispering]{I'm fine, thanks.}

% Character thoughts
\thought{Alice}{I wonder what he's hiding.}

% Scene break
\sceneBreak

% Sound effect
\sfx{BOOM!}

Character Name Shortcuts

Define shortcuts for character names in Commands/characters.tex:

% Define character shortcuts
\NewDocumentCommand{\mc}{}{Alice}      % Main character
\NewDocumentCommand{\villain}{}{Lord Darkness}
\NewDocumentCommand{\sidekick}{}{Bob}

Then use them in your writing:

\mc{} walked into the room. \say{\villain}{I've been expecting you.}

Custom Commands

Add your own styling commands or paste commands from external sources in Commands/additional_commands.tex. This file already includes useful commands like \sceneBreak and \sfx{}.

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🔄 Original vs Edited Workflow

This framework supports a dual-file workflow for authors and editors:

1. Author writes in Chapters/Parts/Original/ files
2. Editor copies the file to Chapters/Parts/Edited/ and makes corrections
3. When compiling, the system automatically uses:
   • Edited version (if it exists)
   • Original version (as fallback)

To force using only original files, change in Author/book-settings.tex:

\def\chapterVersion{original}

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💾 Saving Your Work with Git

Git tracks all changes to your book, letting you:

• See what changed and when
• Restore previous versions
• Collaborate with editors

Basic Commands

# Save your progress
git add .
git commit -m "Finished chapter 3"

# Push to GitHub
git push

# Get latest changes (if collaborating)
git pull

Using GitHub Desktop

1. Open GitHub Desktop
2. Your changes appear automatically
3. Write a summary (e.g., "Added chapter 3")
4. Click Commit to main
5. Click Push origin

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📐 Available Page Formats

Format	Size	Best For
a5novel	148×210 mm	Novels, fiction (default)
a4paper	210×297 mm	Drafts, manuscripts
usletter	8.5×11 in	US standard printing
6x9book	6×9 in	Trade paperbacks
5x8book	5×8 in	Pocket books

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❓ Troubleshooting

PDF not generating?

• Make sure you have a LaTeX distribution installed
• In VS Code, check the "Output" panel → LaTeX Workshop for errors

Missing packages?

• MiKTeX will prompt to install missing packages automatically
• TeX Live: run tlmgr install <package-name>

Characters look wrong?

• Ensure your file is saved as UTF-8 encoding

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📄 License

This template is free to use for your creative projects. Modify it as you wish!

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🌐 Community

Need help? Want to connect with other authors using this framework?

Join the Burve Story Lab community on Skool! It's a space for:

• Getting help with setup and troubleshooting
• Sharing tips and workflows
• Discussing creative writing and LaTeX formatting
• Connecting with fellow authors

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🤝 Contributing

Found a bug or have an improvement? Pull requests are welcome!