For novelists using Claude
Claude for writing a novel, with the whole book in the chat
Claude is good company for a novelist: a sharp reader that will argue about a character's motives for as long as you like. The trouble is it hasn't read your book.
Pride and Prejudice
Asking your reader
When does Elizabeth learn what Darcy did for Lydia?
In Chapter LI Lydia lets slip that Darcy was at her wedding, and Elizabeth writes to her aunt for an explanation. Mrs. Gardiner's reply in Chapter LII tells her all of it. Darcy tracked the couple down, paid Wickham's debts, settled money on Lydia and bought his commission.
Where pasting runs out
It knows what you pasted
It can't tell you whether chapter nine contradicts chapter two if chapter two isn't there.
A new chat starts cold
A new chat starts from nothing, so you paste it all in again.
Copies go stale
Upload the manuscript to a project, rewrite the middle, and Claude is still reading the old one.
Questions only your book can answer
- When does Mara first lie, and to whom?
- Is the climax set up anywhere before chapter 20?
- Where did I last mention the red car?
- Who's in the room when the letter arrives?
What connecting the book changes
Chapter & Worse is a writing desk that connects to Claude as a connector. Add your book once, and from then on any chat can open it, on your laptop or your phone. Claude reads the manuscript as it stands now, not a copy you made last week.
A very long manuscript can be more than one chat comfortably holds, which is why Claude is told to read the whole thing only when the question needs it, and a chapter or a search when it doesn't.
The five things it can do
- List the books you can open.
- Read the outline: every chapter, in order, with its word count.
- Read one chapter.
- Search for a word or a name, and get every paragraph it appears in, with its chapter.
- Read the whole manuscript, for questions about structure, pacing or an arc.
That's the whole list, and none of them can change anything. Claude can suggest a line in the chat, and you decide whether it goes in.
What you need
A Claude account. No keys to set up and no extra bill to us for what Claude reads. Claude's paid plans take custom connectors, and its free plan allows one.
A Chapter & Worse account: sign in with Google. The first 14 days are free, with no card to enter.
Your book, written here or brought in from Word, Google Docs or a text file.
Using it well
Treat it as a beta reader, not a ghostwriter. Ask what a reader would ask: where does the tension drop, when does she first lie.
Ask it to name the chapter, then go and look.
What your connected Claude reads falls under Anthropic's own privacy terms, and the privacy page covers our side. You can disconnect it at any time.
Bring your worst chapter.
Sign in with Google and start on your book today. The first 14 days are free, and there's no card to enter.
Already have a book here? The same button signs you in.
Or see it on Pride and Prejudice, no sign-in