What are workspace templates?
A template is a starting structure for a new workspace: its folders, documents, and settings, ready to fill in. Use one of Scribeist's templates to get going quickly, or save a workspace you've set up the way you like and reuse it for every new project.
Note
Available in: All plans
Finding templates
To open templates: On your dashboard, click Templates next to Import.
You can also click Or start from a template when creating a new workspace.
The Templates page has two tabs:
- Yours - Templates you've saved
- Scribeist - Ready-made templates for common kinds of writing
Scribeist templates
Scribeist templates give you structure and guidance, not example stories. Placeholder documents tell you what to write and what to rename.
| Template | Workspace type | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| Fiction | Book | A three-act novel with twelve chapters, a beat sheet, Mythos profiles, a story timeline, and plot and character canvases |
| Fantasy | Book | A hero's journey manuscript, a worldbuilding bible, Mythos categories for magic systems, factions, artifacts, and creatures, and story canvases |
| Mystery & Thriller | Book | A case file, suspect and clue trackers, a fair-play reveal, Mythos categories for clues and red herrings, and a timeline |
| Romance | Book | Sixteen chapters across the four phases of a romance, both leads in Mythos, a beat sheet, and a POV tracker |
| Short Stories | Book | A folder for each story, a story planner, a collection concept, a submission tracker, and a pipeline canvas |
| Non-fiction | Book | Your reader promise, argument and outline, a three-part manuscript with front and back matter, sources, citations, and an argument map |
| Research & Thesis | General | Thesis chapters, research question and scope, a literature matrix, supervisor meeting notes, milestones, and citations |
| Blog | Blog | Content pillars, an idea-to-published pipeline, SEO post briefs, site linking, and a content calendar canvas |
| Notes & Journal | General | Quick capture, daily notes, projects, reference material, a brainstorm canvas, and a task board |
| Newsletter | Blog | A repeatable issue layout, drafts and sent folders, a welcome email, an ideas file, and a growth tracker |
| Articles & Essays | General | A pitch template and tracker, an essay structure, interview notes, and fact-checking |
Starting a workspace from a template
Click Use next to any template. Your new workspace opens in a new tab, ready to rename and fill in.
The new workspace takes its name, cover, and description from the template. The description appears under the workspace name on your dashboard, and you can change it anytime in Workspace Settings → General.
The new workspace is completely separate from the template. Changing one never affects the other.
Saving your own template
Set up a workspace once, with your folders, planning documents, statuses, and settings, then save it as a template to start every similar project the same way.
From inside a workspace: Click the ⋮ menu in the workspace top bar → Save as template
From the Templates page: Click Create template → choose a workspace
Give your template a title and an optional description, then choose what to include.
What's always included
- Folder and document names and how they're organized
- The workspace type (Book, Blog, or General)
- Your font, content language, book type, and document statuses
What you can choose to include
- Document content and layout - Your writing and formatting. Leave this off to keep the structure and start with empty documents.
- Canvases - Every canvas with its cards, links, and images
- Research library - Your sources and research notes
- All workspace settings - Every setting, including AI and integration preferences
Book workspaces can also include:
- Timelines and calendars, and optionally their Event images
- Mythos entities - Characters, locations, and other entries with their profiles and relationships
Trash, comments, and version history are never included.
Choosing a cover
Open Customize cover to pick a cover design and color, or upload your own photo. New workspaces made from the template start with this cover.
Managing your templates
Your templates appear on the Yours tab, newest first. Click the ⋮ next to a template to:
- Edit - Change its title, description, or cover
- Delete - Remove the template. Workspaces you already created from it aren't affected.
Templates are a snapshot of the workspace when you saved them. To include later changes, save the workspace as a new template.
Next steps
- Workspaces Overview → - The different workspace types
- Document Statuses → - Track where each document is in your process