Elsewhen
For novelists who build worlds

A studio for the worlds you write

Elsewhen keeps your manuscript, world codex, maps and timeline together in one calm desktop app. The AI muse is optional, and can run privately on your own PC.

Coming soon to Windows 10 & 11. Get an email the day it launches.

One email when Elsewhen is ready. Never shared, never sold. Privacy

The Elsewhen writing view: chapters and scenes on the left, a manuscript page where character and place names link to the codex, and a scene inspector on the right.
Buy it onceOne payment, yours to keep. No subscription, ever.
Your files, your PCEach book is one file you own, with autosave and rolling backups.
Works offlineWriting, maps and every generator work without an internet connection.
AI only if you want itFree local models or your own key. Nothing is sent unless you ask.
The manuscript

A page that knows your world

Write in a quiet, book-like editor while Elsewhen keeps track of everything around it. Type a character's name and it links to their codex entry. Open a scene and the inspector shows who is in it, whose point of view it is, and where it happens.

  • Chapters and scenes with status, POV, labels and synopses, plus a corkboard and an outline.
  • A prose check that highlights adverbs, passive voice, filter words, echoes and clichés. It only suggests; it never rewrites.
  • Daily goals, streaks and sprints, snapshots of every draft, focus and typewriter modes, and five themes.
  • Export to Word in standard manuscript format, PDF, HTML, Markdown or text, or print a World Bible of your codex.
Close-up of a scene: codex names are underlined in the text, and the inspector lists the people and places that appear in it.
The map maker

From the coastline to the back alley

Generate a world in seconds, then make it yours: raise mountains, carve rivers, pour in lava or ice, and place towns, ruins and shrines. When the story moves indoors, double-click a city to map its districts, streets, walls and buildings.

The map maker showing a generated parchment-style world map with forests, mountains, rivers, towns and a compass rose.
A city map of Oldbury Landing with walls, a river, named districts, streets, fields and hundreds of buildings.
Double-click a city on your world map to open its street plan.

Five styles

Parchment, Vintage, Atlas, Ink and Arcane, with relief shading, coast ripples, a scale bar and a compass rose. Export a PNG for your book.

Cities and regions

Zoom into any region or settlement for a detailed map of its own, linked back to the world it belongs to, with dozens of building and landmark icons.

Drawn from your story

Optional: let the AI muse read your manuscript and codex, then place your realms, cities and landmarks on a new world.

Worldbuilding

Everything about your world, in one place

Characters, places, factions, magic, faiths and history live in the codex, and turn up wherever you need them.

A character entry in the World Codex with details, personality, motivation, relationships, scene appearances and timeline events.
Templates for characters, places, factions, artifacts, creatures, magic, religions, cultures and lore. Every entry shows its relationships, the scenes it appears in and its moments on the timeline.
For the blank-page days

Never stuck for a name or an idea

Name Forge showing two dozen generated Old Anglic character names.
29 kinds of names · 23 cultures

Name Forge

Names built from the sounds of each culture, so they feel like they belong to the same world. Characters, noble houses, gods, dragons, cities, taverns, ships, spells and more, and every one is new.

Idea Forge showing a generated villain with archetype, motive, lair, weakness and signature look.
83 generators

Idea Forge

Plot hooks, twists, villains, quests, heists, prophecies, settlements, magic systems and dozens more. Roll until something sparks, then send it straight to your codex.

The AI muse

An assistant that works for your book

Highlight a passage and right-click to describe, expand, tighten or continue it. Ask about the scene you're in without leaving the page. Fill in a codex entry, find names that fit your world, or describe a place on your map. The muse reads your scene and your world notes, so its answers fit your story.

Ollama · free and privateClaudeGeminiGroqOpenRouterMistralLM StudioAny OpenAI-compatible API
Your words stay yours. Elsewhen has no servers that see your writing. Local models run entirely on your PC; cloud models are called directly with your own key. Don't want AI? Don't set it up. Everything else works without it.
The Muse panel beside the manuscript, answering a request for three sensory details about the city gate at dusk, using a local model.

Coming from Sudowrite or Word?

Import a Sudowrite project with its Story Bible, or bring in Word, Markdown and text files. Chapters arrive as scenes, and characters and places as codex entries.

How importing works
Pricing

Pay once. Keep it forever.

No subscription and no account. Try every feature free for 14 days first.

Elsewhen
$49one-time
  • Every feature: writing, codex, maps, forges, timeline and the AI muse
  • A year of updates, installed automatically
  • Use it on up to 3 of your computers
  • Keep your version forever, even if you never renew

Prices in USD. Sales tax or VAT is added at checkout where it applies. 30-day refunds.

1

Try it for 14 days

Download and use everything. No card, no sign-up. When the trial ends your work stays readable and exportable.

2

Buy once

Paste your license key into Settings and the trial becomes yours for good.

3

A year of updates

New versions install themselves for a year. After that, keep what you have, or add another year for $25 whenever you like.

Questions

Good to know

Is this a subscription?

No. You pay once and Elsewhen is yours. A year of updates is included; after that, the app keeps working forever on the version you have.

If you want newer versions later, add another year for $25 whenever you like. You'll get every update you missed, plus a year of new ones.

What happens when the trial ends?

Elsewhen becomes read-only. You can still open, read and export every project, but you can't edit until you enter a license key. Nothing is ever deleted.

Do I have to pay for AI?

No. The AI muse is optional, and we never charge for it. You can run a free model on your own PC with Ollama, use a free API key from Google AI Studio, or use your own key with Claude, OpenRouter, Groq, Mistral or any OpenAI-compatible service, and pay them directly.

Is my writing used to train AI?

Not by us. We never receive your writing. With a local model, nothing leaves your PC. With a cloud provider, the text you send goes straight to that provider under their terms, and policies differ: Google's free Gemini tier, for example, may use what you send to improve its products, while paid API plans generally don't. If that matters to you, use a local model.

Where is my writing stored?

On your computer. Each project is a single .lore file in a folder you choose. Elsewhen saves a moment after every change and keeps rolling backups. Nothing is uploaded anywhere.

Does it need the internet?

Only to activate your license and to download updates. Writing, maps and the generators all work offline. Your license is re-checked now and then when you're online, and being offline never locks you out.

How many computers can I use it on?

Up to 3 at a time. Getting a new PC? Go to Settings → License & updates → Deactivate on this computer, then activate on the new one.

Can I bring my Sudowrite project?

Yes. In Sudowrite, export your project as a .zip or a merged .docx, and export the Story Bible's Characters, Worldbuilding and Outline as .csv. Then in Elsewhen choose Project menu → Import. Word, Markdown and text files work too.

Is there a Mac, iPad or iPhone version?

Not yet. Elsewhen runs on Windows 10 and 11.

What if it's not for me?

Email us within 30 days of buying for a full refund. See the refund policy.

else·when
adverb
1.At some other time.
2.Where your story is waiting.

Your world is out there somewhere. Start writing it down.

One email when Elsewhen is ready. Never shared, never sold. Privacy