---
title: "How to move existing campaign notes into Storywright"
description: "Move active notes first, keep your originals, and check names, links, and secrets. Covers manual entry and the paste importer where available."
last_updated: 2026-10-01
---

# How to move existing campaign notes into Storywright

Plain-text Markdown mirror of [https://storywright.io/guides/move-campaign-notes](https://storywright.io/guides/move-campaign-notes).

Start with the people, places, and unfinished jobs you need next session. Keep your old notes nearby while you check the move.

**The short answer.** Copy the latest recap, the people and places the party may visit, and the jobs they have left unfinished. Check names, secrets, links, and dates against your old notes. Then prepare the next game from the new notes to see what you still need to bring over.

## Move what the next session needs

1. **Keep a dated copy.** Duplicate or export your old notes and put the date on the copy. Leave it unchanged so you can check it if two versions disagree.
2. **Write the current situation.** Write where the party is, what changed last time, which problem is urgent, what the players plan to do, and where the next session will start. Five sentences are usually enough.
3. **Bring over the active cast and places.** Add the people, organizations, places, and items likely to matter soon. Give each a recognizable name and a short description of its current situation. Check which parts players can see.
4. **Bring over unfinished jobs.** Add the quests and promises the party is still working on. In Storywright, you can put these in Story Arcs and objectives. Link the people and places involved.
5. **Add recent history, then test it.** Copy the latest recap and any older session you expect to consult. Try preparing the next game from the new notes. If you need an older detail, bring it over then.

## Enough notes for the next game

- **Current situation.** “The party reached Bellwater after exposing the false toll collector. Captain Sera owes them safe passage, but the missing tax chest is still in the marsh. The Lantern Guild wants the chest returned unopened. Orrin plans to search the drowned chapel at dawn. Next game opens at the ferry landing as the river rises.”
- **People and places.** Captain Sera, Orrin, Lantern Guild, Bellwater, drowned chapel, and tax chest.
- **Unfinished jobs.** Recover the chest, learn who hired the collector, and hold Sera to her promise of passage.
- **Recent history.** Session 18 recap and the note where the Guild named its price. That is enough to run before moving twenty retired shopkeepers.

## Check names, secrets, and links

- **Duplicate names.** Decide whether “Sera Vale” and “Captain Vale” are one person before you merge or create anything.
- **Secrets.** Read every player-facing description. A private motive pasted into a public entry is still a spoiler.
- **Connections.** Open each link and check that it points to the right entry. An importer may confuse two people with similar names or titles.
- **Gaps.** Put older material on a “move later” list so it does not hold up the notes you need now.

> Keep your source notes. Storywright does not continuously synchronize with Notion, Obsidian, Kanka, World Anvil, or local files. Its account export includes your own journals and annotations. It does not include world entries, sessions, quests, or media.

[Read the campaign-notes organization guide](/guides/organize-campaign-notes)

[See current product capabilities and limits](/facts)

## Common questions

**Should I import my entire campaign archive at once?**

Usually not. Start with recent sessions, people and places the party might revisit, and unfinished jobs. Prepare one game from those notes, then add older details when you need them.

**Will imported notes stay synchronized with my old tool?**

No. Paste import saves the entries you approve, but later changes in your old tool do not carry across. Once you have checked the move, use Storywright for new updates and keep the old notes as a reference.

## Where Storywright fits

You can add notes by hand. If the beta paste importer is available in your account, it can suggest entries and links from pasted text. Nothing is saved until you review and confirm it.

Check names and entry types, choose what to add or update, skip unwanted entries, and remove incorrect links. New imported entries start GM-only.

The pattern parser reads structured notes without AI. The AI parser can handle freeform notes, with separate availability and allowance limits. Check the suggestions from either parser before saving.

[Read the import chapter in the manual](/manual#import)

## Related

- [Organize campaign notes](/guides/organize-campaign-notes.md)
- [Integrations and companion tools](/guides/storywright-integrations.md)
- [Manual](/manual.md)
- [What it does](/facts.md)
- [Full site index](/sitemap.md)