--- title: "Try one session with your existing notes" description: "Try Storywright with the notes for one game: review imported entries, protect GM secrets, run the session, and leave players a brief. Includes a fictional worked example." last_updated: 2026-10-08 --- # Try one session with your existing notes Plain-text Markdown mirror of [https://storywright.io/guides/try-one-session](https://storywright.io/guides/try-one-session). Bring the notes you need for your next game, run that game, and leave your players a short record. Keep your original notebook or documents while you decide whether Storywright fits your table. **The short answer.** You do not need to move a whole world to try Storywright. Start with one session, two useful entries, and the latest situation. Keep secrets behind the GM screen, record what actually happens, then publish a short recap and check the player view. > This is a fictional Bellwater demonstration, not a customer story or a claim about time saved. The illustration uses demo data in the real interface. You can follow the same steps with a few notes from your own game; no Bellwater template is installed for you. ## 1. Choose one game's worth of notes Pick the next session you expect to run. Copy the current situation, one person the party might meet, one place they might visit, and one unresolved question. Keep the original file unchanged. You can leave older sessions, retired NPCs, maps, and character sheets in their existing tools. Here is the small set of notes we will use. The public information and the unrevealed fact are separate before either goes into an entry: - **Current situation.** The party is in Bellwater after two days of rain. Mira's red skiff is missing from Reedbank Landing. They promised to look for it before the next market tide. - **Mira, boat owner.** Runs small cargo between Bellwater and the upriver farms. Wants her red skiff returned before the next market tide. - **Reedbank Landing.** The lower path is flooded. A torn length of red rope is caught on a post. The night ferryman saw three lanterns upriver. - **GM secret.** Mira recognizes the smugglers' three-lantern signal. The party has not learned this. - **Next choice.** Follow the red rope upriver, or ask the ferryman what he saw before the water rises again. [Use a blank session prep packet](/resources/session-prep-packet) ## 2. Create a world and bring in the active notes Create an account, then use "Bring my notes" if that option is available. If you already have a world and its Import / paste notes action is available, start there. You can also create a blank world and add Mira and Reedbank Landing by hand. This walkthrough works with either path. Paste import proposes entries for you to review; it does not connect to your old tool or keep later changes synchronized. It is a beta feature whose availability can vary. There is no one-click connector that logs into Notion, Obsidian, Kanka, or World Anvil for you, and this is not a ZIP or vault upload. If you choose Pattern parse, put a # heading above each entry, followed by its description. Pattern parsing sends the text to Storywright to read the headings; it does not send those notes to an AI provider. AI parse handles freeform prose when available and uses an AI provider, subject to your account's allowance. Choose the mode before parsing, and leave personal information or material you do not have permission to share out of the paste. - **Check the suggestions.** Keep Mira as a person and Reedbank Landing as a place. Correct spelling and entry types, skip anything you do not need, and remove incorrect suggested connections. - **Check existing entries.** Review whether a suggested name should create a new entry, update one you already have, or be skipped. Similar names do not always mean the same person. - **Confirm what you want to save.** Parsing does not create the entries. Confirm the reviewed list to import it. If a plan limit leaves entries unsaved, check the result before continuing. [Read the import steps and current limits](/manual#import) ## 3. Put the secret behind the GM screen New imported entries start GM-only. Open Mira and Reedbank Landing and review their descriptions before making either public. Put Mira's knowledge of the lantern signal in GM-only notes; her name, work, and missing boat can be public. Do the same check if you created the entries manually. ![Fictional demo entry for Mira in Storywright, showing her missing-boat description in About.](/images/guides/walkthrough-mira.png) Demo illustration: Mira is fictional. Check the public description and GM-only notes separately before sharing an entry with players. Invite players when the shared material is ready. Player accounts are free. Use Preview as player to inspect the shared entries and session material, and open the links you expect them to follow. A secret copied into a public description or recap is still a spoiler, even when the original note is private. [Check a spoiler-safe sharing routine](/guides/spoiler-safe-lore) ## 4. Prepare the first choice, then record what happens Create a session called "The missing boat" with the date of your game. Put the current situation and next choice in its GM notes. Mention Mira and Reedbank Landing with @ so you can open their entries from the notes rather than copying the same descriptions everywhere. During play, record decisions, discoveries, promises, and the place the group stops. Keep possibilities you prepared distinct from events that happened. In our demonstration, the party questions the ferryman, learns the skiff went upriver, and agrees to follow it at dawn. They never inspect the lantern signal. > Session record: The ferryman saw Mira's red skiff being towed upriver. The party promised to leave at dawn. We stopped at Reedbank Landing; the boat is still missing. The players have not learned who uses the lantern signal. ## 5. Leave players a brief they can act on After the game, write a short recap from the events you recorded. If an AI draft is available and you use it, check every name, event, and claimed discovery before publishing. You can write the recap yourself; an AI draft is optional. > Player recap: At Reedbank Landing, the ferryman told you Mira's red skiff had been towed upriver. You promised to help her recover it and agreed to leave at dawn. Next time, you decide how to follow the boat before the next market tide. Keep the lantern secret out of the recap. Publish the checked recap from the session, then use Preview as player to confirm it is readable and its linked entries are public. Before the next game, use the session's player briefing if it is available, or copy the recap and next choice into the free briefing template and share it through your usual group channel. An in-app publication does not mean a Discord message was sent; Discord delivery needs its own setup. [Copy the Previously on briefing template](/resources/previously-on) [Set up Discord recap notifications](/guides/discord-recaps) ## 6. Decide whether to use it for the next game Update Mira's current notes with the promise to leave at dawn and keep the boat marked as missing. Leave the session record as history. Then try finding Mira, the party's last decision, and the next choice without opening your original document. Ask one player to find the recap. Those are concrete checks for whether this setup helps your table. If it fits, bring over the next person or place when you need it. If it does not, keep using your existing notes. Storywright's JSON download is an account export: it includes world metadata and your own journals and annotations, but not world entries, sessions, links, quests, or media. A separate owner-only world content download is awaiting rollout. If Download world content appears in the world's Settings, it can include the written entries, sessions, and other notes the owner can read. It excludes other players' private journals and personal notes, includes media references rather than uploaded files, and has no restore feature. Keep your original notes throughout the trial. [Check current capabilities and account export details](/facts) ## Common questions **Do I have to move all my old notes first?** No. Keep your originals and bring the current situation, a few active entries, and the session you are about to run. Add older material only when you need it. **Can I follow this without AI import?** Yes. Add the two entries manually, or use Pattern parse when the import feature is available. Pattern parsing sends text to Storywright but does not call an AI provider. You can also write the recap and player brief yourself. **What does the account download contain?** The JSON account export includes world metadata and your own journals and annotations, but it leaves out world entries, sessions, links, quests, and media. A separate owner-only world content download is awaiting rollout, with private-player-content and uploaded-file exclusions. Keep your original notes; neither download is a restore file. ## Start with the next game you already plan to run One session and two entries are enough for this example. The Free plan is available without a card, players are free, and a GM Pro trial begins when you create your first world. Check the pricing page for current limits and AI allowances. [See Free plan limits and GM Pro pricing](/pricing) ## Related - [Move existing notes](/guides/move-campaign-notes.md) - [Storywright walkthrough](/guides/storywright-walkthrough.md) - [Prep packet](/resources/session-prep-packet.md) - [What it does](/facts.md) - [Full site index](/sitemap.md)