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Author & Live Drafts

Author is Nerve’s AI-powered writing assistant that helps you create, edit, and refine content for any work use case. Combined with Live Draft, it provides a seamless writing and collaboration experience for everything from job descriptions to performance reviews.

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What is Author?

Author is your intelligent writing companion that can:

• Generate content from scratch using natural language prompts
• Adapt tone, style, and format to match your specific needs
• Incorporate context from your existing documents and files
• Follow templates and structural guidelines for consistency

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What is Live Draft?

Live Draft is an interactive document editor that enables:

• Real-time editing and iteration on your drafts
• Collaborative editing with teammates and Nerve
• Version history and change tracking
• Direct export to Google Docs, Notion, Box, Dropbox, and other platforms

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Getting Started

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Creating Your First Draft

Automatic Creation: Live Drafts are created automatically when you ask Nerve to write longer-form content. Manual Creation: Click the “Start Draft” button under any chat or Nerve message to begin a new draft.

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Writing with Author

1. Enter your prompt - Describe what you want to write (e.g., “Write a job description for a product manager”)
2. Add context - Use “Add Content” to include relevant documents, files, or snippets that should inform your draft
3. Apply templates - Use “Template” to set structural or stylistic guidelines for consistent formatting
4. Specify style - Request specific tone, voice, or formatting requirements
5. Review and refine - Edit the generated content in the Live Draft editor

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Understanding Add Content vs Template

• Add Content brings specific documents, files, or snippets as context for your draft. Use this when you want the AI to reference or synthesize information from particular sources
• Template sets structural or stylistic guidelines for your draft. Use this when you want consistency in format or need to follow a specific outline
• Combine both approaches: Add relevant content for context, then apply a template to shape the output structure

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Editing and Collaboration

• Inline Editing: Click anywhere in the draft to make direct changes, just like a regular document editor
• Patch-Based Updates: When requesting changes, Nerve only updates the selected section, making the process faster and more efficient
• Team Collaboration: Share drafts with teammates for feedback and co-editing
• Version Control: View previous versions and see diffs between edits to track changes or revert when needed

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Publishing Your Work

Once your draft is ready, you can:

• Copy in the best format for Google Docs, Notion, Box, Dropbox, or other platforms
• Send drafts via email
• Share unique links with collaborators
• Copy content for use in other applications

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Best Practices

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Effective Writing Workflow

• Start with clear, specific prompts that describe your desired outcome
• Use Add Content strategically to bring in relevant background information, previous documents, or reference materials
• Apply templates for recurring document types to maintain consistency across your organization

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Collaboration Tips

• Iterate frequently using inline edits to quickly improve your drafts
• Leverage version history to monitor changes and collaborate transparently with your team
• Save successful templates and context as Projects for easy reuse across multiple documents

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Content Strategy

• Performance reviews: Add self-assessment documents and use output templates that match your HR system
• Team updates: Create templates that ensure consistent structure and include all necessary information
• Marketing content: Establish brand voice guidelines and use them as templates for all content generation

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Common Use Cases

• Performance Reviews: Combine self-assessment documents with HR-compatible templates for comprehensive, structured reviews
• Team Communications: Draft weekly updates, project status reports, and announcements with consistent formatting
• Marketing Content: Generate blog posts, newsletters, and social media content that matches your brand voice
• Documentation: Create user guides, process documentation, and knowledge base articles
• Proposals and Reports: Draft business proposals, project reports, and analysis documents

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Troubleshooting

• Content not matching expectations? Try being more specific in your prompts and adding more relevant context through Add Content
• Templates not working as expected? Ensure your template follows a clear structure and includes specific formatting guidelines
• Collaboration issues? Check that all team members have appropriate access permissions and that version history is enabled
• Export problems? Verify that your target platform is supported and that you have the necessary permissions to export content

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I collaborate with others in real time? Currently, Live Drafts are individual workspaces, but you can share drafts with others for feedback. How do I revert to a previous version? Use the Version History feature to view and restore older drafts. You can see a complete diff of changes between versions. Can I use my own custom templates? Yes! Add your templates through the Output Template feature or save them as Projects for easy reuse across your organization. What file formats can I export to? Live Draft supports direct export to Google Docs, Notion, Box, Dropbox, and other major platforms, plus standard copy/paste functionality.

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Need Help?

For Author and Live Draft specific questions:

• Contact support at [email protected]
• Join the discussion in your Nerve Slack channel