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Lesson 5 of 9

Plan your story

Give scenes a synopsis and point of view, then see the whole book on the corkboard and in the planner.

You don't need prose to have a book. In this lesson you'll give your scenes a synopsis, a point of view and a location, then step back and see the whole story at once: as index cards on the corkboard, and in the planner, which shows what happens when, and to whom.

Whether you plan everything first or discover the story as you write, these views are worth a look every few chapters.

What you'll do

  • Plan a scene without writing it.
  • Lay your scenes out on the corkboard.
  • Use the planner to follow each character through the book.
  • Filter by point of view and status.

1. Plan a scene

Open a scene and tap … (Scene details). On a wide window the same fields sit in a panel beside the editor.

Field What it's for
Synopsis What happens, in a line. It shows wherever the scene is listed.
Point of view Whose eyes we see it through: pick a character from your lorebook.
Location Where it happens: pick a place.
When The in-world date, for the timeline (see Time and history).
Scene details with a synopsis, point of view and location

A good synopsis says what changes in the scene, not just what's in it:

Weak:   Kaela and Oren walk across the Salt Marches.
Strong: Kaela learns Oren was once a cantor, and stops trusting him.

2. See the book as cards

On the manuscript, switch Show scenes as from List to Cards. Each scene becomes an index card with its title, synopsis, status, word count, point-of-view character and date, grouped by chapter.

The corkboard: a row of index cards for each chapter
Drag cards to rearrange scenes, in a chapter or between chapters.

With a mouse or trackpad, drag a card to move the scene. With a keyboard, focus a card and press Alt ↑ or Alt ↓. On a touch screen, use Reorder, which you'll meet in Shape your book.

3. Open the planner

Switch Show scenes as to Plan for a bird's-eye view. The planner has two layouts.

Characters

Chapters run across the top, with their act and synopsis. Characters run down the side. Every scene appears in the row of each character it involves, either as the point of view (marked ★) or because they're mentioned in it. Read along a row to follow one character's thread through the book.

The planner's Characters layout: chapters across, characters down, scene cards in the cells
Empty cells are worth a look: a character who vanishes for three chapters might be a problem, or a mystery.

This is where questions surface on their own:

  • Does your antagonist appear early enough?
  • Is one character carrying every chapter while another drifts?
  • Do two threads ever meet?

On a phone, scroll the grid sideways to see more chapters:

The planner on a phone

Chapters

Switch to Chapters for a column per chapter, with its synopsis and each scene's synopsis, point of view, place and date.

The planner's Chapters layout: a column per chapter

Tap any scene in either layout to open it.

4. Filter by point of view or status

The All POVs and All statuses filters narrow the list, the cards and the planner. Choose one character to read their chapters in order, or Outline to see what's left to draft.

Try it

Next

Now give the book its shape, with acts, a prologue and chapters in the right order: Shape your book.

Go deeper: Planning and the corkboard · Writing a manuscript

Writing advice: First person or third?