Plot points & planning views

What belongs in a plan

A plot point is an authored description of something that happens or should happen. A plot line connects related points across the book. A chapter can have several points, and an unassigned point can wait until you know where it belongs.

Planning does not add words to the manuscript. Research belongs in World Notes; chapter summaries belong in Synopsis; plot points describe the intended movement of the story.

Plan a chapter

1. Open Plan from the sidebar (Ctrl/Cmd+2). The board shows the book named in the path along the top; choose that name to switch books.
2. Choose By plot line under Views in the sidebar (or in the page header when the sidebar is collapsed), then use Plot line to draw the lines you need. Give them names that explain what they track, such as The missing brother or The darkening city.
3. Add a plot point in the appropriate chapter and lane: hover an empty cell and choose Plot point, or use Plot point on the chapter’s row in Outline. Write its title and a short description of what happens.
4. Keep undecided ideas under Unassigned plot points. Drag a point onto a chapter when the story has a place for it.
5. Return to that chapter and open Chapter context to read the same point in Chapter plan while writing.

Choose the view for the question

• Outline reads chapter by chapter in manuscript order, keeping synopses and planned points together.
• By plot line puts each plot line in its own lane across the chapters, so a thread that disappears for too long is easy to see.
• By entity is a lens over associations. An entity lane and a plot line are not the same kind of record, and the cards are not copied into it.
• Plan connections, the panel on the right, shows the plot line, beat, and chapters of whatever you select on the board.
• Find a chapter narrows the board. Clear it before concluding that a point or chapter has disappeared.

Move with intent

The whole card is the drag handle: the first click selects a card, and a second click places the caret in its text. Dragging a point can change the chapter or plot line represented by its destination, so read the lane and chapter labels before dropping, then check the result.

Each move reports what it did with an Undo action; use it after a mistaken organizational change. Before a large rearrangement, export a World copy so you also have an independent checkpoint.