Plan with multiple Story views
Story views do not duplicate or rewrite story records. They read the same local cards and save a particular way of looking at them. A reliable workflow is to create the data first, choose a view second, and save the filters and layout last.
All 11 built-in Story views are included with Free.
1. Prepare recognizable data
- Use built-in templates to create characters, locations, organizations, and events.
- Give cards consistent categories. Add dates, participants, and locations to events.
- Set Parent when records need hierarchy and create explicit relationships when the connection needs a clear meaning.
- Save, then confirm that the local files open from both Project and Search.
A record may be absent from a view when a required date, coordinate, or participant is missing. Do not create duplicate cards to fix an empty view.
2. Match the view to the question
| Question | Recommended view |
|---|---|
| Which fields are missing or inconsistent? | Spreadsheet |
| Can I recognize characters or locations quickly? | Gallery |
| What happens in a particular month or day? | Calendar |
| How does story time progress? | Timeline |
| Do phases, duration, and hierarchy make sense? | Gantt |
| Where do character arcs intersect? | Subway |
| How are characters, organizations, and events connected? | Relationship graph |
| Does the spatial arrangement of locations work? | Map |
| How can I expand outward from the central conflict? | Mindmap |
| How should I cluster clues, research, or revision issues? | Whiteboard |
| How do causes, effects, or choices branch? | Flowchart |
3. Save the view and its controls
Create or duplicate a saved view and give it a purpose-driven name, such as Novel Timeline or Main Character Network. Configure its scope, filters, groups, sorting, fields, and appearance. Close and reopen the Project to confirm that the view returns as expected.
4. Choose browsing or authoring
Review the data before changing it. Turn on the view's authoring state only when you intend to change cards directly. Moving an event, changing coordinates, or editing fields in bulk can update local files, so narrow the filters first.
5. Verify the result
- Every important record opens from at least one view.
- Timeline, Gantt, and Calendar follow the same rules for story time.
- Map coordinates correspond to the background image or coordinate mode.
- Explicit edges in Relationship graph match the relationships in the cards.
- Saved-view names, filters, and sorting return after reopening the Project.
For a complete exercise, see Plan a novel from scratch.