Timeline & Storyboard
Learn how to visualize your book's narrative structure and chronological order using the Timeline and Storyboard features.
The Timeline View
The Timeline feature allows you to view the events of your book from two completely different perspectives: Chronological and Narrative. This is crucial for stories that use non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or multiple intertwining narratives.
Chronological vs. Narrative Order
Narrative Order (How the Reader experiences it)
This is the literal sequence of scenes as they appear in your manuscript. When you choose Narrative Order, the system sorts your scenes purely by Chapter Number first, and then by Scene Order within that chapter.
Chronological Order (How Time experiences it)
This views your scenes mathematically based on when they occur in the timeline universe. It ignores what chapter a scene is in, and sorts them exclusively by the time-based fields on your Scene Form:
- Timeline Position: The primary integer anchor (e.g., 1, 4, 15). Lower numbers represent earlier occurrences in time.
- Timeline Offset: The granular decimal shift (e.g., +2.5 hours) relative to the primary position.
Note: If a scene is missing a timeline position entirely, it acts as a fallback and is automatically sorted to the very end of the chronological list!
Grouping Your Timeline
Once your scenes are sorted into a giant list (via Chronological or Narrative order), you can choose how to visually group them into buckets.
- No Grouping: Displays your sorted list continuously.
- By Chapter: Groups the scenes based on their assigned chapter. Note: If you have Chronological sorting enabled, the chapter groups might appear out of numerical sequence depending on when their collective scenes actually occur in the timeline!
- By Day (Timeline Label): Groups the scenes based exactly on the text you typed into the Timeline Label field on the scene form (e.g., "Monday Morning", "The Great Battle"). If a scene has no label, it gets grouped under "Unspecified Time".
The Storyboard View
The Storyboard offers a card-based visual layout of a single chapter. It provides an at-a-glance view of:
- POV Character: Easily track whose perspective the scene follows through color-coded borders.
- Location: See where the scene takes place.
- Status: Identify if a scene is Draft, In Progress, or Complete.
Rearranging Scenes
You can drag and drop your scene cards directly within the Storyboard! This action will automatically recalculate and update their Scene Order values behind the scenes, ensuring your Narrative Order stays perfectly intact.