Writing Tools

Corkboard, Outliner and Timeline

Fleuron has three planning views for your book: the Corkboard (index cards), the Outliner (a table) and the Timeline (when each chapter happens and who is in it). This article shows how to open them, give chapters a synopsis, status and colour label, and move chapters around.

Everything you add here is a note for you. Synopses, statuses, labels and timeline details never appear in your book.

#Opening the planning views

• Click the Corkboard button below your contents list (or press ⌥⌘B).
• Or choose View ▸ Corkboard, View ▸ Outliner or View ▸ Timeline.

Once a view is open, switch between them with the Corkboard, Outliner and Timeline buttons at the top.

To go back to writing, click ✕ at the top right, press Esc, or click a chapter's title to open it in the editor.

#The Corkboard

Each chapter is an index card with its number, title, a synopsis, its status and its word count.

1. Click in a card and type a synopsis: a line or two about what happens.
2. Choose a status from the menu at the bottom of the card.
3. Click a colour swatch to give the card a colour label.

#The Outliner

The Outliner shows the same information as a table, with columns for #, Title, Synopsis, Status, Label and Words. If your Codex has characters, there is also a POV column where you choose whose point of view each chapter is told from.

#The Timeline

The Timeline helps you keep track of when things happen.

• Type in the When column, for example “Day 1, dawn”.
• Choose a point-of-view character in the POV column.
• Each character in your Codex has a column. A dot shows the chapters where they appear, and a ringed dot marks the point-of-view character. Hover over a dot to see how many times they're mentioned.

The Timeline needs characters in the Codex to show who appears where. See The Codex.

#Reordering chapters

Drag a card (on the Corkboard) or a row (in the Outliner or Timeline) to a new place. Your book's chapters move with it, just as if you'd dragged them in the contents list.

#Statuses and colour labels

Each chapter can have one of these statuses: No Status, To Do, First Draft, Revised or Final. The top of the planning views shows a tally, such as “3 First Draft · 2 Revised”, so you can see how far along you are.

Colour labels are None, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple and Gray. Use them however you like: one colour per point of view, per subplot, or for chapters that need work.

You can also set these for the chapter you're working on with Chapter ▸ Status and Chapter ▸ Label. In the contents list, a chapter with a status shows a small dot, and a labelled chapter shows its colour.

#Choosing what to show

Use the menus at the top of the planning views:

• Show: Chapters and parts, All text elements or Everything.
• Status: Any, No status, or one status, to see only those chapters.

The Codex… button opens your Codex.

Note: The Non-fiction workspace hides the Corkboard and Timeline, but the Outliner is always there. See Workspaces.