Timelines

The Timelines section is where you can map out key events and eras relating to your novel. You can use the tool to pin down the order and timing of events and eras, giving you a clear visual reference for your project. You can also link existing scenes and character viewpoint synopses to timelines.

You can get to the Timelines section by clicking the option in the main menu with a calendar icon.

Creating a Timeline

When you first go to the Timelines section it will be blank. To create a new timeline, click the green ‘Add Timeline’ button in the top right.

Enter a title for your timeline. You can also add a description and an image if you wish. All of these details can be amended later. Once you are happy, click ‘Add’.

The timeline will then appear in your overview section. To start work on the timeline, hover over the card, click the three-dot menu and select ‘Open’. Alternatively, you can double click the card.

When you open a new timeline you will see a blank screen with a top menu bar. You can edit the details of your timeline by clicking the ‘pencil’ icon.

To add content to your timeline, you have two options:

• Add a new event or era
• Link an existing scene from your novel

Adding New Events and Eras

To add a new event or era, click the green ‘Add’ button in the top menu and select ‘New Event’ or ‘New Era’. An event is a specific occurrence, while an era is normally considered an important period of time which will include a number of distinct events.

For both options you will then be given the chance to enter a title, a date/time and a description. All of these fields are optional, and there is no pre-determined formatting in the date/time field. This means that if you do not have fixed dates for your events, you can use relative timing, for example ‘One week later’, or ‘The following year’.

Fill out the desired fields and then click ‘Add’. The entry will then appear on your timeline.

Linking Existing Content

As well as adding new events to your timelines, you have the option to link existing scenes from your novel.

To do this, click the green ‘Link Scene’ button in the top menu.

This will bring up a pop-up, where you can choose from your existing scenes. Once you have confirmed your selection, the scene[s] will appear on your timeline.

The little ‘book’ icon indicates that these are linked scene as opposed to native timeline entries. This is important, because any changes you make to the title, date and time or description will also affect those fields where they appear elsewhere in the software (for example, in the Plot Manager and Manuscript sections). For more info, see below.  

Editing, Moving and Deleting Timeline Content

Once you have entries on your timeline, you can edit any one by going into the three-dot menu and selecting ‘Edit’, or by double clicking the entry.

It is important to note that if you make changes to a linked item, these changes will reflect elsewhere in the software, and vice versa (for example, any changes you make to a scene description in a timeline will also be reflected in the Plot Manager, or if you update the scene description in the Plot Manager, this change will also show on your timeline).  

You can easily move any of your timeline entries by dragging and dropping them.

You can delete any of your timeline entries by using the three-dot menu and selecting ‘Delete’ or ‘Remove’. (If the option is ‘Remove’, this is because it is a linked item. Selecting this will simply remove it from the timeline and will not affect the original entry in your novel data.)

Customising the Display

To make navigating your timelines easier, you can customise the size of entries in the display and the amount of information they include. You can do this by using the first two buttons in the top menu bar.

As default, the tool will show timeline entries at ‘Medium’ size, and will be set to show ‘Title and Description’.

To change these settings, click the appropriate button and select the desired option. The display will immediately adjust.

Timelines Overview Section

When you go to the Timeline section, the main area will show an overview of all your timelines. Each timeline is represented by a card, which comprises an image and a brief description (if you have not entered any data these fields will appear blank).

These cards can be dragged and dropped to reorder them.

To change the image on a card, simply click on the image and then choose an image from your computer.

To edit the name of a timeline, hover over the card to make the context menu button (three vertical dots) appear. Click the context menu, then click ‘Open’. (On most platforms you also have the option to double click the card to open it.)

To delete a timeline, select ‘Delete’ from the same menu.