Scene Features

Scene features hold what you write and track for each scene. You fill them in in the scene's Edit Window: click a scene in any view to open it. They show in the Timeline, Cards and Page views (in the Page view, on the scene cards of its Overview) and in the Slideshow. Most also show in the Stats view's scene panel, which opens when you click a scene's bar in a chart.

Features are installed per story, and your story's own word for a scene may be Chapter or Beat. The story's owner and editors add or remove features in Advanced Settings › Layout, where each view and the Scene editor has its own layout (see Managing Features). The lists below say where each feature shows by default.

Story Beat

A dropdown menu at the top of the scene's Edit Window (Add Story Beat) for marking the scene's key moment. Pick a beat from one of the frameworks listed (Conventional, Save the Cat, Story Circle, Story Maps, Turn & Burn, Hero's Journey), or choose Custom Text… to name your own. The Color swatches at the top of the menu set its color.

The beat always shows in the top row of the Timeline, under the act names. It can also show in the Cards and Page views, the Slideshow and the Home view's scene slides.

Add to Slideshow (required)

The slideshow button at the top of the scene's Edit Window. It reads In Slideshow when the scene is in the Slideshow and Add to Slideshow when it isn't. See Toggle Slideshow Visibility.

Images (required)

An image gallery in the scene's Edit Window for adding images to your scenes and setting one as the Primary image. The primary image, or the first one if none is primary, appears in the Timeline, Cards and Page views, the Slideshow and the Home view's scene slides. See Add Scene Images.

Heading

A text input in the scene's Edit Window for a short heading. It shows at the top of the scene in the Timeline, Cards and Page views and the Slideshow.

Body

A text editor for the scene's content, with different text formats (such as Scene Heading, Action and Dialogue in a screenplay). To choose which formats you can use, open the format menu in the editor's toolbar and choose More… (see Add Text Formats). Body content appears in the Timeline, Cards and Page views and the Slideshow, and it's what the Page view's Text Editor shows as one script.

Summary

A text box in the scene's Edit Window for adding a summary. The summary displays in the Timeline, Cards and Page views and the Slideshow. When you export to Final Draft, it becomes the scene's summary by default.

Theme

A multiple choice list in the scene's Edit Window for describing how the story's theme is addressed: Explored, Challenged, Stated or Symbolized. The choice appears in the Timeline, Cards and Page views.

Notes

A text box in the scene's Edit Window for adding notes. Notes display in the Timeline, Cards and Page views and the Slideshow. When you export to Final Draft, they become ScriptNotes by default.

Characters

A section in the scene's Edit Window listing the characters in the scene, with a menu to add existing characters or make a new one (see When Editing a Scene). Depending on the story's Automation setting, characters are also added for you when they speak or are named in the scene's action (see Automation).

A scene's characters appear in the Timeline, Cards and Page views and the Slideshow.

Tone -/+

A value slider in the Dynamics section of the scene's Edit Window for setting a value from -100 (negative) to 100 (positive). The tone shows in the Timeline as a bar for each scene, so the row reads as a chart across the story, and in the Cards and Page views as a colored gauge.

The screenplay importer can fill in each scene's tone for you.

Emotions

A tags input in the Dynamics section of the scene's Edit Window (the Emotion Tags feature) for the emotions felt in each scene. Type an emotion and press Enter or a comma to add it. The emotions display in the Timeline, Cards and Page views and the Slideshow.

The story's Emotions feature collects every scene's emotions into one list on the Home view.

Plot Threads

A search field in the scene's Edit Window for finding plot threads, creating new ones, and adding the scene's story events to them (see Add a Plot Thread). Plot threads run as tracks along the Timeline, and show as the scene's story events in the Cards and Page views.

Stats Charts

These features add a chart to the Stats view. You add or remove them on the Story Stats layout.

• Settings Breakdown: how many scenes are INT., EXT. or I/E., and at what time of day, read from the scene headings.
• Word Count: a bar for each scene's Body word count.
• Theme Overview: how often the theme is Explored, Challenged, Stated or Symbolized.
• Tone Overview: of all the changes in tone from one scene to the next, how much went up and how much went down. You can rename Up and Down in the tone's settings (see Advanced Settings).
• Tone Bar Chart: each scene's tone as a bar.
• Characters Per Scene: a bar for the number of characters in each scene.
• Plot Threads: a row for each plot thread, marking the scenes that have its story events.

From Templates

Some templates come with extra scene features. If your story has one, it's listed under Custom Features in the Layout tab, where you can move it or remove it. Once it's removed entirely, it can't be added back.

Dynamics Gauges

Value sliders in the Dynamics section of the scene's Edit Window, one each for Action, Humor, Emotion and Tension. Action, Humor and Tension go from 0 to 100; Emotion goes from -100 to 100, like Tone. Like Tone, each shows in the Timeline as a bar for each scene, and in the Cards and Page views as a colored gauge.

Each gauge comes with a bar chart for the Stats view (Action Bar Chart, Humor Bar Chart, Emotion Bar Chart, Tension Bar Chart), and Emotion also with an Emotion Overview that works like the Tone Overview.

Duration

A text input for the scene's estimated length. It shows in the Timeline, and at the top of the scene in the Cards and Page views and the Slideshow.

Try/Fail Cycle

Two text boxes in the Try/Fail Cycle section: Attempt (how does the character attempt to get what they want?) and Outcome (did they succeed, and what is the result?). Both show in the Timeline, Cards and Page views and the Slideshow.

PASTO

CJ Walley's method for tracking the steps your characters take to get what they want in each scene. Five text boxes in the PASTO section ask how the characters prepare (Preparation), how they come into conflict (Action), how the conflict becomes more challenging (Struggle), what the reversal or revelation is (Turnaround), and what the outcome and new goal are (Outcome). They show in the Timeline.

Problems & Solutions

A text box for the problems the characters face in the scene, and the solutions a product or organization provides. It shows in the Timeline, Cards and Page views and the Slideshow.

Analysis

A text box for recording your analysis of each scene, useful when breaking down an existing work. It shows in the Timeline, Cards and Page views and the Slideshow.

Tag Lists

Tags inputs for Features & Benefits (tag a feature or benefit when the scene demonstrates it), Keywords, Key Concepts and Tags. Type a tag and press Enter or a comma to add it. The tags show in the Timeline, Cards and Page views and the Slideshow. The matching story feature gathers them on the Home view (see Tag Lists).

Tips/Guidance

A text box in the Guidance section for tips or instructions about a scene, useful when others will write it. It shows in the Timeline.

Custom

These are the kinds of scene feature you can create yourself (see Managing Features). You name each one when you create it and choose the views it shows in.

Text Input

A custom text box in the scene's Edit Window that displays its content in the Timeline, Cards and Page views and the Slideshow.

Select Input

A custom dropdown menu in the scene's Edit Window that displays the selected value in the Timeline, Cards and Page views and the Slideshow. You type its options, one per line, when you create it. A Pie Chart can show how your scenes split across them.

Tags Input

A custom tags input in the scene's Edit Window: type a tag and press Enter or a comma to add it. The tags display in the Timeline, Cards and Page views and the Slideshow.

Range Input

A value slider in the scene's Edit Window, going from 0 to 100 or from -100 to 100, with colors you choose, and your own names for its ups and downs if you like. The value is displayed in the Timeline as a bar for each scene, and in the Cards and Page views as a colored gauge. A Range Chart or Bar Chart can track it in the Stats view.