Core Workflows

Core workflows are a reference for ongoing use. For first-time setup, see Fresh-Vault-Onboarding or Existing-Vault-Onboarding.

Planning Your Novel

• Act Structure: Scenes are organized by act (default 3 acts, configurable in Settings → Acts). Acts come from the scene frontmatter Act: field.
• Subplot Tracking: Each ring represents a different subplot. Keep scenes in a single subplot or spread them across multiple subplots to capture common themes, topics, characters, etc.
• Story Beats: Use story beat systems (Save the Cat, Hero's Journey, Story Grid, or Custom) to lay out the momentum scaffolding. Custom systems let you name beats, assign them to acts, reorder via drag-and-drop, and merge changes into existing files. See Settings#story-beats.
• Backdrop & Micro-backdrops: Mark major plot backdrop events using the special context ring placed below the outer ring in Chronologue mode. For lighter-weight context — eras, seasons, or historical milestones — use micro-backdrop rings configured in Settings with a title, color, and date range.

Creating Scenes

• Book Designer: Use Book Designer to generate a full manuscript scaffold (acts, subplots, optional beat notes).
• Create note…: Command palette → Radial Timeline: Create note….
• Scene options: In the picker, choose Scene and then Basic scene or Advanced scene. Screenplay and podcast scene types are also available in the same flow.

Progress Mode and Tracking Momentum

• Scene Status Colors: In Progress Mode, scenes are color-coded by status: Todo = plaid, Working = pink, Overdue = red, Complete = progress stage color. In Narrative and Chronologue modes, scenes display their subplot color.
• Progress Stages: Track manuscript through Zero → Author → House → Press.
• Completion Estimate Mark: Plugin calculates target completion date based on your recent writing pace. The calculation is most accurate when the Due date is updated to the day of scene completion.

Modes: Progress 1 Settings: Progress stage colors

Exporting a Manuscript

Manuscript export — filter, order, and select a range of scenes

When you're ready to read through your work or send it to an editor, use the Manuscript export command.

1. Open the command palette (Cmd/Ctrl + P) and select Radial Timeline: Manuscript export.
2. Subplot Filter: Optionally filter to compile only scenes from a specific subplot.
3. Order: Choose from Narrative, Chronological, Reverse Narrative, or Reverse Chronological ordering.
4. TOC: Select Markdown, Plain Text, or No Table of Contents.
5. Range: Use the drag-bar slider to visually select a specific range of scenes to include (useful for generating a single act or particular range of scenes).
6. Output: A new file is created in the Export folder (default Radial Timeline/Export) containing the compiled text of all selected scenes.

Export Options Reference

The export modal offers two categories: Manuscripts (full scene content) and Outlines (YAML metadata only).

Type	Preset	Formats	Works Out of Box?	Setup Required
Manuscript	Novel	MD, PDF	✅ Markdown	Pandoc for PDF
Manuscript	Screenplay	MD, PDF	⚠ Partial	Pre-formatted scenes + Pandoc + LaTeX template
Manuscript	Podcast	MD, PDF	⚠ Partial	Pre-formatted scenes + Pandoc + LaTeX template
Outline	Beat Sheet	MD	✅ Yes	None
Outline	Episode Rundown	MD	✅ Yes	None
Outline	Shooting Schedule	MD	✅ Yes	None
Outline	Index Cards	CSV, JSON	✅ Yes	None

Manuscript exports read the full body content of your scene files — the actual prose, dialogue, or script. They strip YAML frontmatter and Obsidian comments, then assemble everything under scene headings with a table of contents. Markdown export works immediately. PDF requires Pandoc (and LaTeX for PDF).

Outline exports read only YAML metadata — When, Subplot, Runtime, Words, Synopsis. They never touch the body text. All outline formats work out of the box with no external tools.

Scene Formatting Requirements

Novel preset: Works with any prose. No special formatting needed — just write your scenes.

Screenplay preset: Scenes must already use screenplay formatting conventions:

INT. COFFEE SHOP - DAY

JANE enters, scans the room.

                    MIKE
          You must be Jane.

Podcast preset: Scenes must already use podcast script formatting:

[SEGMENT: INTRODUCTION - 0:00]

HOST: Welcome back to the show.

[SFX: Theme music fades]

GUEST: Thanks for having me.

All outline presets: No body formatting required — they export structured metadata only.

Setting Up Pandoc Export

For PDF output:

1. Install Pandoc — download from pandoc.org
2. Install LaTeX (for PDF) — MacTeX on macOS, MiKTeX on Windows
3. Auto-detect: Go to Settings → Publishing → Export & Pandoc and click Scan to find installations automatically
4. Generate samples: Click Generate Samples to create sample scene files and LaTeX templates in Radial Timeline/Export/Templates/. Template paths are auto-configured.

Zero Draft Mode

Prevents edits to completed zero-draft scenes. Click completed scene → modal for pending edits → save ideas for later revision. Keeps you progressing to new scenes instead of endlessly revising. See the Settings for details.

Zero Draft modal — capture edit ideas without breaking flow

Settings: → Radial Timeline → Zero draft mode