/scene-craft

Scene Cards

A scene card is the planning unit between a plot beat and a chapter draft: one card per scene, each recording what changes. Use cards when a chapter has multiple POV lines or timelines to braid, or when scenes need reordering before drafting. They are the cheapest place to fix structure — reordering cards costs minutes; reordering drafted scenes costs days.

Card contents

One card per scene, with exactly these fields:

• Scene id: chapter-{NN}-scene-{NN} (matches the scenes/ record id)
• POV: who carries the scene
• Location: where
• Start state: the situation, the POV character's emotional state, and the open question at the scene's beginning — one line each
• Change: what shifts by the scene's end (plot fact, relationship, knowledge, or emotional state). If nothing changes, the card has no reason to exist — cut, fold, or combine it.
• End state: the new situation and the new open question
• Type: Scene (goal → conflict → outcome) or Sequel (reaction → dilemma → decision); see scene-sequel.md
• Try/fail position: try-1, try-2, try-3, or setback when part of an escalation chain; see try-fail.md
• Arcs advanced: which arcs move in this scene (kebab-case ids)

Store the card in the scene's scenes/ file under a ## Scene Card section, or as a block at the top of the chapter outline. Keep the format identical everywhere so a later agent can read them.

Reordering

Lay the cards out and check:

1. Causality: each card's start state must follow from the previous card's end state. Gaps are plot holes; contradictions are continuity errors.
2. Escalation: across the chapter, stakes, pressure, or emotional cost rise. A card that lowers tension after the midpoint needs a reason.
3. Rhythm: alternate scene types. Two pure action scenes back-to-back flatten; a sequel between them deepens both.
4. Reader knowledge vs character knowledge: mark cards where the reader learns something the POV character doesn't (or vice versa). Unplanned dramatic-irony gaps are continuity bugs; planned ones are logged in continuity/questions/.

Braiding POV lines

When a chapter or sequence alternates POV characters:

1. Write one card stack per POV line.
2. Interleave so each line's cliffhanger resolves at least two of its own cards later — never cut away at a resolution, always at an unresolved question.
3. Record the interleave order in the chapter outline and mirror it in the scenes/ card stack.

When to ask the user

Reordering changes story shape. Present the proposed new order as a card list (start state → change → end state per card) and get approval before rewriting scene files or the chapter outline. Do not reorder silently.