Restructuring a draft (reordering scenes, spotting pacing problems, deciding what to cut) is easier as a set of index cards you can scan and drag than as a list of file names you have to open one at a time.
What You'll Need
- A drafted manuscript in Deckle, with synopses written for at least your key chapters or scenes (the more filled in, the more useful this view is).
Step-by-Step: Restructuring with the Outliner
- Open the Outliner and switch to Grid view. Each chapter or scene becomes a card with its synopsis visible.
- Read through the synopsis cards in order. Since they're compact and don't require opening each document, this is the fastest way to see your whole draft's shape at once and spot pacing issues; a run of several slow scenes in a row, a subplot that vanishes for too long, and similar problems, are easier to notice as a row of cards than as a scroll of full chapters.
- Drag cards to reorder them. Moving a scene or chapter's position updates your manuscript's actual order, the same structure that determines chapter numbering and reading order in your export.
- Use filters to focus on a subset. Filter by Label or Status (e.g. everything tagged "needs revision") or by a linked Codex entry (e.g. every scene a specific character appears in) to work through a specific slice of the draft instead of the whole thing at once.
- Switch to List view for a denser pass. Once you're happy with structure and want to track something across many documents at once (revision status, a custom "POV character" column, anything else), List view's custom columns handle that better than Grid's cards.
Common Mistakes
- Restructuring with blank synopses. The Grid view is only as useful as the synopses on the cards; if they're empty, you're back to opening each document to remember what happens in it.
- Forgetting that reordering here is real, not a preview. Dragging a card changes your manuscript's actual structure immediately, the same as dragging in the Binder; there's no separate "apply" step.
- Not using filters when working on a subplot. Scrolling through the whole manuscript to find every scene involving one character or thread is slower than filtering by the relevant Codex entry or Label first.
FAQ
Does reordering cards in the Outliner actually change my manuscript's structure?
Yes. It's the same underlying order used everywhere else, including chapter numbering and export order, not a separate planning-only view.
Can I see which scenes a specific character appears in while restructuring?
Yes. Filter by that character's Codex entry, and only scenes linked to it will show.
What if my synopses aren't written yet?
The Grid view still works, but each card will be less useful for a quick scan; worth writing at least brief synopses before doing a big structural pass.