Scene Cards

Some writers need a more tactile, visual way of looking at how their scenes fit together in a novel. One way is to print scene cards that you can then spread out on a table or floor and rearrange visually.

yWriter5 version 5.1.4.1 introduced such a feature.

With the scene card printing feature, you can specify

    • The number of scenes across and down a page
    • Margins
    • Font family and size

The information for the scene cards comes from the Scene Description field, the same field used to automatically generate the Synopsis using Reports > Synopsis . Summary (Short scene descriptions).

(TIP: Before you print, review your Scene Descriptions and make sure that they're concise and reflect the current contents of the scene.)

To print scene cards:

    1. From the top menu bar, choose Scene > Reports > Print scene cards.
    2. Choose the starting chapter and the ending chapter, or click the All button.
    3. If you want to include unused chapters/scenes, check (tick) the box.
    4. Set the number of cards across and down, margin, font, and size.
    5. Click ok.

Your normal print dialog box appears. Print as you would any normal document.

Notes about paper size:

    • If you print on a regular sheet of paper (Letter or A4), you can then cut the paper with scissors.
    • You may also print on shipping labels or specialty paper (business cards, post cards, other labels). Try it on regular paper first until you get the margins right.

Example output with 3 columns x 6 rows, 10 pixel margins, 8pt font.