Arcs

An Arc is a named, ordered strand of Scenes tracking one through-line: the murder investigation, the failing marriage, the war in the north. A Manuscript usually has several running at once — Arcs let you see each one on its own, instead of only the braided whole.

Two kinds:

• Plot Arc — a storyline. The default.
• Character Arc — a character’s journey, linked to that character’s Entity in the Codex.

Open Arcs from the Manuscript’s navigation.

Arc roles

Each Scene in an Arc carries a role — what the Scene does for that through-line:

Role	Meaning
seed	Plants the thread — a detail that will matter later.
opens	The thread properly begins.
turns	Something changes direction.
echo	The thread resurfaces without advancing.
climax	The peak.
resolves	The thread lands.

Roles aren’t homework — they drive the tension curve’s default shape, and they make gaps visible (“this arc opens in chapter two and doesn’t turn until chapter nineteen”).

Tension view

The Tension view draws each Arc as a curve across the Manuscript’s Scenes — height from the Scene’s role, adjustable by hand. Overlay several Arcs and the pacing problems show up as shapes: three climaxes stacked in the same chapter, a sagging middle where every curve goes flat.

Threads view

The Arcs view lists each Arc as a row of its Scenes in order — a thread you can read straight across. Use it to check a single through-line’s continuity without the other storylines in the way.

See also: Appearances for the Scene × Entity grid, and the Board for structure-level planning.