An index card app for novelists
Scrībō started as a tool for screenwriters, but the index card method works for any story with a structure to find — and a novel has more structure to find than most. Here’s how novelists use it.
Why plan a novel on cards?
A novel is too long to hold in your head. Somewhere around the hundredth page it gets hard to remember what happened in chapter four, which subplot you last touched, or whose point of view you’ve neglected. A board of cards is the whole book on one screen: every scene, in order, at a glance.
Cards suit plotters who outline everything up front, but they help discovery writers too — card the scenes you’ve already written, and the board shows you what the draft has turned into and where it wants to go next.
A way to set it up
- One card per scene — or per chapter, if your chapters are short. Write the POV character and one line on what changes.
- Group cards into parts — Scrībō’s bands take any name: Part One, Book Two, the three acts, or one band per chapter.
- Colour by point of view — with up to five POV characters, give each one a colour. Uneven stretches of one colour show where a voice drops out.
- Or colour by status — drafted, needs revision, not yet written. Whatever you most need to see across the whole book.
- Move scenes around — drag cards between chapters and parts to test a new order before you touch the manuscript.
- Number the cards — turn on card numbers to see exactly where each scene falls, counting straight through the book.
What novelists get
- A project per book — three projects free, unlimited with Scrībō Pro. Series writers can keep one per volume.
- Up to 10,000 characters per card — room for a full scene summary, not just a label.
- Export to plain text or CSV — paste your outline into Scrivener, Word or a spreadsheet, with or without card numbers.
- AI documents, if you want them — AI is off until you switch it on. When it’s on, Scrībō can write a synopsis, summary, logline or beat outline from your cards — handy for a query letter. Two a month free, unlimited with Pro.
- A read-only share link — let a critique partner or editor see the board without being able to change it.
Questions
Is Scrībō good for novels, or only screenplays?
Both. Nothing about the board is screenplay-specific — cards hold any text and bands take any name. The only screenwriting-only feature is Fountain import and export, which a novelist can simply ignore.
How many cards can a Scrībō project hold?
There’s no fixed limit on cards. A novel of 80–120 scenes is a comfortable board, and you can shrink the cards with the size slider to see more at once.
Does Scrībō replace Scrivener’s corkboard?
It does a different job. Scrivener’s corkboard is attached to your manuscript; Scrībō is a standalone board that runs in any browser, on any device, with nothing to install — good for planning before you draft, or away from your writing computer. Many writers use both and paste an exported outline across.
Try it on your own story
Scrībō is free, runs in your browser, and needs no sign-up. Your cards save as you type.