All Features

Story Structure & Plotting

Every great novel starts with a plan. Edda gives you professional-grade plotting tools so you can architect your story with precision, track every thread, and never lose sight of the bigger picture.

8 Story Templates

From the Hero's Journey to Save the Cat, choose from eight proven story structures and let Edda scaffold your narrative from act one to the final page.

Plot Thread Tracking

Manage multiple storylines, subplots, and character arcs in parallel. Know exactly where each thread stands in every scene of your manuscript.

Visual Plot Timeline

See your entire story arc at a glance. A visual timeline shows pacing, tension, and where every beat falls across your manuscript.

Story Templates

Proven frameworks for every genre

You do not need to reinvent the wheel. Centuries of storytelling have produced structures that resonate with readers on a deep, almost instinctive level. Edda puts eight of the most powerful frameworks at your fingertips, each one customizable to your story's unique needs.

Select a template, and Edda pre-populates your beat sheet with the key turning points for that structure. You can modify, reorder, add, or remove beats to make the framework truly yours. Whether you write thrillers that follow the tight three-act model or literary fiction that traces a character's inner circle, there is a template that fits.

Available Templates

1
Hero's Journey

The classic monomyth: call to adventure, trials, transformation, and return. Ideal for epic fantasy and adventure.

2
Save the Cat

Blake Snyder's fifteen beats, from Opening Image to Final Image. A favourite for screenwriters and commercial fiction.

3
Three Act Structure

Setup, confrontation, resolution. The fundamental backbone of Western storytelling distilled to its essence.

4
Five Act Structure

Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement. Perfect for literary fiction and stage-to-page adaptations.

5
Freytag's Pyramid

Gustav Freytag's dramatic arc with its distinct rising and falling slopes. Excellent for tragedy and classical drama.

6
Dan Harmon's Story Circle

Eight steps around the circle: You, Need, Go, Search, Find, Take, Return, Change. Intuitive and endlessly reusable.

7
The Snowflake Method

Start with a single sentence and expand outward. A systematic approach to building complexity from simplicity.

8
Seven Point Story Structure

Hook, Plot Turn 1, Pinch 1, Midpoint, Pinch 2, Plot Turn 2, Resolution. A precise roadmap for tightly paced narratives.

Beat Sheet - Save the Cat
Opening Image Ch 1
Theme Stated Ch 1
Set-Up Ch 1-3
Catalyst Ch 4
Debate Ch 5-6
Break into Two Ch 7
Midpoint ...
6/15 beats
Beat Sheets & Plot Threads

Define the beats that drive your story

A beat sheet is the skeleton of your novel. Each beat represents a key moment -- a turning point, a revelation, or a shift in your character's world. Edda lets you define these moments, assign them to scenes, and track your progress as your manuscript takes shape.

Create custom beats

Define any number of story beats with descriptions, notes, and target scene assignments.

Multiple plot threads

Track your main plot, subplots, and character arcs as separate threads that weave through your scenes.

Plot position in scenes

See which plot threads are active in any given scene, so you always know where each storyline stands.

Outline & Scenes

See the forest and the trees

When you are deep inside a scene, it is easy to lose perspective on the whole. Edda's outline view gives you a bird's-eye look at your entire manuscript -- every part, chapter, and scene laid out with synopses and status indicators. Drag and drop to reorganize. The story reshapes itself around your decisions.

Outline view

A high-level overview of your entire manuscript. Collapse chapters, expand scenes, and see where you stand at a glance.

Drag-and-drop reordering

Rearrange scenes, chapters, and parts with a simple drag. Your manuscript reorganizes instantly, no copy-paste gymnastics required.

Scene synopsis and notes

Write a quick summary and private notes for every scene. Plan before you draft, or capture context after the fact.

Chapter and part organization

Group scenes into chapters and chapters into parts. Structure your manuscript however your story demands.

Part One: The Ordinary World
Chapter 1: First Light 3 scenes
The morning bell 1,240 words
A stranger at the gate Draft
The message Outline
Chapter 2: The Road Out 5 scenes
Part Two: Into the Unknown 4 chapters
Part Three: The Return 3 chapters

Plot Timeline

Main Plot
Romance Subplot
Mystery Thread
Character Arc
Ch 1 Ch 5 Ch 10 Ch 15 Ch 20
Timeline & Subplots

Every thread, visible at once

Complex novels have layers. A romance simmering beneath a political thriller. A mystery unfolding alongside a coming-of-age arc. Edda's visual plot timeline lays every thread side by side so you can see how they interact, where tension peaks, and where threads go quiet for too long.

Subplot tracking

Create dedicated tracks for subplots and character arcs. See when each one begins, escalates, and resolves.

Visual pacing

Spot pacing problems before they reach your reader. The timeline reveals stretches of low tension or missing threads at a glance.

Plot position per scene

Every scene knows which plot threads pass through it, giving you exact context when writing or revising.

Everything Included

The complete plotting toolkit

8 Story Structure Templates

Hero's Journey, Save the Cat, Three Act, Five Act, Freytag's Pyramid, Story Circle, Snowflake, and Seven Point.

Beat Sheets

Define key story beats, assign them to scenes, and track completion as your manuscript develops.

Plot Thread Management

Create and manage multiple plot threads and storylines that run through your manuscript in parallel.

Plot Position Tracking

Know exactly where each plot thread stands within any scene of your manuscript.

Visual Plot Timeline

See all your plot threads and their intensity across your full manuscript on one visual timeline.

Outline View

A high-level overview of your entire manuscript showing parts, chapters, scenes, and their status.

Scene Reordering

Drag and drop scenes, chapters, and parts to reorganize your manuscript structure instantly.

Scene Synopsis & Notes

Write summaries and private notes for every scene to plan ahead or capture context for revisions.

Subplot Tracking

Keep every secondary storyline and character arc visible alongside your main plot.

Chapter & Part Organization

Nest scenes into chapters and chapters into parts for multi-layered manuscript structure.

Customizable Templates

Modify any story structure template to fit your process. Add beats, remove stages, rename phases.

Scene Status Tracking

Mark scenes as outlined, drafted, revised, or complete so you always know your manuscript's progress.

Your story deserves a solid foundation

Stop juggling sticky notes and spreadsheets. Plan, structure, and track your novel with tools built for the way authors actually think.

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