An interactive beatboard for writers — organize scenes, track characters, and see your story at a glance.
SceneSetter is a visual story organizer for writers. Get your characters, locations, themes, and scenes in order so you can focus on telling your best story. No account or installation required — everything is stored locally in your browser.
Since all your content stays on your device, there is no cloud service for SceneSetter. To share work among separate devices, export the project (a JSON file) and import it on the other device. SceneSetter tracks each project's version: if you import a file that is older than, newer than, or in conflict with your local copy, it will detect that and ask what to do — so you won't accidentally overwrite new work with old. A simple routine: export when you finish on one device, and import that file before you continue on another.
When you first open SceneSetter you'll see the Project Manager — a home screen where all your stories live. Each project is a completely separate storyboard with its own library, scenes, and sections.
Click + New Project to create a new, empty storyboard. You'll be prompted to give it a name right away. Your new project opens immediately and you can start building.
Each project card shows its name, scene count, and when it was last modified. Use the action buttons on the card to Open, Rename, or Duplicate any project. Double-clicking a card also opens it.
Click Export on a project card to download it as a .json file — a complete backup of all scenes, library items, and settings. Use Import JSON on the project manager toolbar to restore a backup or bring in a project from another device.
While inside a project, click the Projects button in the top-right of the header to return to the project manager. Your work is saved automatically before you leave.
Once inside a project, a menu bar at the top provides quick access to File, Edit, Create, View, and Help options. Below that, the screen is divided into three panels — each collapsible and resizable — and a scene board.
Your story's building blocks — Characters, Locations, Themes, and Misc Items, plus a read-only POV section. Click any item to highlight the scenes that contain it.
Organize your scenes into named groups such as Acts, Chapters, or Sequences. Unassigned scenes appear at the left of the board.
Create and edit individual scenes, pulling from the Library and adding the information you'd like.
The visual workspace. Scenes appear as cards, grouped by section. Drag to reorder; click to select one or more cards.
The Library panel organizes your story's recurring elements into four categories: Characters, Locations, Themes, and Misc Items — plus a read-only POV section listing whichever names you've assigned as a scene's point of view (managed from the Scene form, not added here).
Click the + button next to a category header to add a new entry. Give it a name and an optional note — you'll be tagging scenes with it.
Hover over any library item to reveal action buttons. The pencil icon opens an editor where you can update the item's name and notes. You can also shuffle its display order or delete it entirely.
Click any library item to highlight every scene that contains it on the board. Click again to deselect. Use the OR / AND toggle to control whether highlighting requires any or all selected items. A Clear Highlights button appears whenever items are selected.
Sections act as named columns on the board — Acts, Chapters, Sequences, or whatever structure suits your story.
Type a name in the New section… field at the top of the Sections panel and press + or Enter.
Need several sections at once? Use Quick Setup — set the count and a name prefix (e.g., "3 named Act") and press Go to create Act 1, Act 2, and Act 3 in one step.
Hover a section row and click the → button to jump to it on the Scene Board. Hover the row to shuffle, rename, recolor, or delete it. Scenes not assigned to any section appear in an Unassigned group at the left of the board.
Each scene is a card on the board. Fill in as much or as little as you need.
Click the New Scene tab in the Scene panel, or hover over the board and press the Add Scene button below any card. Enter a title (required), an optional summary, and assign it to a section. Tag it with items from your library, assign one or more POV names if the scene (or chapter) is narrated from a particular viewpoint, record a word count, add notes if needed, then press Save.
Click a card on the board to select it — it loads automatically into the Edit Scene tab. Make your changes and press Save Changes. Clicking outside the Scene panel while changes are in progress will cancel the edit.
Drag a card to a new position within the same section, or drop it into a different section entirely. Scene numbers update automatically. Click multiple cards to select them as a group, then drag to move them all at once.
Filter the board by title or summary text. Press × or Esc to clear.
Use the Section filter pulldown to show only specific sections on the board. Useful for focusing on one part of your story.
Toggle Show Card Details to display or hide library tags on each scene card.
Use the Zoom slider in the board header to scale cards larger or smaller.
Up to 10 steps. You can also use Ctrl Z to undo, Ctrl Y to redo.
Choose from five color schemes: Cream, Slate, Studio, Ocean, and Sunset. Your choice applies across all projects.
Use File > Export as JSON to download the current project as a .json file — a full backup you can restore or share at any time.
Click the ? button to enter help mode. Hover any highlighted area for a plain-English description of what it does.
Switch the Scene Board into a chart view to see your whole story as one continuous ribbon of scenes — useful for spotting pacing, gaps, and structure at a glance. Press Alt V, or use View > Show Scene Flow Chart, to open it. The Board view ✕ button in the chart toolbar takes you back.
Scenes wind left-to-right, then back, coiling into as many rows as needed. Section boundaries appear as small lettered badges (A, B, C…), matched to a legend row above the chart — including an Unassigned badge if any scenes have no section.
The same scenes wrap into a ring — Scene 1 at 12 o'clock, running clockwise. Sections show as labeled pie-slice wedges around the center, including an Unassigned wedge when relevant.
Use the Snake / Circle buttons in the chart toolbar to switch layouts. Your choice is remembered the next time you open a chart.
Click a Library item or type in Search exactly as you would on the board — matching scenes light up in the chart instantly, using the same OR / AND highlighting rules.
Click any segment to return to the Scene Board with that card selected and scrolled into view.
The Print button in the chart toolbar opens a clean, full-color printable version of the current chart in a new tab.
Use Create > Generate Report to open the report dialog. Choose a type, select which sections and options to include, and click Generate Report — a print-ready page opens in a new tab. Character, Location, Theme, and Misc Items reports can optionally include the notes you've added to each library item.
| Report | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Scene List | All scenes with title, summary, section, and library tags — a complete scene-by-scene breakdown. |
| Character | Each character with the scenes they appear in, plus a usage count. Optionally includes character notes. |
| Location | Each location with the scenes set there, plus a usage count. Optionally includes location notes. |
| Theme | Each theme with the scenes that explore it, plus a usage count. Optionally includes theme notes. |
| Misc Items | Each miscellaneous item with the scenes it appears in, plus a usage count. Optionally includes item notes. |
| POV | Each POV name with the scenes it narrates, plus a usage count — handy for checking screen-time balance across an ensemble. |
| Cross-Reference Matrix | A grid mapping scenes against characters, locations, themes, misc items, or POV. Flip the axes to swap orientation. Columns auto-fit to the page width for clean printing across portrait and landscape. |
Ctrl Z Undo Ctrl Y Redo Esc Close any open dialog or clear search
Use separate projects for separate stories. If you're working on a series, each book can have its own project — or you can duplicate a project to experiment with a different structure without touching the original.
Add your major characters, key locations, and core themes before creating scenes. You'll be able to tag scenes as you create them rather than going back to add tags later.
Click a character in the library to highlight every scene they appear in. Gaps in the highlighted pattern quickly reveal where a character disappears from the story; clustering reveals overuse.
Switch to AND highlighting and select two characters to see only scenes where both appear together — great for tracking relationships and shared screen time.
Generate a cross-reference report before a draft or revision session. It gives you a visual map of which story elements appear where — a useful overview to keep at hand while writing. Columns wrap automatically so nothing is cut off when printing.
If your scenes correspond to chapters with a POV narrator, run the POV report to see each name's scene count at a glance — useful for spotting a viewpoint that's carrying too much (or too little) of the story.