Chapters and acts
Group the map without flattening it into a spreadsheet. Filter down when the whole story is more than you need to see.
01 · FeaturesMap
See what makes the story move.
Scyn turns scenes, beats, and plot threads into a visual story map. See what connects, find what does not, and reshape the chain before a weak turn costs you a draft.
The Hollow Sea
Act II · The charts
Scenes become movable cards
Arrows show what changes next
Account-backed on Free
Your active project follows you across devices.
One novel, up to 100 scenes
Use acts, chapters, links, filters, and snapshots before you choose Pro.
No credit card
Start with a blank map or template.
02 · The map
One workspace for the whole causal chain.
A scene card carries only what helps you reason: a title, an optional note, its place in the structure, and a colour you choose. Directional connections turn that collection into a story you can inspect.
Map
Give every story event a place
Capture a scene or beat as a movable card with a title, note, chapter, and writer-chosen colour. Start with what you know; arrange it when the shape emerges.
Map
Make cause and effect visible
Draw a directional connection and add a plain-language label when the relationship needs context. The chain shows where a turn is earned—and where it is missing.
Structure
Keep the long view without losing order
Group scenes by chapter and act while leaving the canvas free for spatial thinking. Rearrange the structure without rebuilding a separate outline.
Focus
Follow one thread at a time
Filter by chapter, act, or colour to reduce a complicated map to the part you are revising. Colour stays a flexible highlighter rather than a forced taxonomy.
Pro
Ask for feedback on the same structure
Create an unlisted, read-only link for an editor, agent, or writing group. Everyone can discuss the same sequence and causal chain without touching the working map.
Keep
Take a stable copy with you
Export the map as PNG on Free or PDF on Pro for workshops, revision notes, and conversations outside Scyn.
03 · Story ModePro
The same map
Returned to reading order
Read the structure in sequence.
Story Mode puts the scenes from your map back into chapter order and keeps each cause visible. Read the chain without giving up the spatial view that built it.
Map and sequence stay together
Reorder the structure once. The map and reading view reflect the same story.
Keep drafting where you draft
Scyn stays the visual logic layer beside your writing app rather than replacing it.
04 · The workflow
Move from instinct to a structure you can explain.
01
Sketch the shape
Put down the scenes and beats you already know. A partial map is enough to reveal what the story is asking for next.
02
Connect the logic
Draw the consequence, decision, or reveal that moves one scene into another. If the link is hard to name, inspect the gap.
03
Revise in space
Move scenes, merge beats, and cut dead threads while the whole chain stays visible. Structure becomes something you can handle.
04
Read or share
Follow the mapped scenes in Story Mode or share a read-only map for feedback grounded in the same structure.
05 · Keep the map useful
Organise the work. Share the reasoning.
Chapters and acts keep a long story navigable. Sharing and export make the structure useful when the conversation moves beyond your screen.
Share and export
Send a read-only link on Pro, or keep a stable PNG or PDF for a workshop, editor, or revision session.
06 · How a map comes together
Four moves that build a working map.
You add scenes, draw the links, tag chapter and colour, then read the chain in Story Mode.
01
Add a scene
Put a scene or beat on the canvas as a movable card. Give it a title, and add a note when the event needs more than a name. Assign a chapter and a writer-chosen colour, or leave both empty for now. Start with the events you already know. Arrange the cards later, once the shape emerges. The first card does not need a final place on the canvas.
02
Link cause to consequence
Draw a directional connection from one scene to the next when the first event produces the second. Add a plain-language label when the relationship needs context. The chain then shows where a turn is earned and where it is missing. If you cannot name the link, inspect that gap. The label is optional free text in your own words. Leave it blank when the direction is enough.
03
Tag chapter and colour
Group scenes by chapter and act so the long view stays readable while the canvas stays free for spatial thinking. Rearrange the structure on the map without rebuilding a separate outline. Colour is a writer-chosen highlighter you apply to cards. When the map grows dense, filter by chapter, act, or colour and reduce it to the part you are revising.
04
Read it back in Story Mode
Open Story Mode to put the scenes from your map back into chapter order. Each cause stays visible as you read the chain in sequence. Reorder the structure once. The map and the reading view stay on the same story. Follow the mapped scenes from the first beat to the last. Keep drafting in the writing app you already use. Scyn stays the visual logic layer beside it.
07 · Straight answers
Data ownership, export, and collaboration.
Three limits worth knowing before you put a novel on the map.
Data ownership
You own the map. Your story lives in your account and is never used to train AI models, sold, or mined for advertising. Sign in on any device and the map follows you, on Free as well as Pro. Free covers one novel, up to 100 scenes. You can export a copy of the map whenever you want one.
Export
Export the map as PNG on Free, or as PDF on Pro. Use the file in a workshop, in revision notes, or in a conversation that happens outside Scyn. Those are the two formats. The export is a stable copy of the map you already built.
Collaboration
Scyn is a single-writer tool. You edit the working map. On Pro you create an unlisted, read-only link for an editor, agent, or writing group. They can discuss the same sequence and causal chain. They cannot touch the working map. There is no real-time multiplayer editing.
08 · From the blog
Learn the method, not just the tool.
Visual plot mapping for writers
Why spatial planning exposes structural gaps that a linear outline can hide.
How to outline a novel
A practical route from the first known beat to a complete working structure.
How to Structure and Map a Multi-POV Novel
Structure a multi-POV novel with balanced pacing, aligned timelines and connected character arcs.
09 · Start mappingStart mapping free
Put the next chapter on the map before you draft it.
Free: one novel up to 100 scenes · No credit card