Overview

Visualizing a screenplay at a high level helps you balance story pacing, track subplots, and refine three-act structure before writing full dialogue and action.

In this tutorial, you will:

1. Open the Index Cards board for your screenplay.
2. Structure your narrative into Acts (columns).
3. Create and populate scene cards with sluglines, synopses, and color tags.
4. Reorder scenes and acts via drag-and-drop with instant script synchronization.
5. Navigate seamlessly between the corkboard outline and the script editor.

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Step 1: Open the Index Cards Board

Every script in your Clapperbie project has a dedicated Index Cards board.

1. Open the Scripts section in the left sidebar.
2. Click the actions menu (...) next to your script.
3. Select Index Cards.

A new editor tab opens displaying your script's visual board. If you have already written scenes in the script editor, Clapperbie automatically populates them as cards on the board.

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Step 2: Organize Your Story into Acts

Columns on the board represent structural milestones or acts in your narrative.

1. Click the Add Act button to create a new column.
2. In the act details dialog:
   • Enter the Title (e.g., ACT I: SETUP or ACT II: MIDPOINT).
   • Add a brief Description outlining the thematic goal of this act.
   • Pick a distinctive Color to distinguish the act visually.
3. Click Ok to place the column on the board.
4. Drag columns horizontally to rearrange the overall act progression.

Tip: Any scenes created before you define custom acts reside in the default Scenes Outside Acts column until you organize them.

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Step 3: Add and Edit Scene Cards

Each card represents an individual scene heading (slugline) and its dramatic beat.

1. Click the + (Add) button at the bottom of an Act column to add a scene.
2. In the scene details dialog:
   • Title: Enter the scene slugline (e.g., EXT. ROOFTOP - NIGHT).
   • Description: Write a concise synopsis of the dramatic conflict, character objective, or plot turn.
   • Color: Assign a color tag.
3. Click Ok to save the card.

Using Colors for Story Architecture

Color tags appear as a vertical indicator strip on the left border of each card. Common industry approaches include:

• Subplots / Storylines: Blue for the primary A-story, Green for the B-story (romance/mentor), Yellow for the C-story.
• Character Arcs: Assign unique colors to track which protagonist drives each sequence.
• Tone & Energy: Red for high-stakes action scenes, Violet for reflective character moments.

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Step 4: Rearrange Story Beats with Drag-and-Drop

Rearranging cards on the board allows you to test alternative plot sequences without cutting and pasting text in the script editor.

1. Click and drag any card by its handle to move it up or down within its column.
2. Drag a card across columns to transfer a scene into a different act.
3. Use Ctrl + Z (Cmd + Z on macOS) to undo any reordering mistake, or Ctrl + Shift + Z (Cmd + Shift + Z) to redo.

Important: Clapperbie uses bidirectional synchronization. Moving a card on the board immediately updates the actual scene order in the script editor and scene outliners.

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Step 5: Jump from Outline to Writing

Once your structure is aligned, transition directly from the index card overview to writing the scene:

1. Click directly on any scene card (or select Open from the card's actions menu).
2. Clapperbie switches to the Script editor tab and automatically scrolls to that exact scene heading, ready for you to write dialogue and action.