Radial Timeline draws every scene of a book in manuscript order — its act, its subplot, and how far along it is. Authors share the shape of what they are writing without publishing a word of it.
Above: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen — 61 scenes, 3 acts.
Welcome to the Radial Timeline Community. Share the work as it happens. The daily grind. Craft tips. Your routine. What works and what doesn't—for you. Keep the RT community a place of support and encouragement. And happy writing! — Eric
A full manuscript audit and an intenstive round of revisions to bring a weak scene up to par.
You are now collecting your people delightfully, getting them exactly into such a spot as is the delight of my life. Three or four families in a country village is the very thing to work on, and I hope you will do a great deal more, and make full use of them while they are so very favorably arranged.
Another polish on this scene 35. Mostly cutting. Softened the children. Nicer. Less predatory.
New draft scene 37.5 to create a counterpoint perspective of the IT from Trisan's at school vantage point.
This scene and the previous one has the same flashback told two different ways. I had to cut it from the first scene and insert into the second, keeping much of both but interweaving with the correct order. It became a larger block but with rich detail. The end of the frame links to the flashback in a (I hope) resonant way.
Scene 32 now finished for the Author revision round. Managed to coin a term in this scene. Love the ending.
Scene 32 needs changes to the tone, which is too upbeat and even flippant. Shifting to somber with more backstory. Elevante and align the stakes.
I like the beginning of Devereux Forester very much, a great deal better than if he had been very good or very bad. A few verbal corrections are all that I felt tempted to make; the principal of them is a speech of St. Julian to Lady Helen, which you see I have presumed to alter. As Lady H. is Cecilia's superior, it would not be correct to talk of her being introduced. It is Cecilia who must be introduced. And I do not like a lover speaking in the 3rd person; it is too much like the part of Lord Overtley, and I think it not natural.
Next scene for the IT parallel subplot. Lots of discarding some things and expanding other things. Every time i do a revision sweep, a lot gets changed.
Got a lot done over two scenes. Revisions. Progress fixing glitches in the timeline. Dates. Continuity. Scene Order.
Reframed scene 29 with a new setting. Cut another scene before this one that was not adding anything and repeated text i've moved to the first scene of the book.
Big day on one scene, which is now in good shape.
3 scenes revised today. Making excellent progress. Feeling really good about how the plot is moving. The beats are aligning nicely. Every revision adds more interconnections. Exactly what I want from my revisions.
Scene 21. Revised and deepened. Several subplots tied in better.
Perhaps the biggest scene in the book revised and complete.
New scene. Split another one for better subplot distribution.
Extensive edits and new short scenes to finish off the draft.
New scene as part of subplot completion. Quick draft and polish passes. Ready for next scene. This is done. Set to Author stage.
Multi-scene technical edit consistency sweep and world-building validation.
Scene 52 relating to the Intercontinental Tourney is now revised (for now).
Major hacking on scene 52. Chop chop chop. Still a mess. Sigh. Done for the day. Need to figure out who this character is I'm writing about. That's what happens when the manuscript sits around gathering dust for so long!
