For writers outlining scene by scene
Scene Card Template for Novelists
One card per scene with four lines: what your character wants, what's in the way, what changes, and where it leaves them.
- Scene 1 · Ch 1 · NellOpen the bakery on time despite the dead ovenConflict: the morning rush is at the door. Turn: the gas line was cut, not broken. Outcome: No, and worse.
- Scene 2 · Ch 1 · NellFind out who was near the shop that nightConflict: the street camera has been dead for weeks. Turn: Mr. Abara's son says his father saw something. Outcome: Yes, but he won't talk.
What you'll get
Goal, conflict, turn and outcome on every scene card
- A card for every scene, ready to fill or print
- Goal, conflict, turn and outcome on each card
- A first stack of cards drafted from your notes
Before and after
Your story in. A stack of scene cards out.
A baker learns someone cut her shop's gas line on purpose, and the only witness won't talk in front of his son.
Scene 1 · Chapter 1 · POV: Nell Goal: open the bakery on time despite the dead oven. Conflict: the morning rush is already at the door. Turn: the repairman says the gas line was cut, not broken. Outcome: No, and worse: someone wanted her shut. So now: she has to find out who. Scene 5 · Chapter 3 · POV: Nell Goal: get Mr. Abara to say what he saw. Turn: at the gate he slips her a receipt dated the night of the cut.
Every card is a first pass. Change, reorder or cut any of them.
Why it works
What is a scene card?
A scene card is a short summary of one scene, small enough to see your whole story at a glance and move scenes around. This template asks four things of every scene: what your point-of-view character wants, what stands in the way, what changes, and where it leaves them. Fill one card per scene and the dead scenes show themselves. If you can't name the turn, the scene may not be doing anything yet.
The lines come from a long craft tradition. Randy Ingermanson explains Dwight Swain's scene pattern as goal, conflict and disaster, and this card keeps that shape while widening disaster into any outcome: yes, yes but, no, or no and worse. Each card also has a So now line for what the scene forces next, which is how one scene pulls into the following one. Print it, type in it, or paste a chapter to turn into cards.
Tell River about your story, or paste your plot notes or a chapter, and it drafts a first stack of twelve cards, using your names and every event you planned. Every card is a suggestion to keep, change or cut. Once the cards feel right, line them up against the Save the Cat beat sheet or a novel outline, then draft chapter one from them with the AI novel writer. No plot yet? The plot generator gives you five to choose from.
What lands in your doc
What's in the scene cards
- Four lines per card
Goal, conflict, turn and outcome: the four things every scene has to do. - Chapter and point of view
Each card notes the scene number, its chapter, and whose eyes the reader is behind. - A So now line
What the scene forces next, so every card hands off to the one after it. - A worked example
One filled card from a cozy mystery shows how short each line can be. - Twelve blank cards
Room for your opening act, and you can add more cards as the book grows. - A plain guide at the top
A short table says what each line means, with no jargon to learn first.
How it works
How to use the scene cards
Open the cards
Click Edit with AI to open the cards in River, or download the Word file.
Add your story
Optional. Give River a premise, your plot notes or a chapter, and it drafts a first stack of cards.
Fill a card per scene
Write the goal, conflict, turn and outcome in a line each. Leave the turn blank if you can't find one yet.
Reorder and cut
Move cards until the story flows, and rethink any card with no turn, a check the self-editing checklist repeats in revision.
Questions authors ask
Common questions
What is a scene card?
A scene card is a short summary of one scene, kept on an index card or in a document, so you can see the whole story at once and move scenes around. This template asks four things of each scene: what the character wants, what's in the way, what changes, and where it leaves them.
What should a scene card template include?
Only what a scene must do. This template uses goal, conflict, turn and outcome, plus the point-of-view character and what the scene forces next. Other cards add setting or inner change; Save the Cat's printed scene cards list place, basic action, emotional transformation and outcome.
What are the five elements of a scene?
One well-known answer is Story Grid's five commandments of storytelling, from editor Shawn Coyne: inciting incident, turning point progressive complication, crisis, climax and resolution. The turn on this card is that turning point. If you prefer Dwight Swain's model, a scene runs goal, conflict, disaster.
What's the difference between a scene and a sequel?
In Dwight Swain's model, as Randy Ingermanson explains it, a scene runs goal, conflict, disaster, and a sequel is the character's response: reaction, dilemma, decision. Sequels can have cards too. Put the decision your character is working toward in the Goal line, and the choice they make in Outcome.
Are scene cards worth it?
For some writers, a chapter outline with a few bullet points per chapter is enough. Cards earn their keep when you need to reorder scenes, balance subplots, or find scenes that don't change anything. If a card has no turn, that scene is a candidate to cut or rethink. Try them on your middle chapters first.
Can I print scene cards or buy physical ones?
Yes. Download the Word file and print it, or copy the five lines onto 4x6 index cards if you like shuffling them on a table. If you'd rather buy cards, Save the Cat sells a 50-card pack of printed scene cards for $12.95 (as of October 2026).
Does this work in Scrivener or Google Docs?
Yes. The Word download opens in Google Docs, which converts .docx files, and imports into Scrivener, which accepts Word documents. In River, paste a chapter and ask for its scene cards. Any scene with no turn is marked "No turn yet", and River can tell you which scenes you could cut.
Your next step
More for your book
Plan your book one scene at a time
Open the cards in River or download them. Fill them yourself, or start from your story notes and keep going twelve cards at a time.