Novel planning cards: 3x5 and 4x6 scene cards to plot your book

Novel planning cards let you plot a book one scene at a time on index cards, instead of filling yet another full page novel planner. The set has 30 undated pages: ten card designs in exact 3x5 and 4x6 inch sizes with crop marks (scene, character, setting, plot beat, three-act outline, chapter, subplot tracker, revision checklist, word count sprint and color-code key), lined and dot backs, a reference for 13 story beats and dividers for Act One, Act Two, Act Three and Story bible.

You download the PDF instantly in US Letter and A4. Nothing is shipped.

How novel planning cards shape your story

Each scene card holds point of view, setting, goal, conflict and outcome, with boxes for act and chapter. Lay the whole book out on a table, notice what is missing and slide a scene to a new spot without rewriting a single outline. The three-act outline card and 13 numbered plot beat cards give the story its backbone, and the reference cards describe each beat in one plain sentence, no branded method required.

Subplot cards follow every thread from setup through resolution. The color-code key assigns each point of view and thread its own pen or sticky tab, and chapter cards group scenes once the order feels right. While drafting, sprint cards log each writing session, and the revision checklist takes every scene through big picture and line level checks. With no dates printed, you can start any book whenever inspiration arrives and reprint just the cards you need.

Who these scene cards are for

• Writers who own a full page novel planner and want cards they can shuffle, sort and lay out on a table
• Plotters who outline with index cards and want matching cards for every scene, beat and subplot
• Pantsers who wrote the draft first and now need to see the book's shape before revising
• Anyone drafting during a 30 day writing challenge or chasing a personal word count goal

Design and print details

• Minimal and elegant, with white pages and soft blush pink accents that save ink
• Wide margins, so a home printer will not clip anything
• Cards trim to exactly 3x5 inches (7.6 by 12.7 cm, three on each sheet) and 4x6 inches (10.2 by 15.2 cm, two on each sheet), guided by crop marks, on US Letter (8.5 by 11 in) or A4 (210 by 297 mm)
• No dates, so a new book can begin whenever you are ready
• The three-act story beats were written just for this set, so no branded plotting method is needed
• Print double sided and turn the paper on its long edge, and the lined or dot grid backs fall right behind the fronts

Inside the novel planning cards: 30 pages

1. 1Cover page listing the contents
2. 2Plotting a novel on cards in five steps (gather, shape, plot, draft, revise), a table showing each card's job with page numbers in both sizes, how cards move through the box (Story bible, Act One, Act Two, Act Three), printing and cutting tips and a guide to color coding
3. 3 to 12Ten 4x6 inch designs, two to a sheet with crop marks. The scene card has scene title and number, circles for act 1, 2 or 3, chapter, POV, setting and when, 5 lines apiece for goal and conflict, an outcome you mark as yes, no, yes but or no and, what changes, word count and the hook into the next scene. The character card lists name, role, age and first scene, looks like, columns for wants, needs and fears, a secret, starts as, ends as and says things like. The setting card covers place, time of day, season and scenes, lines for all five senses, why it matters to the story, what could go wrong here and six circles for mood. The plot beat card holds the beat and its number, act circles, chapter, roughly how far into the book, what happens, what is at stake, how the hero changes and this leads to. The three-act outline card gives the story and central question, 13 numbered beat slots split across Act One, Act Two and Act Three with two lines each, and an ending you mark happy, bittersweet, open or tragic. The chapter card notes title, number, act, POV and words, 5 numbered scene lines, opening and closing hooks, story day and time and threads touched. The subplot card lists the subplot, characters and color, then rows for setup, complication, turn and resolution (chapter, what happens, done box), plus ties to the main plot, the theme it echoes and the payoff scene. The revision card gives 7 big picture and 7 line by line checks with pass 1, 2 and 3 and fix next. The sprint card tracks a word goal, daily target and finish by date, 7 sprint rows (minutes, start count, end count, words, notes), 20 progress blocks worth 5% each and both total and running total. The color-code key has 5 swatches each for point of view characters and plot threads, plus also marks
4. 13 to 14Lined and dot grid reverse sides for the 4x6 inch cards, to print on the back of any 4x6 sheet
5. 15 to 24All ten designs again at 3x5 inches, three to a sheet with crop marks and a little less room (3 lines for goal and conflict, 3 scene lines per chapter card, 5 checks in each revision column, 4 sprint rows and 3 swatches per column)
6. 25 to 26Lined and dot grid reverse sides for the 3x5 inch cards
7. 27Story beat reference on three 3x5 cards, explaining 13 generic three-act beats in a sentence each (ordinary world, inciting incident, hesitation, first turning point, new territory, first pinch, midpoint shift, pressure mounts, lowest point, second turning point, final push, climax, resolution), with one pacing tip for every act
8. 28Tabbed 3x5 inch dividers for Act One, Act Two and Act Three
9. 29 to 30Tabbed 4x6 inch dividers for Act One, Act Two, Act Three and Story bible

Files in your download

• Novel Scene Cards 3x5 & 4x6 in US Letter, a 30 page PDF
• Novel Scene Cards 3x5 & 4x6 in A4, a 30 page PDF
• Read Me First, a brief guide to printing (PDF)

How to download and print

• Check out with PayPal, a debit or credit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Your download page opens as soon as the payment goes through.
• We email the same private download links to you, so you can download your files again later.
• Open the PDF in a free reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader and print at 100% or Actual size.
• Print only the pages you need, as often as you like, for your own personal use.

Before you buy

• You print and cut these cards yourself at home. No printed cards and no card box are sent.
• You receive a digital file only, and nothing is shipped.
• Colors on a screen can look a little different on paper.
• The files are meant for you alone. Please keep them to yourself rather than sharing or reselling them.
• Digital files cannot be returned. If a file will not open or print properly, email us and we will help quickly.
• The cards pair well with a full page novel planner, holding the same kind of planning in a small format you can move around.

How this was made

Designed and written by PetiteDiary. AI tools helped draft parts of the text, and some background scenes in the preview images were created with AI. Every page was designed, reviewed and checked before release.

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