The matrix is one of three views within the plan interface in Novelcrafter. Whilst the grid is the view you’ll have seen most, the matrix view is super powerful.
Here is a recent livestream that we did on the topic. We have provided some brief notes below on use cases for the Matrix.
Mass POV Changes
You’ve outlined your novel, but now you want Bob to be the POV character for chapter 3, 9, and 13, scene 2. You could go and manually edit these via the scene action menu (the "Edit scene POV" option)… but surely we want something easier, and with less effort.
If you go to the matrix view and select "POV" from the "Show"-menu at the top, you can switch a scene between the various POV options with a single click.
Tracking Codex Entries
Is a demon bound to hell… yet somehow is appearing in chapter 6, which is set in the Fae realm? Or is the kindly grandma on holiday in Iceland still able to make your protagonist cookies in America?
The Matrix shows you, like an Excel-spreadsheet, where each and every entry either appears in the scene summary, the scene contents, or when you manually assigned an entry to that scene.
This is actually the default view of the Matrix. However, the "Show"-menu at the top allows you to switch between different types of entries and more.
Labels
Want to track which scenes you’ve already edited twenty times, and those that are still twinkles in your eye? Set up your labels, go to "Label" view, and then add the labels to the scenes you need.
Custom Categories
Custom categories are a way to group related codex entries. By grouping them it is much easier to locate them in the Codex. You can also minimize categories when they are not needed. Think of it as adding more meta data to your codex entries
If you have a mafia or rebellion codex category, you might be interested in seeing in which chapters these guys appear!
In our livestream novel "Only Dogs Left", we want to make sure the rebellion has an overarching presence, but not in every scene. Our protagonist isn’t fully committed to them yet. There should be scenes without the rebellion, to allow an external perspective on what they’re doing.
The matrix view helps you see if something is jarring to the reader or if you're overloading them with world building. For example, can something be done in another location, because it only gets visited once?
We don’t want our antagonists featuring super heavy in the beginning, but by the midpoint they’re interwoven with the plot/protagonist. The matrix view can help here as well.
Subplots
Each character goes through a journey, that may require a subplot! You can track your subplots in the matrix, and see them alongside one another, in order to see at which point in your story the subplots all converge. Here is a comprehensive document regarding subplots in Novelcrafter: https://docs.novelcrafter.com/en/articles/9310212-subplots
Custom Views
What if the other views are too cluttered to get a good overview? This is where the ‘custom’ view comes in - add your entries manually and see things more clearly.
Do your hero and villain ever meet?
Do your romantic interests interact enough for things to be logical?
Editing
The matrix view is perfect for tracking edits that you need. By making a codex entry titled ‘edits’ (or a series of them for different types) you can go into your novel, add the changes you need to make as codex additions, and then return to the matrix to see the overview of changes that you need to make in each chapter.