Everything you need to know to create compelling emotional story arcs
Narrative Trace is an advanced story outlining engine that creates emotion-driven narrative structures. Instead of starting with plot points, you start with emotional journeys — how your characters feel throughout their story arc.
Great stories are emotional journeys. Whether it's a hero overcoming fear, a romance building anticipation, or a tragedy spiraling into despair, emotions drive compelling narratives. Narrative Trace helps you map these emotional arcs and fill them with meaningful story beats.
The system generates an Obsidian vault — a collection of interconnected markdown files that you can explore, edit, and use as a story bible for your writing project.
Select from classic narrative structures like:
Fine-tune how your emotional journey unfolds using the five key parameters (see section 3 for details).
Click "Build Story" and wait a few moments while Narrative Trace weaves your emotional journey. A ZIP file will download containing your Obsidian vault.
Download it free at obsidian.md. It's a powerful knowledge management tool perfect for writers, perfect for organizing story notes, character development, and worldbuilding.
| Parameter | What It Does | Tips |
|---|---|---|
| Emotional Variability | Controls how strictly your story follows the selected template at key checkpoints |
Lower (0.0-0.2) = Faithful to template Higher (0.3-0.5) = More creative interpretation |
| Narrative Depth | Total number of emotional steps (chapters) in your story |
25-50 = Short story 50-100 = Novella 100-250 = Novel-length depth |
| Narrative Drive | How directly emotions move toward target states |
0.3-0.5 = Winding, complex emotional paths 0.7-0.9 = Direct, focused character arcs |
| Noise Level | General randomness and spontaneity in emotional changes |
0.2-0.4 = Predictable, smooth progression 0.6-0.8 = Chaotic, realistic emotions |
| Emotional Pacing | Minimum chapters per emotional arc phase |
1-3 = Quick arc transitions 5-10 = Developed, extended phases 10+ = Deep, slow-burn arcs |
Your generated vault contains two types of pages:
High-level summaries of each major story arc. Each arc page includes:
This file shows the emotional journey across the entire second act of your story, highlighting which emotions peak and valley throughout this major narrative phase.
Detailed breakdowns of individual chapters with actionable story beats. Each chapter page includes:
#Slow, #Narrative, #Chaotic, #Breakneck)| Beat Type | Magnitude Range | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| Micro Beat | 1-5 points | Small moments, subtle changes |
| Progressive Beat | 5-10 points | Steady development, building tension |
| Turning Point | 10-20 points | Significant shifts, plot pivots |
| Integration Pause | 20-40 points | Major realizations, processing change |
| Breakthrough | 40-60 points | Dramatic revelations, huge shifts |
| Life Changing | 60-100 points | Transformative moments, climaxes |
Each chapter is automatically tagged with a pacing suggestion based on total emotional change:
Green bars = Emotion decreased (often positive: fear going down, calmness going up)
Red bars = Emotion increased (could be positive or negative depending on context)
Blue bars = No change
Narrative Trace tracks 27 distinct emotions, each on a scale of 0-100:
Don't feel constrained by the exact numbers. Use them as guidelines and inspiration. If a chapter shows Fear going from 20 → 75, think about what events could cause that spike, and what your character does in response.
Your Obsidian vault is a creative scaffold, not a rigid blueprint. Feel free to add, remove, or modify anything. The emotional arcs are meant to inspire you, not constrain you. Trust your instincts as a storyteller!
Experiment with different settings! Each story type and parameter combination creates a unique emotional journey. The best way to learn is to generate a few vaults and explore them.