Example: Character Web
Four figures and the ties between them: Aria, the informant she trusts, the faction he answers to, and the mentor who became her rival. The tension in a story reads at a glance when every link has a type.
Relationship Types
Every edge in the web says what kind of tie it is. Aria and Corvin are allies; Corvin is a member of the Veil Guard; Captain Sera mentored Aria and now rivals her, two edges between the same pair.
- Ally / Rival
- Mentor / Protégé
- Member of / Leads (faction)
Narrative Beats
Tag the moments where a tie changes, and the web keeps the arc: the chapter Sera turned, the session Corvin was caught between his faction and his friend.
- "chapter-3", "arc-1"
- "falls-out", "reconciles"
- "joins-rebellion"
Sub-groups
The Main Cast folder draws a hull around Aria, Corvin, and Sera, so the faction outside it reads as outside at a glance.
- Folders as hulls on the map
- Neighborhood focus around one character
- Hide the tags that are not today's problem
Steps
- Add the core cast and tag them: "protagonist", "antagonist", "mentor".
- Draw typed edges: ally, rival, mentor, member of.
- Put the cast in a folder so the hull shows who is inside the story and who is pressing on it.
- Focus the neighborhood around the protagonist to see the conflicts she is carrying.
Tips
- Use the same relationship types across the whole web, so filtering by them means something later.
- Tag beats when a relationship changes, so the arc is recoverable from the map.
- When the web gets dense, hide a tag or a relationship type for a while.
Character Web Preview
Pan, zoom, and select nodes. Open the Insights tab to run analysis modes or replay how the world grew. This is a read-only preview: in the app you edit freely on any plan, and the graph-analysis modes are part of the paid plans.
Your world is already a web
Every connection you are holding in your head is one you could be looking at. Build your first relationship map free, and see the shape of what you have made.
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