---
title: Threads
category: Scene Inspector
tags: scene inspector, plot threads, timeline, thread health
contextKey: sceneInspector.threads
micro: Attach plot thread events to the scene.
quickTitle: Scene plot threads
quickSummary: Thread events describe what this scene does for a plot question, mystery, promise, arc or payoff.
screenshot:
---

# Overview

Threads are specific unresolved story concerns. In the Scene Inspector, a thread event records how this scene affects that concern. On the Timeline, those events become lane markers.

Use importance to show how central a thread is. Use lifecycle events to show whether the scene starts, progresses, reveals, twists, branches, splits, merges, resolves or abandons the thread.

# Why It Matters

Thread events prevent story promises from becoming invisible. If a clue is planted, mark it. If the reader receives a reveal, mark it. If a subplot is intentionally abandoned, mark that too so thread health knows the silence is deliberate.

# Thread Health

Thread health uses the pattern of events to highlight possible neglected, dangling, questionable or abandoned threads. These are prompts for revision, not automatic mistakes.

For example, a clue thread that starts in chapter two and then disappears for ten scenes may be a deliberate slow burn, or it may be a forgotten promise. Marking progress, reveal, merge, resolve or abandon events helps the Timeline show the difference.

# Related Guides

- [Plot Thread Lanes](/Help/Article/timeline.plotThreadLanes)
- [Thread Health](/Help/Article/timeline.threadHealth)
