Merging and Deleting

Sooner or later, every writer needs to fold two chapters together, retire a scene that no longer fits, or cut a chapter that the story has outgrown. Penpoint makes these moves easy, and pairs every one of them with a confirmation step, so you always get a chance to back out before anything is lost.

Merging Chapters

Right-click (or Ctrl+click on Mac) any chapter in the outline and look for Merge with [Chapter N], where the chapter name matches the chapter directly above the one you right-clicked. Merging only ever runs in one direction: the chapter you right-click gets absorbed into the chapter above it. Because of that, the menu item is hidden on the very first chapter in the book; there’s nothing for it to merge into.

When you click it, a confirmation window opens explaining what’s about to happen: for example, “Append Chapter 4 to Chapter 3.” Cancel sits right next to the Merge button, so it’s easy to back out the moment you have second thoughts. Confirm only when the direction looks right.

Once a chapter merge goes through:

• The absorbed chapter’s scenes move into the kept chapter, appended after the kept chapter’s existing scenes.
• Each scene keeps its own prose, blocks, and assignments (the characters, locations, items, and story arc plot points you've attached to that scene). Every scene that was in the absorbed chapter still has the same characters, locations, items, and other details attached, just under the kept chapter now.
• The absorbed chapter’s description and author notes are appended onto the kept chapter’s description and author notes, separated by a blank line.
• The absorbed chapter is then removed, and every chapter after it renumbers automatically.

Merging Scenes

Scenes work the same way, just one level down. Right-click a scene and choose Merge with scene above. The scene above is kept, and the scene you right-clicked is absorbed into it: its prose appended after, its block fields folded in. The menu item is hidden on the first scene in a chapter, since there’s no scene above to absorb it.

A confirmation window opens here too, naming the two scenes involved and offering both Cancel and Merge. Once confirmed, the absorbed scene is removed and the chapter’s remaining scenes resequence on their own.

Deleting a Chapter

Right-click a chapter and choose Delete Chapter to remove it. Before anything is actually deleted, a confirmation window opens, and it’s deliberately specific so you know exactly what you’re agreeing to.

The window spells out that deleting the chapter will:

• Remove all character, location, and item assignments tied to that chapter.
• Renumber all subsequent chapters automatically.
• Delete all chapter content and notes.

At the bottom of the window, Cancel sits beside Delete Chapter. The scary action and the way out are right next to each other on purpose: if any of those bullet points give you pause, click Cancel and nothing changes.

Deleting a Scene

Right-click a scene and choose Delete Scene. As with chapters, a confirmation window opens before anything is removed, listing what the deletion will affect: the scene’s character, location, and item assignments; its content, notes, and field data; and any links between this scene and your story arcs (the plot beats you’ve placed in arcs) will be removed. The arcs themselves stay safe.

And, again, Cancel lives right next to Delete Scene. Read the list, decide, and click whichever one fits. There’s no rush, and nothing is gone until you confirm.

Backing Up Before Big Changes

Merges and deletions on the Chapters page aren’t reversible after you confirm them. The confirmation windows are designed to be the last clear chance to step back: once you click through them, the change is committed.

If you’re about to make a sweeping change (collapsing several chapters, cutting a whole scene you might want back), consider taking a fresh backup of your book first. That way you have a known-good copy to restore from if you decide a few days later that the cut chapter belonged in the book after all.