Skip to content
Dabble HelpHelp

Organize your manuscript with Parts

A long book has a way of turning your sidebar into a scroll marathon. Thirty chapters, forty, and finding Act Two means a lot of squinting.

A Part fixes that. It’s a container that groups Chapters together, so you can split a big manuscript into clear divisions: acts, volumes, time periods, or point-of-view sections.

This doc covers adding a Part, filling it with chapters, and giving it a name.

We’ll cover:

Before you begin

Section titled “Before you begin”

Parts are optional. A book doesn’t need them, and Chapters can sit directly under a Book. Reach for a Part when you want to gather several chapters under one heading.

Here’s the manuscript order: Book, then Part (optional), then Chapter, then Scene.

A Part can hold Chapters and Sections. Not Scenes directly, and not other Parts.

Add a Part

Section titled “Add a Part”

Adding a Part takes a few seconds.

  1. In the left sidebar, find the Book you want to add a Part to.
  2. Open the ”…” menu on the Book (or use the ”+” create menu).
  3. Under Add new…, choose Part.
  4. The Part appears in the sidebar, auto-numbered (Part 1, Part 2, and so on). Numbering restarts in each book.

A book's … menu open, with the Add New… section offering Chapter, Section, and Part.

Move chapters into a Part

Section titled “Move chapters into a Part”

A new Part starts empty. To fill it, drag your existing chapters in.

  1. In the sidebar, press and hold anywhere on a Chapter. The whole row is the grab area.
  2. Drag it over the Part row. A line shows where the chapter will land, indented to the depth it will sit at, so you can see it’s going inside the Part rather than next to it.
  3. Release. Any Scenes inside that chapter move with it.

The sidebar mid-drag: a chapter is being dragged, its row outlined, and a blue line sits between two rows showing exactly where it will land.

You can drag whole Parts to reorder them too, and the chapters inside follow along.

Rename a Part

Section titled “Rename a Part”

An untitled Part shows its auto-number (for example, Part 1) as a placeholder. Give it a real name whenever you’re ready.

  1. Double-click the Part in the sidebar, or open its ”…” menu and choose Rename Part.
  2. Type a name, such as “Act One” or “The War Years”.

Tips

Section titled “Tips”
  • Use Parts for big story divisions: acts, volumes, timelines, or point-of-view characters.
  • Collapse a Part in the sidebar to hide its chapters and focus on another section of your book.
  • Numbering is per book. Adding or removing a Part renumbers the remaining Parts automatically.

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”
  • A chapter snaps back when you drag it. The drop target only accepts valid children. A Part accepts Chapters and Sections, so make sure you are dropping a Chapter (or Section) onto the Part, not a Scene.
  • You cannot drop a Part inside another Part. Parts do not nest. Keep Parts as direct children of the Book.
Section titled “Related”