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In Pensiv, file types define “role of thought”

In Pensiv, a file is not just a storage unit.
Each file is a unit of thought with a specific role in the project. Choosing a file type is
not choosing a format;
it’s deciding how you’ll work with this thought.
As flowing text,
as placed structure,
as explored relationships,
or as fixed reference. Pensiv separates these roles by file type.

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When do you need file types?

You don’t need to worry about it at first.
It starts to matter when:
  • You have more and more documents
  • You keep repeating the same setting in different documents
  • The text grows but the structure is hard to see
Then you ask:
Is this thought text, structure, relationship, or reference?
That question is how you choose the file type.

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Main file types in Pensiv

Pensiv has five main file types.
Each has a different role.

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Document (Docs)

Where you turn thoughts into sentences
and finish them in one context.
  • Scene
  • Episode
  • Draft
  • Planning doc
Documents handle flow and narrative.

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Sheet

A file that fixes information you’ll refer to again and again.
  • Character
  • Place
  • Event
  • Item
Sheets are closer to definition than to description.

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Plotboard

Where you arrange the flow of a story or plan
as structural units.
  • Act structure
  • Scene order
  • Step design
The plotboard makes you think
”where will it sit?” before “what will I write?”

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Canvas

Where you experiment visually with relationships
between people, events, and ideas.
  • Emotional flow
  • Relationship map
  • How settings conflict
The canvas connects and arranges thoughts.

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Notes

Where you capture thoughts that aren’t organized yet.
  • Idea sketches
  • Hypotheses
  • Temporary memos
Notes keep things before they’re “finished.”

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File types are roles, not hierarchy

In Pensiv,
no file type is “above” or “central” by default. Each type has a different job:
  • Document → center of narrative
  • Sheet → reference for information
  • Plotboard → frame for structure
  • Canvas → space to try relationships
  • Notes → temporary thinking space
One thought can
start in a document, move to the plotboard,
expand on the canvas,
and return to the document.
That movement is normal.

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File types assume connections

Files in Pensiv are not isolated.
  • A document can reference a sheet
  • A plotboard card can link to a document
  • A canvas can place several files together
File types are not for splitting thoughts;
they’re for looking at the same thought from different angles.

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Summary

Pensiv doesn’t ask “where do I write this?”
It asks:
What role should this thought have right now?
Once you see file types that way,
Pensiv stops being just an organizer
and becomes a system where thoughts move and connect.