A free Notion tracker that shows you exactly where your book's big idea shows up — and where it's gone quiet for 80 pages without you noticing.

Most novel-planning tools track plot: beat sheets, character sheets, timelines. None of them track the thing that makes literary and philosophical fiction actually work — the idea underneath the story, and whether it's developing or just sitting there. This tracker is that missing layer, on its own.

What this does

• Tags every scene to the idea it's exploring — not just what happens, but what it's for.
• Flags scenes with no thematic function, so they're visible instead of hidden in a 300-page document.
• Shows the last chapter each theme appeared in, so you can see at a glance if a theme has gone quiet.
• Works entirely inside Notion — duplicate it into your own workspace in one click.

This is the same tracking engine at the core of the full Undercurrent system — the plot, character, and symbol tracking layers aren't included here, just the thematic engine on its own.

How to use it

1. Open Themes & Questions below and add the philosophical question(s) your book explores.
2. Open Scenes and log your chapters/scenes, tagging each one to the theme it engages and marking whether it advances, complicates, or resolves that theme.
3. Check the ⚠️ No Thematic Function view in Scenes regularly — anything that shows up there hasn't been tied to your book's idea yet.
4. Check the Last Chapter Appeared column on each theme — if a number looks stale compared to how far along your manuscript is, that theme has gone quiet.

Want the full system?

This free tracker is the thematic engine only. The full Undercurrent system adds plot tracking, character worldview arcs, a symbol/motif log, a reference library, and a query/pitch prep page — all cross-linked to this same thematic engine. Get the full Undercurrent system →

🧠 Themes & Questions

📝 Scenes