FEATURE REQUEST: LOCK TEXT TO SPECIFIC PAGES
a three-act pitch disguised as a cry for help
ACT ONE
[inciting incident]
I just wrote the teaser for my TV pilot. It’s eight pages kids want five. Now I’m hacking through scenes like a hungover editor on a bender. If only there were a feature to freeze future pages while I trim. That way Act Two doesn’t disappear into the void when I cut eight paragraphs on page one.
[debate]
Writers demand page precision—beat sheets, act breaks, studio mandates, contest rules. But most apps treat scripts like fragile noodles. You tweak page three and your cliffhanger slides into page fourpunk. Final Draft locks pages, sure—but only at the final print stage. That feature is too late. Writers need to lock specific lines or placeholders to pages during writing. Want your midpoint reveal on page 55? Lock it. Want a slugline to sit at the top of page 17 like clockwork? Lock it. No matter what chaos you cause earlier, those elements stay anchored.
ACT TWO
[break into two]
Here’s how it could work
Writers select a single page, a range, or a snippet of text and lock it to a page number. When they rewrite, locked sections don’t move. If they’re polishing Act Two, they can lock Acts One and Three. If they’re revising scene 25, they lock everything after that. When they reach the last allowed line, the script simply stops. No creepy flogging with warnings. Just a firm wall that says “You’re done here.” Discipline without micromanaging. Focus without turning off creativity.
[fun and games]
Interface idea: a lock‑pages input field where users list ranges like 1 to 5, 8, 9, 14–18. Lock what matters, work on the rest. For control enthusiasts: allow locking just a portion of text within a page, like one dialogue line or slugline that has to stay. Everyone else can move around it like an intern trying to dodge coffee spills in the writer’s room.
[midpoint twist]
This isn’t feature creep. It’s writer therapy. Locking individual lines or blocks of text to specific pages gives structure without turning rewriting into a demolition derby. Surgical, satisfying—and nobody else offers it. Not Final Draft, not Highland, not Google Docs disguised as creative software.
ACT THREE
[bad guys close in]
Right now, any rewrite is a gamble. You fix Act One and Part Three vanishes. Then you resort to obscure hacks: multi‑file scripts, fake line breaks, or praying your “DO NOT TOUCH” note holds up. We’ve all been there. It sucks.
[climax]
With true page locking, writers stay in control. Structure is safe, creativity is free. You hit page targets, protect pacing, iterate boldly. Writing stops feeling like bomb defusal and starts feeling like writing again.
[final image]
If Arc Studio offers this, writers aren’t leaving. Not for a midnight contest deadline. Not for a rewrite fueled by caffeine and despair. Not even if Celtx came back and gave out lifetime passes. We’ll stay.
Writing.
Efficiently.
On the right page.
SUMMARY FOR DEV TEAM
Purpose: implement UI and logic for locking text elements to fixed page numbers during composition
Core features:
• ability to lock entire pages, ranges of pages, or selected text blocks to specific page indices
• locked content must remain immovable and uneditable unless explicitly unlocked
• edits before or after must not alter pagination or content of locked pages
• editing within unlocked areas remains normal, but no overflow into locked content
Implementation notes:
• map text elements to internal page indices using existing page break/rendering logic
• maintain lock state metadata (boolean lock flag per page index, element ID, or text span)
• intercept edit buffer events to block insertions or deletions that would affect locked content or its position
• provide input field UI where users can specify locked pages or ranges (e.g. “1–5, 8, 14–18”)
• support selection-level locking: allow users to highlight specific text and apply a “lock to page” command (via right-click or formatting toolbar), keeping that selection fixed to its current page regardless of upstream edits
• this functionality differs from production-mode locking. It operates during the writing process, in real time, within the editor’s composition engine.