Tag: planning

Fiction Novel Outline

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Outlining guides the writing process and ensures a cohesive plot by helping authors organize their ideas in a smooth sequence. The following is a basic novel outline that applies to multiple genres.

Introduction:

  • Hook the reader with a description, dialogue, or event. The opening chapter should intrigue the reader, and raise questions or conflict while invoking relatable emotion. Create a sense of urgency, mystery, or problem the protagonist faces.
  • Set the scene with a unique tone and mood. Include vivid descriptions of the setting and sensory details, giving the reader a clear picture of the time, weather, place, or environment. Show how the environment influences the story with cause and effect, weaving the setting into the action with specific imagery. Include relevant historical or cultural elements.
  • Introduce the protagonist’s goals, desires, struggles, personality, and internal monologue.

Inciting Incident:

  • Set the story in motion with a triggering event that disrupts the character’s normal life. Give the character a reason to act, pushing them toward their literal or emotional journey.
  • What are the new challenges and goals the character must address? Keep raising the stakes until the story’s climax resolves the character’s problem.

Rising Action:

  • Raise the stakes higher as complications arise
  • Introduce secondary characters, allies, and enemies.
  • Develop subplots that intersect with the main plot.

Midpoint:

  • The midpoint redefines the direction of the story. A plot twist or dramatic event changes the protagonist’s approach to conflict. New information is usually revealed, intensifying or shifting the character’s goals. Their beliefs and strategies are challenged, forcing developmental growth.

Second Turning Point:

  • Something forces the protagonist to confront their fears or desires, driving them closer to the climax of the story. Magnify the consequences of the character’s choices.

Climax:

  • The climax is the peak point of tension and conflict. The protagonist faces their main challenge emotionally or physically.

Falling Action:

  • Events that follow the climax resolve the conflict, tying up loose ends. This is the aftermath of the character’s actions and decisions, the consequences of the climax.

Resolution:

  • Satisfy the reader by concluding the story. Include reflection, address any remaining subplots, and show the protagonist’s new status quo. It should be clear by now how the events in the novel changed the character and their world.

Outlines are not set in stone. Revisit and revise your outline as your story develops. Share your outline with me today and I’ll provide insight on plot holes and inconsistencies. If you need help constructing an outline, I offer video or email/chat consultations.

Planning A Novel

HALOMARI

Planning or Pantsing? It’s one of the most debated topics in the writing community because some authors swear by “winging it,” while others are perfectionists and meticulous over the writing process. I’m not here to judge the pantsers, but planning a novel helps you structure your story, develop characters, and create an outline of goals that hold you accountable. Whether you’re a newbie or you’ve written novels, planning a book can be daunting, so here are some tips on how to start:

What’s Your Idea?

Inspiration begins with brainstorming techniques such as freewriting, mind mapping, group discussions, role-playing, or people-watching.

Start freewriting by jotting down every thought that comes to your mind without concerning yourself with grammar or spelling; easier said than done for perfectionists, but the more you practice, the easier and quicker the process becomes. Your goal is to write continuously for a set time without censoring yourself or stopping the thought process. Generate new ideas by looping what you’ve written. For example, maybe one sentence, word, or idea sticks out to you most while you’re freewriting. Write that sentence or idea at the top of a new blank page and begin the freewriting process again until you come up with another. Repeat the looping process.

Mind mapping is like creating bubble maps. A map or list helps you organize the information during the brainstorming process. Circle a main thought and web further ideas from its center. This is a great visual aid and allows you to see the relationships between ideas.

Group discussions, role-playing, and people-watching stimulate creativity. Getting feedback from others, using them as inspiration, talking out scenes and dialogue, or observing a person’s behavior can help you accumulate ideas for characters, world-building, and plots.

Your ideas for a novel should excite and motivate you.

Create an Outline

Plot a map of major story events and how they will logically occur, creating a beginning, middle, and end. Start with a summary and central conflict. Who are the main characters and what is the setting? An outline will help you connect the main events, conflicts, and plot twists that affect your characters. You may also consider fleshing out character profiles that include biography, history, motives, traits, and relationships. When deciding on a setting, consider the time period and locations that are most important for world-building. I suggest going ahead and creating a list of sensory details that are important to the setting if you can. Include in your outline: scenes, subplots, and character dialogue.

Point of View

Who is telling the story? Is it one person or multiple characters? Do you want the reader to explore the thoughts and feelings of your characters or do you prefer to distance the reader from them? How do the characters relate to each other? First-person is from the pov of one main character, up close and personal. Third-person steps further away from the character but still focuses on the protagonist. Consider what you want the reader to know about each character. How will each point of view and tone affect them emotionally?

Create a Deadline

You have a plan, now make a schedule! Some authors find this to be most intimidating and too much pressure, while others understand that having a deadline helps them reach their publishing goals. Aim to have several words or pages completed each day or week. This is customizable to mere minutes or hours, depending on your schedule. Stay on track, but don’t be discouraged if you can’t meet each goal. The most important thing is that you keep writing.

Revisions and Editing

Too many newbies jump the gun and throw their manuscripts out to the beta readers before they properly revise. So, how many editing rounds do you need? At least two, in my opinion. Even a beta reader won’t complete a story full of plot holes and inconsistencies. Does your story flow? Are your characters developed enough? Are you missing details, scenes, or dialogue? Have you over or underwritten? Improve the quality of your writing before shipping it off to the betas. My personal recommendation is to do a few editing rounds yourself then one or two betas. Once you’ve revised the book with beta feedback in mind, send it off for a developmental edit. This will help ensure your story structure is solid before it goes off for more betas, copy editing, and proofreading.

Novel outlining will organize your ideas, help you meet deadlines, and make the editing process easier. If you would like more information about each of these steps, would like a consultation to help brainstorm an outline, or if you are in the editing process now and need professional feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I provide multiple options for each step of novel writing and editing with competitive prices that are up for negotiation. Let’s work together to make your book dreams come true! Contact me.