I’ve noticed that a lot of writers, both new and experienced, are really freaked out by the question of how to outline a novel. And even those who do outline their stories regularly don’t always have a way to outline a novel quickly.
Every time I log onto Facebook, I see calls for help like:
“Can anyone give me some tips on outlining a novel?”
“I’m new to outlining, how do I do it?”
“Does anyone know how to outline a novel fast?”
“What even is an outline?”
Let me tell you something.
Outlining is the best thing ever.
An outline, even one you don’t end up following, gives your story direction. It keeps your beginning from dragging, your middle from sagging, and your end from being supremely unsatisfying. It even makes writing easier, since you’ll never again have to stare at a white page and wonder, “What am I going to write about?”
And, the best part: outlining is easy.
I saw a Facebook friend post something to the effect of, “I’m taking the day today to outline my next novel!”
Immediately, I thought, “A day? An outline only takes an hour. Maybe two, if you haven’t fleshed out your characters.”
So I’m writing this article to share my One-Hour Outline process with you. Soon, you’ll be teaching other writers how to outline a novel fast!
How to Outline a Novel Fast: Supplies
- A stack of index cards
- A pencil
- A basic story idea with a character or two and a central conflict
- One hour
- Room to work. I prefer to have an area cleared on the floor for this–you’ll see why.
Step 1: Write what you know
What do you know about your story? If you’re like me, chances are you’ve at least imagined a main character or two, and a few important scenes. If all you have is a vague aesthetic, that’s okay too. Just use what you have.
First, take a deep breath. Close your eyes, and picture your characters (or aesthetic) as clearly as you can. Don’t worry if the image looks murky–we’ll get to characters in another article.
Next, write down every scene you’ve pictured, each one on a separate index card. You don’t have to write down every detail, but write enough so that you’ll remember which scene you were picturing later. Use what you’ve imagined about your story to extrapolate as many scenes as you can.
For example, I’m writing a story where the main character, Greta, can fly. Naturally, then, when I first started outlining, I wrote “Greta discovers she can fly” on an index card as a scene idea.
Finally, don’t worry if some of your scenes sound stupid or boring. Not all of them will make the final cut. Just get as many ideas out as you can–remember, this is How to Outline a Novel Fast, not How to Outline Perfectly On the First Try. If you figure out how to do that, let me know!
Step 2: Make your plot skeleton
Skeletons are cool. They hold us together, help us move effectively, and even allow us to be flexible. Similarly, a good “bare-bones” outline, or a plot skeleton, should hold your story together, help your characters move smoothly from one section to the next, and leave room for improvisation.
But, how do you build a plot skeleton from scratch? (Hint: it involves index cards. Everything involves index cards.)
I’ll go into more detail on this in a minute, but for now, take nine (9) index cards and label the bottom-left corner of the front side with the following terms, one term per card:
- Inciting incident
- Point of no return
- First plot point
- First pinch point
- Midpoint
- Second pinch point
- Third plot point
- Climax
- Closing scene
Finished? How did you write the phrases? I prefer to write in tiny, all-caps letters for this, but you do you.
Anyway, now you should have a stack of disjointed, random scene ideas, plus the nine cards that make up your plot skeleton. If you’re still with me, great job!
Now, let’s define each bone in your plot skeleton, and then we can start giving the story some muscle. Each of those nine cards represents one of these key scenes. To be able to outline a novel fast, it’s really important to understand what each of these key scenes should accomplish.
How to Outline a Novel 101: Key Scenes
Act 1
Inciting incident. This is the event that launches the story, the event that everything else follows. In The Hunger Games, for example, the inciting incident is Katniss volunteering to take Prim’s place at the reaping. In many mystery novels, the inciting incident is the discovery of a body or a missing person.
Point of no return. Also called the key event, this scene marks the point where your protagonist becomes personally involved in the story’s conflict and is no longer able to back out of the narrative. In Peter Pan, the point of no return is when Wendy decides to leave her home and fly to Neverland.
Act 2
First plot point. If Wendy’s point of no return is her decision to leave home, then her long flight to Neverland is the first plot point. While the point of no return and the first plot point often happen back-to-back, they’re not always the same event. The first plot point represents the first action that the main character takes toward entering (and eventually solving) the conflict.
First pinch point. Each pinch point is an event that reminds the main character or the audience of the antagonist. An excellent pinch point will clarify what’s at stake, reveal new details about the nature of the antagonist, and remind the audience of the power the antagonist wields. For example, in The Empire Strikes Back, the first pinch point is when The Emperor tells Darth Vader to hunt down Luke Skywalker.
Midpoint. This marks the middle of the story and also serves as the second plot point. “The Moment of Truth,” the midpoint is the scene where the character finally realizes the true nature of the central conflict, where the character stops reacting and starts acting. For example, the midpoint of Pride & Prejudice is Mr. Darcy’s proposal and Lizzy’s refusal. This scene reveals their feelings for each other, both positive and negative, and puts everything out in the open. This allows them both to react to the conflict in full knowledge.
Second pinch point. When the protagonist believes that he or she has everything figured out, the second pinch point reminds us that the protagonist still needs to defeat a powerful antagonist. In A New Hope, the second pinch point is when Darth Vader kills Obi-Wan Kenobi. That’s right, the second pinch point should really hurt.
Act 3
Third plot point. You know how in every story, the protagonist has a scene where everything seems dark and discouraging and success seems impossible? When the protagonist rises above their hopelessness and comes up with a plan of action to defeat the antagonist once and for all, that’s the third plot point. In Mulan, the third plot point is when her true gender is revealed and Shang abandons her in the snow.
Climax. A great climax should resolve external conflicts in the story as well as any internal struggles within the protagonist. This is the scene that the whole story has led up to. In Mulan, the climax is the scene where she defeats the Hun leader.
Closing scene. The last scene should bring your story full circle and show the lasting effects of your protagonist’s successes or failures. For example, who can forget the powerful closing scene of A New Hope, when Han and Luke receive medals of valor from Leia? It shows just how far Luke and Han have come, from whiny farm boy and selfish scoundrel to slightly less whiny and selfish war heroes.
Now, Back to How to Outline a Novel
Whew. That was a lot of reading. It’s okay if you’re feeling overwhelmed with all of these key scenes, especially if this is your first time hearing about them. You don’t have to memorize them.
Look back at your pile of disjointed scene ideas. If any of these fit the description of one of these key scenes, go ahead and copy that scene idea onto the index card with the appropriate key scene label. It’s okay if none of your scene ideas fit the key scenes–in that case, just skip straight to step 3.
If you’re anything like me, it’s unlikely that you’ll know anything about your story’s pinch points right now. But, one of the scene ideas you wrote down earlier might make a good inciting incident, midpoint, climax, or closing scene. (Those are usually the ones I figure out first.)
Step 3. Choose your story length and scene length
Let’s take a break from the index cards for a moment. What genre are you writing in? Knowing your genre will help you determine the final word count of your story. And remember, anything under 40,000 (40k) words is a novella, not a novel!
- Cozy mystery: 75k-90k
- Romance: 50k-90k
- Thriller: 80k-100k
- Young adult: 60k-80k
- Contemporary fiction: 75k-100k
- Science fiction: 90k-120k
- Epic fantasy: 80k-120k
For this process, you’ll also need to decide how long each scene should be. I usually try to give each scene in my book around 1000 words, which makes the next step of my outlining process very easy.
It’s important to remember, though, that most books are a mix of longer and shorter scenes. Earlier scenes or climax scenes might be longer, while scenes in the middle and end might be shorter. Don’t be rigid about word counts, just have a basic plan in mind.
Step 4. Number your cards
Here comes the math part! Don’t be scared, I hate math too. This is easy, I promise–otherwise, this wouldn’t be an effective way to outline a novel quickly.
First, calculate the number of scenes in your book by dividing the total word count by scene length. If I’m writing a 48k novel (for people with short attention spans, like me), and each scene is 1k words, then I have 48 scenes. Simple!
Then, label the inciting incident index card #1 in the bottom-right corner. Some storytellers prefer not to make the first scene the same as the inciting incident, but I like to jump right in. Next, label your closing scene index card with your last number–in my last example, I’d label my closing scene card as #48.
Next, find the midpoint of your story–it would be scene #24 in my last example. (Again, I’m not horribly rigid about the mathematical accuracy of this.) Label your midpoint card with the right number. Do it again with your third plot point, which always goes around the three-quarter mark of the story (#36).
The first plot point is right in between the inciting incident and midpoint (#12), and the point of no return is the scene before your first plot point (#11). The first pinch point goes directly in between the first plot point and the midpoint (#18), and the second pinch point lands between the midpoint and the third plot point (#30). The climax fits right between the third plot point and the closing scene (#42).
Now that you have your entire plot skeleton quantified and labeled, you’re ready for the very last step!
Step 5. Fill in the blanks
Lay your key scene index cards out in a horizontal row chronologically.
NOTE: Since the point of no return comes just before the first plot point, I always put that card at the end of the inciting incident column. Similarly, I always put the closing scene at the end of the climax column.
Now, look back at your pile of scene ideas. Where in the story would they go?
If one of your scenes, for example, seems like it would happen after the climax but before the closing scene, place it underneath the climax index card to create a column. Repeat this process with all the scene ideas in your pile. If you think of more scene ideas during this step, write them down and add them into the appropriate column.
Once you’ve run out of scene ideas, count the number of cards in each column and compare it to the number of scenes you need in that section. For example, if I have nine new scene ideas in the inciting incident (#1) column, that’s all I need to fill in the blanks before the point of no return (#10).
If you need more scenes to fill in different sections, think about what events need to happen to drive the story from one key scene to the next. For more details on what should happen between each pair of key scenes, check out these two amazingly helpful blog series:
- Helping Writers Become Authors: The Secrets of Story Structure
- The Novel Smithy: The Complete Story Structure Series
Step 6: Celebrate your finished outline
That’s it, you’re done learning how to outline a novel quickly! By following this system, you’ll be able to create a simple, thorough outline in an hour or two.
How did this outlining process work for you? Please, let me know in the comments.
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Happy writing!