Craft an unforgettable story —

how to outline your novel like a pro

If you want to write a story your readers will remember, come up with a plot and characters that hook them from the first chapter. Great writing requires an exciting hook, interesting characters your reader can root for, and a story that keeps them turning the pages.

Should you outline your story or not? Even if you’re a pantser—someone who writes by the seat of their pants without an outline to guide them—you still need a thorough understanding of what makes a story work. A pantser will write the story as it comes to them. If they’re outstanding writers like Stephen King, they intuitively understand the rules of storytelling. 

If you stare at a blank page instead, you might benefit from creating an outline. But maybe you don’t fall squarely into either camp, and you just need a loose idea of where things are going.

Outline methods

If you’re into plotting, you probably want to follow one of the popular plotting methods available. You might like the Snowflake Method that starts with one sentence and gradually gets expanded to a full-length novel by adding more detail as you move along.

I like the 3-Act Story structure, which is also the underlying framework in Save the Cat Beat Sheets. But there are several ways to plot.

For a new writer, story structure is important. But it’s more important to get that first novel written, even with the understanding that it likely won’t be a bestseller. Like the first pancake which doesn’t always turn out right. To keep things simple and prevent overwhelm, check out the following ideas to get your story plotted.

1.      Start with the elevator pitch

Before you start typing, naming characters, or setting the scene, come up with an elevator pitch for your novel. The elevator pitch is a great way to see if you have a good enough hook to keep readers (and yourself) interested in a full-length novel. You can share your elevator pitch with as many people as possible to see if you’re onto something.

Describe your story in one sentence using the following format:

Your character must do something to reach the goal of the story or else.

Don’t worry about naming your character for this step. Instead of John Doe, the first part should describe what’s important about them, such as a character trait or profession or both.

The hero must do something. That something should be overcoming a flaw, accepting himself, change something about himself, or learning a skill. It has to be something pretty big to overcome the obstacles in his way.

He has to reach the goal of the story. The goal is part of what you’re selling the reader on at the beginning of the book. Whether he has to save the world, defeat the villain, rescue the innocent, or get the girl, he can’t accomplish it until he undergoes the transformation required of him.

Last but not least, the elevator pitch must include an or else. Why would the reader care about your story? What are the stakes if your hero doesn’t do what is required of him to reach the goal of the story?

Creating an elevator pitch is going to take some practice. But if the sentence you come up with doesn’t excite you, you’ll have to keep working on your story idea. Once you nail your one-sentence summary, you’re off to an impressive start for an intriguing book.

2.      Get to know your characters

Now that you know what the story is about, it’s time to dive deep into the characters. What do they want? What is in their way? What are they struggling with? Their current struggle could be rooted in something that happened in the past. It could be a curveball thrown their way. But the story and the obstacles they have to overcome need to have special meaning for the principal character.

Not that you should brain-dump everything you know about this character into the first scene or chapter of your book. It would only bore your reader. You can drip feed your reader what they need to know as the story goes along. But without having a good idea who your character is and what they want most in life, the story will feel flat.

3.      Pick a setting

Some authors spend a lot of time on researching and creating the perfect setting for your story. While setting plays a role, it’s not as important as the right story and intriguing characters. It’s unnecessary to describe everything in detail. In fact, the reader wants to use their imagination to see the scene with their own eyes.

Take some time to think about when and where your story takes place. Location, time in history, climate, etc. Then focus on the feel of the place and share that in your story as the scenes unfold.

4.      Plunge your character into deep trouble

Now that you have the elevator pitch, the character, and the setting, it’s time to start your story by plunging your character into deep trouble. Everything they do to get out of trouble only makes it worse. At some point, it just seems hopeless. In the end, the hero or heroine has learned something from all the trouble that allows them to overcome their fatal flaw.

5.      Teach your hero a lesson

To create a book that makes a satisfying read, your hero must learn a lesson. They have to learn a fundamental lesson about life itself or themselves—not anything benign like how to tie your shoes. And once they learn their lesson, they can achieve the goal they have set for themselves, even if the goal has changed along the course of the story.

There you have. Ready…set…write!