Do you have a fantastic story idea for a novel? If so, and you’ve never written a full length novel before, you might find that one of your main struggles is knowing how to plot out your novel to make it flow well and tell your story.
Below, you will find a guide to plotting out your novel, step-by-step, so that you can really bring your story to life.
Step One – Outline Your Main Story
Write down a simple, one or two line description of your story. For example: a girl witnesses a bank robbery and is taken hostage by the robbers.
Step Two – Develop Your Plot Points
Start to develop your plot points. Some questions to consider are:
- Where does you story start?
- How/why is your character put into the situation they find themselves in?
- How does your story end?
So for our example, your story could start with a chapter from the bank robbers point of view discussing their plans for the robbery.
Your character could be in that position for a simple reason – she banks there – or something more complex – maybe she’s a rogue cop acting on a source of information she refused to share with her colleagues because it came from someone less than savoury. This depends on who your main character is.
Your story could end with the hostage being rescued and the robbers being caught, the hostage being killed and the robbers escaping, or any combination of those points.
Step Three – Flesh It All Out
Develop your beginning, middle and end so it is a full story line. Work in the connecting details, and decide what will happen along the way. Introduce secondary conflicts with the other characters to keep the story interesting.
So for our example, think about how the hostage is taken and where she ends up. What conditions she’s kept in. How the police handle the investigation into the robbery and the abduction.
We could add in a sub plot where the lead investigator on the case is secretly in love with the hostage (assuming she was a cop) and how he lets his emotions rule his head and misses something important.
Step Four – Add in Extra Layers
By this point, you will have a pretty concise flow of events. Read over it and ask yourself if there is enough conflict. The resolution to your conflict should be something that can’t be easily solved – it has to keep the reader guessing and it needs twists and turns to hold their interest.
Add in some extra layers of conflict if needed.
In our example, perhaps the girl could catch one of her abductors unaware and attempt to escape. This could then lead to her conditions being worsened.
Step Five – Get to Know Your Characters
Briefly outline who the main characters in your story are. Get to know them – their appearance, their backstories, their personality, their beliefs. Everything that can influence how they react to their situations.
You are now ready to start writing that first draft. Good luck!
General Tips for Plot Outlining
- Try to fill in any plot holes now – it’s much easier to do this now than when your story is written
- If you don’t have an exact ending planned, don’t worry. The story will often reveal its own ending as it unfolds
- Don’t be afraid to break the rules when you’re writing – if a situation that could improve the story presents itself as you write, take it.
- And don’t be afraid to change the ending of your story if a better one comes to you as you’re writing
Do you have an idea for a novel? Are you more of a planner or a go with the flow writer? Let me know in the comments 🙂
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