27 Chapters to a Better Novel

After reading K.M. Weiland's OUTLINING YOUR NOVEL, I'm a reformed pantser who's seen the light. I downloaded a Scrivener template based on her book, but the template horrified me. It stressed me out. I couldn't used it.

Some messing around on YouTube led to my discovering this novel outlining video. Little did I know that it would change my life. The video is long, but it's worth the watch. The outline method presented in the video is as easy to understand as it is effective.

In the video, user Kaytastic presents a 27 chapter novel outline. The story structure for a 27 chapter novel is as follows:

Act I
Set up- Introduce hero & ordinary world.
C1: Introduction (set up).
C2: Inciting incident (conflict).
C3: Immediate reaction (resolution).
Conflict- A problem disrupts hero’s life.
C4: Reaction (set up).
C5: Action (conflict).
C6: Consequence (resolution).
Resolution- Hero’s’ life has changed direction.
C7: Pressure (set up).
C8: Pinch (conflict).
C9: Push (resolution).

Act II
Set up – Hero explores new world.
C10: New world (set up).
C11: Fun & games (event/conflict).
C12: Old world contrast (resolution).
Conflict – Hero encounters crisis of new world.
C13: Build up (set up).
C14: Midpoint (conflict).
C15: Reversal (resolution).
Resolution – Hero dedicates to finding a solution.
C16: Reaction (set up).
C17: Action (conflict).
C18: Dedication (resolution).

Act III
Set up – Hero faces defeat, victory seems impossible.
C19: Trials (set up).
C20: Pinch (event/conflict).
C21: Darkest moment (resolution).
Conflict – Hero must find power and take action.
C22: Power within (set up).
C23: Action (conflict).
C24: Converge (resolution).
Resolution – Hero fights and wins, resolving quest.
C25: Battle (set up).
C26: Climax (conflict).
C27: Resolution (resolution).

This structure is so easy to set up using Scrivener. For me, it's a great fit because it allows me to see where I'm going without making me feel too constricted. If you're looking for a new outline method, check out those videos and try it for yourself.

How do you feel about outlining? What do you think of this 27 chapter method?

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Writer @brianawrites shares a simple and effective 27 chapter outline method (via @kat_tastic). (Click to tweet)

Think outlines are too complicated? @brianawrites and @kat_tastic might be able to help. (Click to tweet) 

Plotting Smarter with Freytag's Pyramid

I am not one of those writers who outlines everything. I despise outlines. I feel like it's more work to write a decent outline than it is to hammer out fifteen pages in an hour. I thought I would never grow to appreciate outlining--until I learned all about Freytag's Pyramid.

Freytag's Pyramid, for those of you who are a little confused, is a pattern used to display the conflict progression in a story. Most of you have seen it before, even if you didn't know what it was called. The pyramid looks like this:

It's fine if that picture doesn't do it for you. It doesn't do it for me, either. Let me explain what all those words mean for the sake of your novel or short story.

1. Exposition. This term refers to the start of a story. The exposition lets reader's get a sense of the setting, characters, atmosphere, and sometimes even the conflict of a piece. In order to move from the exposition, there must be some kind of inciting incident that presents the protagonist with a problem to solve.


2. Rising action. This part of the plot revolves around complications. Obstacles from the antagonist, minor characters, or other elements such as nature prevent the protagonist from reaching his or her goals. More conflicts arise, and tension mounts.


3. Climax. The point of highest drama in a literary work. Everything that has been simmering under the surface comes to a head during the climax. It is also referred to as the "turning point" because it changes everything for the protagonist--for better or worse.


4. Falling Action. The danger has passed, the climax ends, and the main conflict begins to wrap itself up.


5. Denouement. Also called the resolution, the denouement refers to the end of the piece, after all the loose ends have been tied up into a bow. Side conflicts are resolved and the characters in the story return to their normal lives, somehow different than they were at the exposition.

See? Geometry can be exciting, even to fiction writers. But how can you use Freytag's Pyramid as a plotting tool? This is a loose outline I compiled using this technique:

1. Sharon Prince is a struggling actress searching for work in New York City. She's been living in Manhattan for a couple of months, and she has yet to find a job. When the rent for her apartment goes up, she realizes she has to become a waitress.


2. Sharon waits tables at a diner in Times Square. She doesn't get paid much, but at least she's making money. A customer leaves her a massive tip one night. She thinks she will finally be able to make rent.


3. On her back back to the apartment, Sharon accidentally leaves her wallet on the subway. She's sure someone has stolen it. She breaks down crying on the front stoop of her building.


4. A man from the subway approaches Sharon and tries to comfort her. He hands her the wallet she thought had been stolen. He tells her that she is too pretty to cry. She tells him what's happening. He suggests she attend a casting call taking place the next morning.


5. Sharon gives the guy her number and skips up the steps. She pays her rent and returns to her apartment to practice her audition.

As you can see, this outline is rough, but it should be enough to get my point across. The great thing about Freytag's Pyramid is that it allows you to get the sense of security from the outline while allowing for some breathing room. The next time you want to plot your story, experiment with this simple technique.

How to Write a Novel in a Month (The Easy Way!)

Today I stumbled across this interesting article by Maya Rodale with The Huffington Post. Written in honor of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), this articles gives some tips and tricks for cranking out a novel in close to thirty days. This method is the one I've been using for my novels, so I thought I'd share. Here's what it says:

November is National Novel Writing Month and in honor of that, I thought I'd share my system (developed over the course of writing 10-plus books) for quickly producing a good novel without a ton of angst and anguish.
If cutting yourself off from the world (and Internet) at a five-star hotel with excellent room service is not an option, try the following:

Know your characters. A novel won't work without fully developed, compelling characters. Take the time to know the hero and heroines story before you start plotting or writing. You may never explicitly use this information in the text, but it will enhance your story.

An outline is totally worth your time. I know, you want to start immediately and see where the muse leads you. Well, the muse is a trickster and may lead you down a dead end path. Or perhaps she's using Apple Maps. With an outline, you know where you're heading and have an idea of the route you're going to take, which makes for a smoother journey. You can always take side trips.

Draft #1: Focus on dialogue.
Estimate word count: 40,000
The first draft of my novels is entirely dialogue. This is the most direct way to make sure your characters are telling the story and moving it forward. Unless it's a multicharacter scene, I won't even include tags like "he said" or "she said." If you can't tell when your hero or heroine is talking without identifying it, then it's a sign you need to go back and work on their character and voice.

Draft #2: Crank out everything else.
Estimated word count: 65,000
This is another FAST draft full of description and everything else. It's full of really awkward sentences and misplaced punctuation marks. I add lots of "TKs" (wherever something is "to come") when I'm not sure of a word but just want to keep going.

>Print, read, make notes. Print out a copy and read it with a pen in hand. You're not just looking for typos or ways to tighten your sentences, but also trying to figure out how the story hangs together before you write so many words that it's a nightmare to relocate scenes. Likewise, it's far easier on the soul to cut fluffy, useless scenes when you haven't invested much time in them.

Draft 3: Craft.
Word count: 80,000
This is where it starts to get good. You've cut the rubbish scenes, sketched out some new ones. I go over each scene, line by line, really crafting my sentences by cutting useless words and selecting the very best ones to use. This is slow going, but it's where the magic happens.

Draft 4: Give it to someone to read and do something else.
Find someone willing to read your manuscript with fresh eyes while you allow your eyes to rest by working on something else entirely. I like to get a few people to read it, if I can. And then I do not revise until I've gotten everyone's feedback. If three out of three people say your first chapter is weak, it is. If one person says your heroine is vapid, one person loves her, and another commented on something else...well, that's a muddle to sort though and it's up to you.

Revise. Again.

Revise. Again.

Send it off into the world. After spending years in the writing world, I suspect that this is the step where most authors fail. This is what separates the published from the unpublished. I think there are many excellent books tucked under beds...but you're not competing with those. You're competing with the ones composed by brave authors.

So that, more or less, is the process for writing a novel in a short amount of time with limited stress and anxiety. All it comes down to is prewriting, outlining, and blood, sweat, and tears poured onto your paper or over your keyboard.

What do you think? How do you write a novel?

Selections from Pixar's 22 Rules for Storytelling

Note: This information comes from the following article. I cannot take credit for any of these rules.

When I stumbled on Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling, I realized the company knows exactly what they're doing. It's clear to me now why Pixar is the leading contender when it comes to film and animation. Here are a few of my favorite points:

#2: Keep in mind what's interesting to you as an audience, not what's fun to do as a writer. They can be very different.

#7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard. Get yours working up front.

#9: When you're stuck, make a list of what wouldn't happen next. More often than not, the material that gets you unstuck appears.

#15: If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.

#19: Coincidences that get characters into trouble are great. Coincidences that get them out of it is cheating.

#22: Putting it on paper allows you to start fixing it. If a perfect idea stays in your head, you'll never share it with anyone.

These are just a few of the excellent tips Pixar offers about storytelling. Interested? Read them all. You just might learn something.

What do you think? What is your favorite storytelling tip?

The Index Card Method

A little while ago, I introduced you to the Signpost Outline Method for plotting stories. This technique worked for me for a little while, but I’ve never been a fan of outlines. They can feel too rigid sometimes; too strict; too limiting, if you will. While using the Signpost method, you might also find yourself feeling trapped. You might be looking for another, less confining method, and if that’s the case, then I have a potential solution. This next method is something that I discovered around the same time as the Signpost method, but I personally feel that it is much more helpful.

First of all, get a stack of index cards. It doesn’t matter how many – just make sure you have enough to realistically plan a whole novel or short story. If you’d like a number count, I tend to shoot for twenty to twenty-five cards for a novel and four to five cards for a short story. Each index card will represent a scene in your work. On each index card, write a single action. By the time you’re finished, you should have a string of plotted actions that look something like this:

Atalanta leaves Anderson for Julian.
Atalanta stays the week with Julian.
Julian tells Atalanta that he yearns for control and power.
Julian refers Alaric to Atalanta.
Alaric meets with Atalanta for a consultation.

Alternately, you could put the actions down on paper. However, I prefer index cards because a) they’re informal, b) they’re portable, and c) you can move them around to change the sequence of events. Once I have all of my actions written down, I like to spread the cards out on the floor and rearrange them several times until I find the ideal sequence. Sometimes, when you do this, you’ll find arrangements that surprised you – sequences of events you hadn’t thought about before. This method also helps you get past writer’s block by reimagining the story arc.

The Index Card Method might now work for everyone, but I wanted to suggest it in case you were looking to try something new. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this technique! Have you used the Index Card Method before? Which method of outlining do you prefer? Leave your comments below, and I’d be happy to respond to them!

The Signpost Outline Method

Photo by JMC Photos on Flickr

Recently, I’ve been researching different outline methods in an effort to find one that works for me. I don’t use outlines as a general rule, but there seems to be a lot of merit to them for everyone else I’ve talked to. Thanks to Writer’s Digest, I’ve discovered the signpost outline. It’s structured, but it allows for a high degree of flexibility. It looks a little something like this:

Scene 1: Action Scene

SETTING: The park, late afternoon

CHARACTERS: Shelly, a stalker

PLOT: Shelly sits on a park bench reading the paper. She feels like someone is watching her, but when she looks around, she can’t see anyone.

Scene 2: Interior/Contemplative Scene

SETTING: Shelly’s house, midnight

CHARACTERS: Shelly, an intruder

PLOT: Shelly wakes to a sound in the middle of the night, but she thinks she must be paranoid. She thinks about the effect that her impending divorce has had on her life as she goes back to sleep. Unbeknownst to her, she has a nighttime visitor.

Scene 3: Dialogue Scene

SETTING: Shelly’s house, an hour later

CHARACTERS: Shelly, the police

PLOT: The next morning, Shelly wakes up to find all of her underwear is missing. She calls the police, and they begin an investigation into the mysterious panty-snatcher.

I’m sure there are some flaws to this method, but it’s working fine for me so far. I don't prefer to outline, but if you do, this is a great strategy. If you’re averse to outlining, you might want to give this style a shot.