Lore & LilacStage 02 of 05
Shape
Plan as much as helps, and no more
Some writers outline every scene; others start with a destination and a direction. Both work. This stage helps you find the amount of planning that suits you and this book, then gives you the structural tools — turning points, subplots, a timeline — to use as lightly or heavily as you like.
A plan is a working document, not a promise. Expect it to change once the characters start making their own choices.
Guides in this stage
How much outline do you need?
The useful question isn't whether to outline, but how much, for this book, and for which parts of it.
6 min read
Structure without a formula: finding your turning points
Start from what changes in your story, and use the familiar landmarks and percentages as a loose map rather than a template.
6 min read
Story time and reading order: building a timeline before it bites
Every novel has two orders, when things happen and when the reader learns them, and keeping them apart prevents a whole class of errors.
6 min read
Key concepts
- OutlineA plan of a story's events, scenes or chapters written before or during drafting, ranging from a few lines to a detailed scene list.
- Discovery writingDrafting without a detailed plan and finding the story's shape through the act of writing it, sometimes called pantsing.
- Three-act structureA way of dividing a story into a setup, a long middle of escalating complication, and a resolution, separated by major turning points.
- Inciting incidentThe event that disturbs the protagonist's ordinary life and sets the main story in motion, forcing a response they can't easily ignore.
- MidpointA turning point near the middle of a novel where a revelation or reversal changes what the protagonist understands or how they act.
- Turning pointA moment that changes the direction of a story or scene, reversing a character's situation, plans or understanding.
- SubplotA secondary storyline running alongside the main plot, usually with its own characters or goal, that complicates or reflects the central story.
- Nonlinear narrativeA story told out of chronological order, through flashbacks, multiple timelines or rearranged events, so reading order differs from story time.