How To Outline A Novel With Sticky Notes

Most novels and books can be broken down using the three act structure. Events in each of the chapters are also listed on sticky notes to easily find information for later references and to keep track of what has already happened in the story.

Allison Kimball Sketchnote Journal blank template page

Lines are more difficult to edit than lists, but a good trick to keep your line flexible is to use index cards or sticky notes that can be easily shuffled and switched around.

How to outline a novel with sticky notes. I started using this method during my second or third round of edits for my mystery novel, george florence & the perfect alibi. Use whatever structure and beat sequence you want. You need to find five of the most important points in your story, we will call these plot points.

The novel outline is a power tool for getting to the end of your novel. At boords, we're big fans of using. The photo above shows a sticky note system for my young adult novel.

Then put the two stacks together in the order you think the events, clues, and red herrings will appear in your mystery novel. Once these note cards are filled out, you can create cards for transitional events. The index cards become like a living outline, guiding you through your story.

Much more efficient than spending months or years writing a novel only to find the story doesn’t work and i must start over. To use your plot board, you’re going to write a few words about each scene in your book on a sticky note and put it where it belongs in your story on the board. Use whatever structure and beat sequence you want.

All you need is a few ideas, a pencil, and a pack of index cards. (or yellow sticky notes, if you prefer.) ready? The important step is to create the outline.

It's the same kind of thing, but online. Flesh out each section with your narrative. You’ll find that writing will go faster when you know exactly how a scene fits into a story.

With enough practice, you may find writing your own outline for a novel to be much easier. Where i put the sticky notes. This is the method often used by screenwriters, and although it looks more simple than the sticky note storyboard method, it gives you more of a structured guideline for your story.

I started using this method during my second or third time editing my mystery novel, george florence & the perfect alibi. If each chapter is 1,500 words, then i would need about 33 chapters. For instance, if you’re writing a scene with a romance story line, at some point your hero and heroine are going to meet.

Compensating for word variance, and the fact that even plotted out i might need an extra chapter here or there, i lined up 30 sticky notes, 10 to a row, like this: Finally, the document notes section at the bottom of the inspector is where i type in the entirety of my outline notes for each scene. You’ll find that writing will go faster when you know exactly how a scene fits into a story.

Act one will take up the first quarter of your novel. These sticky notes will go on the top line of your sticky note wall. If you are limited for space, scrivener and aeon timeline are two programs popular with writers for this and other purposes.

To create a plot outline for a text that you were assigned in a class, not an original text, divide your outline into three acts. Inciting incident, door, midpoint, slide, darkest moment, help from the outside, climax, and resolution. The wall of sticky notes (aka “the board”) if you’re a visual person, outlining method #3 is for you!

This means buckling down and starting to write. You don't even need to have that much of your novel figured out yet. Remember at this point in story development, this plot board is for brainstorming.

Then, i put the yellow notes on the wall. Each main character has sticky notes listing features, hobbies, names, and relationships. As you read a book, take each chapter apart and outline it scene by scene, chapter by chapter, until you are finished.

If you realize you have too much in a section, don’t hesitate to break it up into smaller pieces. The novel outline is a power tool for getting to the end of your novel. I can write an outline in mere weeks and tell if the story works.

First, i put the four blue notes across the top of the wall. How to outline a novel (summary) a solid outline is the foundation of a tight and interesting first draft. Others create a corkboard of cards.

Take a card or a sticky note and write down the single biggest problem your main character faces. Fill in all the components of your novel. They represent the major plot points:

Of course, novels don't have to be this rigidly structured. Be creative and add some more elements, then make sure you bring in a new twist every 25% of the way. Start with your biggest problem.

Check out my top tips for how to organize and how to use your outline notes, however few or many they may be, while writing your first draft. Each row then became the beginning, middle and end of the story. Fill in all the components of your novel.

There are no wrong answers. Take a look at what you have created and how each part of the novel fits into the larger picture. Divide the outline into three acts.

I write better when i don’t have to think about what needs to happen next. We think it's much easier. Go through your outline and identify where your plot shifts to a new act and write these plot points on the colour you’ve chosen to represent your acts.

I call it the wall of sticky notes, because that’s how i build it. The important step is to create the outline. These sticky notes should represent the main thing happening in your story in each of these acts.

My writing process, step 5: I filled in the notes as scenes in chronological order of what was happening in the novel. Lay down who your main character is, what they want, and what their problem or obstacle is.

That's why you're going to use sticky notes. Whoever invented the sticky note was a genius. They represent act i, act ii part one, act ii part two, and act iii.

If you already know the main plot points of your story, you might want to start by storyboarding the entire outline. In the business of screenwriting, it’s simply called “the board.”. Research while not actually a part of what i consider the “outlining” phase, i’ll also mention research in this post, since it has to take place before the first draft begins.

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