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Identify your story beats, save your time for writing and tighten your story structure by using these best tips to outline quickly.
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| By Matthew Hart |
Here are 3 Best Tips to Help You Outline Quickly
1. Write Your Story on One Page
Gain these two benefits that help you outline quickly by writing your story on one page:
FIRST: You will gain a greater overview of your story idea.
It's been rattling around in your head for weeks, months, maybe even years. You know you want to write it down, but you just don't know where to start.
This is how you get started.
Write it all down. Yup. That's it. Just write everything you know about your story from beginning to end. But, make sure you do this in one writing session and write it down as quickly as possible.
This draft is meant just for you. It's basically, you just telling you the story.
Write all the details you want. Character descriptions, and even that one scene you keep playing over and over in your head. It all counts.
Now, TRIPLE SAVE IT! I'm talking internal hard drive, thumb drive, and a printed copy. This first draft is the seed of your inspiration, and it's irreplaceable.
So, now what do you do with it? You condense the entire manuscript down to a single page.
This will force you to remove all the fluff. Don't worry, you can always get it back, that's why we saved it. Ah-ha!
At this point, you will begin to get a clear overview of your entire story.
Ask yourself, "Is there a clear beginning, middle and end?" If the answer is, "Yes" then you've got a novel-worthy story.
If it has a sagging middle, or a weak ending, that's fine, too. It just means you might need to work on it a bit more. That's the whole point!
This step will determine if you're story is worth spending a year or more to write.
If you're able to make your story work, then be sure to incorporate those fixes back into your single page synopsis.
Now, go celebrate, because you've got enough of an outline to start writing!
SECOND: You will quickly be able to identify the major beats of your story.
Once you've got your one page synopsis, you can create an even more abbreviated outline known as a beat sheet.
A beat sheet is a list of all your major plot points described in a few words or a sentence.
Chances are, in your once page synopsis, you already have most of those plot points described in a single sentence because of the one page restriction.
Now, you simply copy them into a point by point outline.
At this point, you might notice some plot points may be a little less clear. FANTASTIC!
This is the time to focus more on them and clear them up. It's much easier to change plot points on a beat sheet than it is to rewrite or toss out entire written pages or chapters, after the fact.
If you're able to create a beat sheet from your one page synopsis, you're fishing with dynamite!
A beat sheet is a list of all your major plot points described in a few words or a sentence.
Chances are, in your once page synopsis, you already have most of those plot points described in a single sentence because of the one page restriction.
Now, you simply copy them into a point by point outline.
At this point, you might notice some plot points may be a little less clear. FANTASTIC!
This is the time to focus more on them and clear them up. It's much easier to change plot points on a beat sheet than it is to rewrite or toss out entire written pages or chapters, after the fact.
If you're able to create a beat sheet from your one page synopsis, you're fishing with dynamite!
2. Use a Template
Using a template will help you outline quickly in two ways:
FIRST: You will save time.
Human beings have been telling each other stories for thousands of years.
In fact, there are many very intelligent people in this world who have studied these stories and have discovered common story structures.
You can bypass years of research by simply using their discoveries to your advantage. This is called, standing on the shoulder of giants. Or, learning.
Once you web search story structures, you may find that there are really only a few, and you can experiment with them, using your beat sheet.
Simply, plug each beat into the story structure to see if it fits.
Understanding what genre your story is will speed this process up as well, as you will just web search, (your genre) + story structure. And, experiment with what you find.
Chances are, you can find a pre-established story structure, (or formula) in five minutes or less. No need to waste anymore time reinventing the wheel.
SECOND: You will gain confidence.
One of the best advantages of using a pre-established story structure is that it has already been proven to work.
At this point, you might not have all the details for your story in mind. That's okay.
If you are able to plug all your beats into an existing structure, you can start moving forward knowing that you're exploring a well-trodden path to success.
Keeping this in mind will give you the confidence to keep writing.
Writers already, as a group, have enough self-doubt to contend with, that it's a relief to have the confidence in knowing that you're heading in a proven direction with your story.
Once you establish your rules, it's really up to you whether you want to follow them or break them. But, at least you will understand what rules you're breaking and why.
At this point, you might not have all the details for your story in mind. That's okay.
If you are able to plug all your beats into an existing structure, you can start moving forward knowing that you're exploring a well-trodden path to success.
Keeping this in mind will give you the confidence to keep writing.
Writers already, as a group, have enough self-doubt to contend with, that it's a relief to have the confidence in knowing that you're heading in a proven direction with your story.
Once you establish your rules, it's really up to you whether you want to follow them or break them. But, at least you will understand what rules you're breaking and why.
3. Use Therefore & But
Understanding how to use the words Therefore & But between scenes will help you outline quickly in a couple of ways:
FIRST: You ensure that each scene causes the effects of the next scene.
This is a story structure technique popularized by the creators of, South Park; Matt Stone and Trey Parker.
The technique applies the words therefore or but between descriptions of each scene.
By doing this, they were able to ensure that each scene would cause the next scene to happen, thus making a story that must take place in a specific sequence.
The problem with using the word and between scenes, is that each scene just kind of floats around.
By using and, you end up just describing a series of events that could be placed in any order and have no effect on the outcome of the story.
The word and makes for boring storytelling because it limits the stakes and reduces the conflict.
By using the words, therefore or but, you force the plot to go in only one direction.
The word therefore forces a reaction to it in the next scene, and the word but raises the stakes and/or conflict of the next scene.
Raising stakes and conflict are what make for interesting stories because each scene becomes a moment that will chance the outcome of the ending.
SECOND: Your story structure will be tight.
When you keep a tight story structure, every scene becomes necessary to the outcome of the story.
You might want to write out an entire chapter of your protagonist's hike through the woods near the castle of their objective. But, if they are no closer to reaching their story goal by the end of their hike, cut that scene out!
"But, I want to show how beautiful nature can be. And, I already spent last week learning all the Latin names for the flowers and trees that I want to describe and don't want to have wasted all that time!" You say to me, as spittle crests the chapped ridge of your lower lip.
"Well, that's fine." I reply, "Just make sure that your Protagonist discovers some secret hidden passage during their hike, or something, and make sure that they use that knowledge in the story in some way to gain their story objective. Done!"
With this example, you will see the difference between writing a floating and scene sequence and one with the therefore & but sequence.
The first example shows:
The Protagonist finds the castle of their desire.
and
Goes for a hike in the forest nearby.
and
Storms the castle.
In this example, the Protagonist could easily storm the castle, then go for a hike in the forest nearby. The hike through the forest is inconsequential, and therefore, is a waste of your reader's time because the scene does not move the story forward.
The second example shows:
The Protagonist finds the castle of their desire.
but
Goes for a hike in the forest nearby.
therefore
Discovers a secret passage that could lead to the castle.
but
Uses the passage to storm the castle, giving them an unexpected advantage.
Using therefore & but have now made all three scenes connected and raise the stakes of the story. The Protagonist must go on the hike in order to find the hidden passage they will use to storm the castle.
Once you start using these 3 best tips to help you outline quickly, you will be able to identify your story beats, save your time for writing and tighten your story structure.
And, everybody knows, us writers, just don't have enough time for that! Now finish that outline already and get back to writing your book!
I hope you use these 3 best tips to help you outline quickly.
Do you outline or write by the seat of your pants?
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON OUTLINING IN THE COMMENTS BELOW
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