TL;DR
Use a plot outline template to fix the shape of your story before you draft: a premise, six turning points and a one-line card for each scene. A filled-in example for an imaginary novel shows how much detail is enough, and the template adapts to any structure you prefer.
A plot outline template is a set of blanks that fits the turning points of a story: the setup, the event that starts the plot, the reversal at the middle, the lowest point, the climax and the ending. Fill each blank in a sentence or two, and you have a map of the book that is short enough to keep in your head and detailed enough to tell you what to write next. The reasoning behind each step is in how to outline a novel, and story structure compares the models behind templates like this one.
The template
Copy this into any document. Aim for a sentence or two per line, not paragraphs.
Part 1: The premise
- Protagonist: who, and what is their flaw?
- Want: what they pursue, in concrete terms.
- Opposition: who or what stands in the way.
- Stakes: what is lost if they fail.
- One-sentence pitch: [Protagonist] must [goal] before [deadline], or [stakes].
Part 2: The six turning points
- Opening: the protagonist's normal life, with the flaw visible.
- Inciting incident: the event that makes the want urgent.
- First commitment: the choice that closes the door behind them.
- Midpoint: a reversal that changes what the story is about.
- Lowest point: the moment the want seems lost, and the flaw costs the most.
- Climax and ending: the final test, and who the protagonist is afterwards.
Part 3: Scene cards. One line each:
| Scene | Whose | Wants | Obstacle | Changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Scroll horizontally to see all columns. Arrow keys work when the table is focused.
Part 3 is where most of the work happens, because a turning point is not a scene. It is a result that several scenes build. How to outline a novel explains how to break a turning point into scenes.
Before you fill in Part 2, make sure you can answer the questions Julie Artz lists as the minimum to put down for a planning synopsis on Jane Friedman's site: the age category (middle grade, YA or adult), the genre, your "what if?" big-picture idea, the protagonist's story goal, the antagonist's story goal and the protagonist's change arc. Part 1 above covers the goals; add the category, genre and "what if?" line at the top of your copy.
If six turning points feel like too many to start with, Artz begins her own brainstorming with a five-line Tent Pole Scenes Outline based on classic fairytale structure: "Once upon a time" (the ordinary world), "But then" (the moment everything changed), "It was awful until" (the confrontation), "Then the hero figured it out" (the climax) and "And they all lived happily ever after" (the resolution). Five sentences like these fit on a sticky note and still tell you where the story is going.
A filled-in example
The example is an imaginary novel.
Premise. Ilse Varga is a ferry pilot who treats every locked door as an insult. She wants to deliver a sealed letter before spring floods close the river crossing. The harbourmaster, the weather and her own habit of lying stand in her way. If she fails, she loses the last lead on her missing brother.
Pitch. Ilse must deliver a sealed letter across a flooding river before the crossing closes, or lose her only lead on her brother.
| Turning point | Filled in |
|---|---|
| Opening | Ilse refuses a passenger rather than ask where he is going, then is handed a sealed letter to carry across before the floods. |
| Inciting incident | The harbourmaster says the crossing closes in five days, and the man named on the envelope has left town. |
| First commitment | She takes the letter and decides to find the man herself, giving up her ferry licence's protection to cross at night. |
| Midpoint | She opens the letter. It is written to her brother, and it was never meant to be delivered. |
| Lowest point | Her lie to the harbourmaster is exposed, her ferry is impounded and the one person who helped her leaves. |
| Climax and ending | She chooses to cross by the old flood road with the passenger she refused. Her brother is found, and he left of his own will. Ilse stops forcing doors. |
Scroll horizontally to see all columns. Arrow keys work when the table is focused.
The shape follows the three-act template: setup, confrontation, resolution. A different shape would move the beats but keep the idea.
First scene cards (Act one)
| Scene | Whose | Wants | Obstacle | Changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ilse | To be left alone at the dock | A passenger who will not leave | She learns the letter exists |
| 2 | Ilse | To read the address | The harbourmaster watches | The addressee is named |
| 3 | Harbourmaster | To close the crossing | Ilse's permit | A five-day deadline is set |
Scroll horizontally to see all columns. Arrow keys work when the table is focused.
Notice what these cards leave out: settings, dialogue and description. Their job is to say who wants what and what changes, and once that is clear, the scene almost writes itself.
How much detail is enough
Detail depends on how you work. These levels cover most writers:
| Level | What you have | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Skeleton | Premise and six turning points | Writers who discover as they draft |
| Standard | Skeleton plus scene cards for the first act | Writers who want direction without a cage |
| Full | Scene cards for the whole book | Writers who plan before they write |
Scroll horizontally to see all columns. Arrow keys work when the table is focused.
Julie Artz, on Jane Friedman's site, describes a "long-form synopsis" for planning. It is meant to be messy, covers the major characters, the main plot and character arcs, the subplots and the twists, and gets revisited during planning, drafting and revising. She says the result should land somewhere in the range of three to seven pages, and that a 20-page version is too long to share with critique partners: pull out the extra details and store them elsewhere. That is a good range to aim for: a plan you can read in one sitting.
Adapting the template to other structures
The six turning points are common to many models. If you prefer another, swap the middle:
- Fifteen beats. Use the fifteen-beat template when you want a tight, commercial shape with clear turning points.
- Seven points. Use the seven-point template to plan backwards from the ending.
- Hero's journey. Use the hero's journey for twelve stages from the call to the return.
- Mystery or romance. The mystery template is built around a crime, an investigation of clues and false leads, and a fair reveal. The romance template is built around two people, what keeps them apart and what it takes to choose each other.
- Quiet, literary books. The kishotenketsu template builds on a twist, instead of a conflict.
Keeping the outline alive
An outline is a hypothesis. Drafting will test it, and some turning points will move. Three habits keep it useful:
- Update it when the draft changes. A stale outline is worse than none.
- Mark what you changed and why. A short note stops you reversing a good decision.
- Compare plan and draft at each act. Do the scenes you wrote do what the cards promised?
Musael puts this in one place. Its plan board shows acts, chapters and scenes on a board or a list, with status, point of view and notes on each scene. The plan and the manuscript share one structure, so moving a scene on the board moves it in the draft. The templates above open as chapters and scenes, grouped in acts where the structure has them, with a note on what usually happens in each: the three-act template, for example, opens as 3 acts, 8 chapters and 13 scenes. Edit them until they are yours, and keep a named version before a big restructure so you can go back.
Frequently asked questions
What should a plot outline include?
A premise (who wants what and what stops them), the main turning points, and a one-line card per scene saying who wants what and what changes. Settings and prose are optional.
How long should a plot outline be?
As long as you can read in one sitting. Julie Artz says her planning synopsis should come out at about three to seven pages. A one-page skeleton is fine if you prefer to discover the rest.
Can I use a plot outline template for any genre?
Yes. The turning points apply to most stories, though genres emphasize different parts: a mystery spends its middle on clues, and a romance on what keeps two people apart.
Should I outline before or after writing?
Either. Some writers outline first, and others draft and then outline what they wrote to find structural problems. Both end up with the same document.
What is the difference between an outline and a synopsis?
An outline is a working plan for you. The synopsis that goes out with a pitch to agents or editors is usually 500 to 1,000 words, according to Julie Artz, and it follows a set format. Her long-form planning synopsis is the other kind: a messy brainstorming document with no set format or length. The two can start from the same material, but the audience differs.
Where Musael fits
A template only helps if it becomes a finished book. In Musael you start from a structure, adjust it to your story and write inside it, so the plan never drifts away from the draft. Later, the AI editor on the Ink and Press plans can read the finished chapters and map pacing and plot threads, so you see where the middle sags, and it never writes anything for you.
Sources
- Julie Artz, "How to Use a Long-Form Synopsis to Plan Your Novel", Jane Friedman: janefriedman.com
