Designing the entire scenario of the book or novel can be a colossal task. You have spent a period to convince yourself for cultivating your storyline, each character and its personality, neutral zone, and middle struggle, and after all this hardship, you encounter the challenge to gather all info and piece it into a meaningful novel while also making it capable of attracting readers to get absorbed in the tale.
Outline or structure of the novel is a systematic plan that includes all the necessary plots that you thought to incorporate into your book, i.e., scenarios, personas, themes, and much more. Here is the blueprint for your book.
You can take the help of stick notes to make it flexible to see or change your point. But be sure to write mono or shortened lines to avoid confusion in your further writing process.
Presently, you can also use the novel outline template to make your work much easier and quicker.
5 Helpful Steps to follow to Outline a novel
So let’s see how you can follow the smooth structuring procedure of a novel, starting with carving up the layout and taking it to the finishing line. If you discover that the outlining process is not working, do not erase everything but try to adjust each step according to the requirement.
1. Carve your layout
Your layout will be the base for your tale. But deciding just a plan will not be sufficient unless you find a way to execute it beautifully or interestingly. ‘’Billionaire man falls in love with the poor girl’’ is a plan, but implementing it in a sturdy storyline will be a hectic and uncertain task for you.
So, to avoid these hindrances in your outline process, you should begin with a rigidly carved layout line that can clear out the answers to certain questions such as:
- Who is the mainstay of the story?
- What is the scenario? What is the lead privy position at the start? How will things take a turn, for good or bad, by the lead itself or by any third person?
- What is the lead motive? At the initial point of the story, what does the lead require? What noble or bad decisions he\she will take to gain or complete their motive?
- Who is the villain? Or who blocks the path of lead during the journey?
- What tragedy will fall on the lead? What mess will occur from the lead backlash to tragedy?
- What will be the reason for the continuous flow of mishap throughout the lead’s journey towards the aim?
If you have discovered the answers to these questions, then incorporate them into single or dual lines.
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2. Illustrate coarsely act plans
After setting up a firm layout, you can now start illustrating your thoughts or opinions for your tale. Pile up every possible scenario that triggers your mind. However, you will land with many acts even if you are not aware of how you will mingle each scene in the story, move further include them in your note.
During this time, your aim should be to note down every possible plan that is coded with the tale. After scribbling down every thought, do underline the parts that are bothering you so that you can later use them in your story.
Each time some tremendous scenario clicks your mind, and you think it will suit your reader’s choice, then note it down.
3. Interrogate your leads
Every story does contain characters on whom the storyline is set up, and they also help you in concluding. Firstly you are required to explore essential info about them at the start of the tale.
To fit your lead in the story, go into the flashback in which he will appear in your story base.
What occasions in your lead’s past have landed him in this situation? What occasions have made him react to the mishap like the way he does? What unfinished tasks will cause hindrance during the tale?
However, if you get a glimpse of how your lead will connect to the tale, you can now expose the titbit info of the lead’s life with the interrogation.
4. Discover your opening scene
If your opening scene includes a native place or alehouse, you have to structure your first outline with strong planning of where your notorious act will be set up.
Don’t pick up the location because you are aware of it or, according to you, it is beautiful. Go to the location that best suits your story base. So explore a little wider to locate a setting that will be a perfect fit for the leads, storyline, or topic.
Based on your actions, decide and note down the locations you think will go with the flow. Thereafter, you can always increase or decrease your listings but try to erase those locations first, which is irrelevant for your plot to reduce the confusion in further outlining.
5. Finalize your outline structure
From there, you can start setting up scenes. You will firmly place each act in a series that you already know about. Your aim should be to discover every aspect, and you will now be focusing on shaping up your already explored plans into a firm outline.
It’s up to your choice if you want to finish up your sentence in a short line or you want to elaborate on each line. Develop a well-built outline with no leaps in the storyline. The base of the story must be excellent because it will make your story alive.
Splash your creativity in each act and try to make use of every other alternative. Try to solve the confusion so that it cannot occur again in your writing journey.
Also Read: Here’s A Guide On How To Make Your Book Writing Job Easier
Conclusion
To summarize, a book template will help you to pin down the first outline of your novel but don’t bind yourself to one idea. Try to discover new thoughts that you think will attract your readers.
An outline is only the road that will take you to the objective, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only way that will lead you.
An outline doesn’t need to be of thick pages; it can be of a single page text to an elaborate optic perception that includes a layout that can show you the connection of personas, rough idea, or storyline.