How To Plan Your Novel From Start to Finish

Does your story structure stop at determining what outline you will use?

Definitely not!

Once you decide what main story shape your piece will take, it is essential to also work towards outlining your novel.

As an aside, I should mention many writers fall within two different camps:

• Plotters: Those who outline their novel and know what direction the story will take.

• Pantsers: Those who "fly by the seat of their pants" and let their subconscious determine their story's focus.

Neither group is better than the other, and it depends on what works best for you.

If you find yourself contemplating about what might happen next, or love the idea of writing to your story, rather than letting the story come out organically, then an outline might work best for you.

If, on the other hand, you become frustrated or bored if you spend too much time trying to figure out what might happen next in your story, well, then you might be a pantser.

Then, there are those who, like me, might be a little bit of both. You decide which method to follow depending on the manuscript in question, or you give yourself a clear direction, but write and see what happens for much of the novel.

I say this because, having an outline for your story may be unnecessary, depending on what your unique writing style is.

However, if you would like to use an outline for your story, then here are a few steps you can take to do so:

CONSIDER YOUR THEME

Even though we read stories for entertainment value, we do not read them for that alone. Stories matter, and what you are trying to say in your novel is what matters the most.

Are you writing a coming-of-age tale about the pressures we put on youth?

Are you writing a thriller that is filled with your political views?

Whatever the case may be, identify your theme before you do anything else. 

This is because your story’s theme will help guide your narrative. For instance, if you want to explore what kind of pressures society places on youth, then you would obviously have teenage characters, but you might also include scenes such as:

• A teen is forced to work two jobs to help with bills

• A teen must enlist in the army to pay for college

• Teen pregnancy

• A teen cannot leave their small town due to family obligations

All of these are scenes that have been guided by thinking of the story’s theme.

HOW DOES THE STORY END?

As a prominent novelist, Joyce Carol Oates once said in an interview, "I write the end, or the last sentence, first. Even if I don't physically write it down, I always at least know how the story ends." 

Knowing how your story will end, or even writing the ending, is an excellent second step because it helps frame your story overall. While there are several story structures you can use to determine your story’s path, it is okay just to know the ending and nothing else.

When you know exactly how the novel will end, you can begin to thread information to the reader, especially when foreshadowing. Readers will appreciate having richer details, and because you took time to consider how everything will inevitably tie together, you will have a fuller, more cohesive novel. 

FIND YOUR SETTING

Did you know that setting is one of the 8 elements of fiction writing?

That is because the time and place the story is set in is one of the most critical aspects of your story. Your readers need to be grounded (pun intended) into the world you have created, even if that is a world based on real life. 

Thus, the next step is to create a setting that is so real that your readers feel like they are physically stepping inside. Not only should you think of seemingly mundane components such as the weather and societal hierarchy of this world, but you should also think of how the world looks, smells, what the food tastes like, what your characters can hear, etc.

This does not mean you need to have a realistic setting, but rather you need to know the mechanics of your newly minted world.

This is one of the most research-heavy steps, but it is well worth it. Make your story more immersive by creating a tactile, vibrant setting. 

It would also be wise to note what different settings are within your larger world. For example, your overall setting may take place on a barren wasteland, but what specific locations can you begin to map out?

The more detail you have in your outline, the better!

FLESH OUT YOUR CHARACTERS

This is typically what most authors work on first, and with good reason, writing characters can be fun!

We love the characters we create and want to begin to tell their story as soon as possible. Before you start putting your characters in all sorts of scenarios, however, you need to realize them fully.

Ask yourself some of the following questions:

• What is the backstory for each character?

• What place do they have in the story?

• What are their strengths and weaknesses?

• How do their personalities and motivations differ from each other?

Your characters should be so real they cast their own shadow, and when they are, you are equipped to place them into difference scenes. In the words of Kurt Vonnegut, every character should want something, even if it’s a glass of water.

MAP OUT YOUR SCENES

Before you start writing, the last step is to map out your scenes.

There are many ways you can do this.

Some authors choose to merely summarize their purposed beginning, middle, and end, while other authors like to have a detailed timeline of the events to follow.

Just like deciding whether to outline your novel in the first place, how you design and list your scenes is up to you. The important thing to remember is to make your novel make sense.

With each scene, ask yourself the following:

• What characters exist in the scene?

• What is the setting (location, time of day, etc.)?

• What happens?

• How does this scene relate to the larger piece?

• What plot holes might exist in the story?

• Are there are any logical gaps that might be present?

You should also ensure that each scene is relevant to the story's overall theme and its main plot. It is imperative to eliminate any scene that does not make sense or add to the story's overall value, even if it is a great one. 

THE RECAP

You do not have to have the above listed out to create your novel outline. In fact, you can have separate notes for each one, or you can use software like Microsoft Word or Excel to compile each section into one big file.

There is even online applications, some paid and some free, that are specifically designed to help you with your outline and overall story structure.

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