How I structurally plan my novels!
Hi there, I thought I might share the template I use when planning my stories and wip’s. It is very in depth but really helps map things out before writing!
Genre/Sub-genres: Choose the genre that your story will be written in!
Age Category: This can help you find themes for your story. I like to separate genre and category since you can have a young adult or an adult romance.
Point Of View: Pick who will tell the story. Will there be more than one?
Tense: First, second or third person? Past or present?
Formatting: How will the story be split up? Through chapters or parts. I also like to put whether or not I’ll have a playlist, any quotes or epigraphs, prologues or epilogues, anything like that.
Tone: Will your story be serious, light hearted, sad, satirical…etc
Atmosphere/Color palette: I like to use this for when I’m writing description. Using specificities to elevate your writing can bring a world together and make it feel real.
Overall Concept: As vague as you’d like it to be! I usually give a few sentences.
Series Title: I usually base it off the first books title or a significant thing that links all the stories together.
Number of stories you want: I don’t always know how many stories will be in a series but it’s good to have a rough estimate of how many you’d like to write.
Number of stories realistically achievable: But we all know that sometimes an idea just isn’t sustainable for a 10 book series but works rather well as a trilogy instead.
Story that will kick off the series: All of your stories should fit a purpose in the series but this book will take the roll as a set-up (not to be confused as ‘filler’) for the rest of your series. It’s just something to have in mind when planning. This way you can plant twists and foreshadow for the rest of the books.
Story that will close out the series: This story has big shoes to fill since you’ve probably been amping everything up to an explosive finish but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if it’s bigger and better than what came before, it only matters if it’s a satisfying close to the whole series.
Timeline: I like to know what year the series starts and when it will end. It might sound complicated but it’s so helpful. You don’t want a character to be pregnant or something for three books if the stories have spanned more than nine months.
Spin-offs: You might find that you’ve got some ideas that don’t quite fit in with the others but they have some common elements. A spin-off is a cool way to explore those other ideas.
Historical Background and Events:
What might the town be hiding to the average passer-by?
This is for any organisations, cults or companies that might be in your story.
Council Members (include roles):
Other Members (include roles):
Working Title: Sometimes I use something concrete but if I need to get it out of the way I’ll put something like Project _____
Estimated Length: Word or chapter count you’d like to achieve.
Order: Which book in the series is it?
Premise: I like to refer to this as the summary’s skeleton.
Story Theme Song: This is just for fun but sometimes it really helps me capture what the whole story might be. I can also use it when I’m low on inspiration.
Save the Cat beat sheet! This is so map out every important moment in your story, many authors and film makers sue this. You can google examples, I read the beat sheet for the Matrix and it really helped em to understand how it works. The next time you read or watch something, think about what the beat sheet would be like!
Opening Image: An image that catapults your audience into the look and feel of your story
Theme Stated: Typically the theme of the story is communicated by someone fairly early on. This is dialogue spoken to the protagonist that he doesn’t quite grasp yet.
Set Up: Show the protagonist in their “old world.” Let the audience know what the status quo is for them, then hint at the adventure that follows. This is also a time to introduce secondary characters.
Catalyst: Sometimes called the “inciting incident,” the catalyst is the event that disrupts your protagonist’s status quo. But they’re not ready to make the choice that catapults them into the story just yet.
Debate: This is where the protagonist has doubts about setting out on their perilous journey.
Break into Two: Inevitably, your protagonist will overcome their doubt and make a choice to set out on their adventure. This is the choice that sets the plot in motion. Your beat sheet will be filled with obstacles and twists resulting from making this choice from here on out.
B Story: A subplot ensues. Some would say that this is usually a romantic subplot.
Fun and Games: Plot structure requires a stretch where your protagonist wields their new power, and does cool stuff with it. I’ve also heard this referred to as the Promise of The Premise. So in Hunger Games by Susanne Collins this would be Katniss actually fighting in the games.
Midpoint: At some point, your protagonist will either get what they’re after… or not. But there will be consequences either way.
Bad Guys Close In: After your protagonist gets what they want, or not, there will be consequences. These forces will tighten their grasp, and throw the protagonist off balance
All Is Lost: The dire circumstances your protagonist endures will lead to an inevitable loss. Which can be anything but it most commonly a character death.
Dark Night of the Soul: At this point of the Save the Cat beat sheet template, your protagonist has lost hope.
Break into Three: In plot structure, this is where your protagonist claws around in the darkness, only to find or remember something useful.
Finale: Treat the finale as the Act 3 summary. The Save the Cat beat sheet template is at its end, so it’s time for the protagonist to take on their foes. Armed with new tools and self-discoveries, the protagonist often synthesizes what they’ve learned (in Act 2) with values they’ve always had (Act 1).
Final Image: Along with the opening image, the final image creates the bookend that encapsulates the journey. This is the last thing the reader is left with.
I hope this is helpful! Reblog to help a writer with their planning <3