How to Write From Start to Finish

A good way to plan out your story

(A/N: if you want to copy and paste this into your own draft, please PM me)

Each author creates a plot outline that works best for them. There are many methods, but I think you will find the method I use to be helpful. It basically looks like this: 

BOOK TITLE:
Book Themes:

Chapter 1: Basic one line summary of the entire chapter. 
         
Scene 1: Basic one line summary of the first scene. 
                
Timeline: Date/Time of Year or Time of Day in the story. 
                
Setting: Where is this scene happening. 
                
Characters: Protagonist, Love Interest, Side-Kick, Anti-Hero etc. Tension/

Conflict: Building problem, issue to solve etc. 
                
Emotional State: Of the characters, what you want to convey.
                 
Details: Describe details of scenes and senses.
              
Notes:  Things to research, character descriptions. If I have any character secrets, backstory, foreshadowing or dialogue in mind for the scene, I add it here so I don't forget to add it into the first draft.
        
Scene 2: 
       
Scene 3: 
        
Scene 4: 
        
Scene 5: 

The standard book length is a minimum of 12 chapters. I put 5 scenes in each chapter, and try to make each scene 2 pages long, for 10 pages per chapter. By the end of the book, it's 120 pages long. Of course you can have more chapters, or more scenes in each one. 120 pages can easily turn into twice that by the final re-write and edit. 

The benefits of this method: 

1. It's linear. You can clearly see a progression of events. 

2. You can create your outline in stages. I always start with the 12 chapter summaries (bold) for a bare bones summary of what happens through out the story. Then I go back and fill in the one line summary (italics)of each scene. Then I fill in the other details (underlined), and make notes about the research and characters last. 

3. You can be as simple or as detailed as you want. I choose to add a lot of details for each scene so that I don't have to go back and figure it out during the first draft. 

4. You can see the "empty spots" in the plot/hero's journey. Where there is no action, which characters haven't be introduced, how the scenes and chapters flow, and missing details. 

5. Scenes can be moved around easily. 

6. You can use the outline to write a basic book summary. 

7. You will know what your story is about, and be able to explain it to people without going off on a tangent. 

8. You can choose to work in whatever order you want. I often write the outline of the ending first, then the beginning, and connect the two in the middle last. This way, the flow of the story (should) makes sense with the action in the ending. 

9. Once it's done, it's easier to write the rough draft. It's just a matter of writing one chapter at a time, one scene at a time. 

10. Once your rough draft is done, you can compare it to the outline you created to see if you stayed on track. 

Tip: Print out your finished outline and tack it on your wall/work board etc. so you can reference it as you write. It helps to keep on track. 

I also create a CAST OF CHARACTERS outline that looks something like this: 

(MAJOR) Protagonist: (NAME) 
Age/Birthday/Zodiac: 
Physical Description:  
Goals: 
Motivation:
Secrets:
Fears: 
Personality Type:    
Hobbies/Interests:
Quirks: 
Wow Factor: (What makes this character unique/memorable?)                       
(MAJOR) Love Interest:

(MAJOR) Antagonist:

(MAJOR) Side-Kick:

(MAJOR) Wise Man:

(MAJOR) Anti-Hero:

(MINOR) Caretaker:

(MINOR) Eternal Child:

(MINOR) Trickster:

(MINOR) Victim:

(MINOR) Every Man:

Benefits of this outline: 

1. Each major and minor character is represented with a story archetype. 
2. You have a basic outline for each character to reference later. 
3. Each character has a role, and a goal: reason to exist. 
4. You can easily see which characters need more development. 
5. You can see which characters goals are similar or conflict. 
6. You can see how many characters you have, need or don't need.
7. This outline will help you fill in weak spots in your other outline. 
8. Giving minor characters goals gives you an automatic subplot

A/N:
Tip of the day: don't expect that you can learn how to write by reading a bunch of books on how to write. The best way to learn how to write is to write.