Enter you, a writer, with all your brilliant ideas and the many oh-so-exciting moments you think would make your story epic. You’ve got it all in your head. There’s no need to plot out your story, right?

How many times have you been excited to get writing as soon as inspiration strikes? Have you ever attempted to write a long-form story (perhaps even a novel) with nothing but your pen and paper (or laptop) and the thoughts in your head? 

You start strong and then, the farther you get into the story you feel like you’re writing in circles: the plot is confused, your characters are one-dimensional and you just don’t know how to link all of those once great ideas coherently and expertly? 

Great writers have learned to control the impulse to dive right into their story and instead, take some time to outline their plot.

Often, we despise outlining. I get it, it feels like a time-waster. It can get you bogged down in all of the tiny details and make you wonder where your spark of inspiration went. But it is super important!

When you carve out some time to outline your story before you write you:

• Organize Your Thoughts: instead of jumping from event to event, you’ve considered how your story flows.

• Clarify Your Plot and Characters: Strong character and plot development allows you to maintain purposeful writing time rather than fumbling through the beginning of your story as you try to make sense of who your characters are and why they even matter.

• Prevent Writer’s Block: When you know where you’re headed, there’s less time staring into space and more time writing!

• Enjoy the Writing Journey: Sure, every writing piece will come with its struggles; however, you’ll maintain your motivation to write if you’ve put in the work to smooth out your major plot points in advance.

Yes, outlining is work. But so is writing a novel. 

Still, it doesn’t need to be grueling. In fact, with some questions to support you along the way, I believe that story outlining can be pretty exciting.

Today, I’m going to share with you the questions I use to plot my outline before I write. These questions help me to recognize any glaring plot holes in advance, ensure that I’m keeping my readers in mind, and that my characters are at the center of my story.

I’ve gathered questions to help guide you through the story-outlining process. To make it quick and easy and to accommodate your planning style (short, long, cue cards, notebooks, etc.). 

I’ve also provided all of these questions for you to download in a quick grab-and-go freebie at the end.

I’m assuming you already know who your protagonist(s) will be and the setting of the story. In-depth character development and world-building are for a different time.

If you’re looking for help with character development or world-building, Masterclass has some excellent articles to get you started.

• What message am I trying to get across?

• How will my readers recognize this message by the resolution?

• What is the main problem? Is it plot or character-driven? 

• Scene Breakdown-Cause and Effect: how are the previous scene and the next scene linked? Does each scene/chapter progress the story or is it just filler?

• Are the events leading the story or is the protagonist influencing outcomes?

• How does the main character face their greatest fear and transform?

• Are there any plot holes or questions left unanswered by the end of the story?

• What are your protagonist’s internal and external motivations? Is each decision that they’ve made influenced by their motivations?

• Present vs. Future Characteristics: can you identify character development (growth) throughout the story?

• How does the subplot enhance the narrative? Does it affect the character development, provide crucial obstacles that move the story forward, or comment on your message/theme?

• Will the reader care?

Usually, I’ve already done a full brain dump of all my brilliant ideas before I plot my outline. This is a very simple, rarely fleshed out, and probably only coherent to me outline.

It needs a lot of work and everything still needs to be set in stone. This allows me to see everything I know so far in front of me as I plot my narrative.

How long your story outline is, is really up to you. It could be bullet points or in long paragraphs. It doesn’t need to be a lot if you don’t want it to be. 

After my brain dump, I’ll use these questions to guide me through my outlining process and when I think I’m done, I’ll review my story outline in its entirety with each question, making final tweaks as I go.

And that’s it!

Taking the time to thoughtfully map out your plot before you get writing can make all the difference in a reader’s engagement. Readers are smart! They’ll recognize a fumbling narrative and spot all of your plot holes.  They’ll appreciate it when they can tell that a writer has truly taken the time to craft an engaging and meaningful adventure.

I encourage you to give it a try! If you’re just starting to plan out a story or have an outline ready to go, use these questions as a guide to refine your ideas so that you can truly enjoy the experience of writing. With the right tools, plotting your outline can be fun!

What habits have you built around story outlining?

Any questions that you’d add to this list?

Share them in the comments below.

Don’t forget to download your free grab-and-go copy of these questions to make outlining a breeze!

Talk soon!

Julia