Need a quick plotting guide? This is a mash up of different outline/structure types. Honestly, they all have the same pieces, just different names and slight variants. (Open Page Novel | Save the Cat | Hero’s Journey | etc). I have an outline comparison in my tool section, too.
I highly recommend reading Jessica Brody’s Save The Cat Writes a Novel and watching Open Page Novel by Eva Deverell on YouTube (her voice is the best) and looking at the site: https://ladywritersleague.com/
Below follows pretty much how I plot out the big plot points. Sometimes I know specific beats and fill those in before starting in order.
I do not write out big outlines. I like knowing my big beats and that is it. This can either be your whole outline (as it is for me) or the skeleton you flesh out. I fast draft several times a year (I write a 70K novel in about 3 weeks) and use the below to complete it.
Plotting Order
End Caps
The Resolution – what is your final image – the failure or success
The Stasis – opening/set-up - what is the mirror image of it – the success or failure
MIDPOINT – what is the false victory/failure – MC gets a chance to get everything they want but it either backfires, isn’t what they expected, or gets snatched away
So now the big pivot points
The Defeat – All is Lost and Dark Night of the Soul – All is Lost is the external loss – someone dies, a plan fails terribly, hope is gone – Dark Night of the Soul is the internal reaction to it – their misery on display (Defeat is my favorite part to write)
The Trigger – Catalyst/Debate – what starts the change from stasis into the process that will lead to the resolution and actions to point of no return – the first big oh crap
The montages – how we get to the next big pivot
The Quest – Fun & Games – Tests & Trials – the MC is trying to fix what happened in catalyst or get to the resolution that they think will fix it – their actions to get there (this will lead to the midpoint and the false victory/failure) should be trials/tests that yo-you back and forth as they grow - these aren’t random scenes but interconnect and move the plot forward.
The Power – Conclusion – climax – I use the 5 part conclusion: gather team, execute plan, high tower surprise, dig deep down, new plan! (I write out any pieces I know but I often only know parts until I start writing and then they reveal themselves as I draft or change)
The Bolt – first part of bad guys close in – so the MC just had the midpoint and needs to pick themselves up or is about to have everything unravel. From this high or low how are they going to get to the shift and the All Is Lost - the big oh crap
The Shift – the second half of bad guys closing – renewed push – the oh crap is coming and I have to face it
Novel Order
The Stasis – Set Up
The Trigger - Catalyst/Debate
The Quest – Fun & Games
MIDPOINT
The Bolt – Bad Guys Closing in – reaction/recovering from Midpoint
The Shift – Bad Guys Closing in – building up to All is Lost
The Defeat – All is Lost and Dark Night of the Soul (MC is at lowest – external why and their internal reaction)
The Power – Conclusion – 5 part
The Resolution – Final Image
For me, I use the below. (This is seriously what I use. For montages, I usually have “stuff happens”- noted with a *. If I know specific scenes I will include them.) I write a few words to a few sentences per box. For subplots, I add extra columns.
