Three Suggestions For Turning Your Story Ideas Into a Functional Outline

Turning a story idea from an idea to a practical outline which you can write a story from is one of the most discussed features of beginning a story.

If you listen to multiple writers discuss their methods of outlining, you will notice that every writer has a different method and starting point. However, all those methods come down to a single common goal: putting the story idea into a format that helps show where they want their story to go. Everyone outlines, but the depth of this outline will be decided by what information is important to you and how good you are at holding information in your head.

I don’t like to outline, but I will forget where my story is going if I don’t, so today, I will share how I figured out what kind of plot works for me.

Write a Log Line

A log line is a one sentence summary of your story as a whole. Think of it as it the pitch you would give to a the manager of a busy publishing house if you met them in the elevator and wanted to get their interest before they got off on their floor.

It’s also a great way to start breaking your story idea down into bite-size pieces which you can write about.

Hero Joe wants to find the Golden Scroll to pay of this brother’s education, but Villain Ed stands in Joe’s way and wants to destroy the Golden Scroll because it’s said to bring bad luck.

Okay! Now I have the bare bones of my story will be about out on paper. Where do I start plotting, based off that sentence?

Well, there’s a question. Why does Hero Joe want to pay for his brother’s education? Why not buy himself a new house?

I could start my outline with a scene which shows that Hero Joe wants to pay for his brother’s education because Brother Ken was injured in a bomb attack on the aircraft factory he works in.

See? Just from one sentence, I’ve already gotten my first scene for my novel.

Write a Back-cover Synopsis

Writing a back-cover synopsis is my favorite way to begin the process of outlining a story. Like writing a log line, it pushes you to condense your idea down into a concept which you can then create a solid outline from.

I give myself an allowance of four paragraphs and try to introduce my hero and villain, the story goal, and the thing that is threatened if the goal isn’t reached within those paragraphs.

When I finish, I reread it while asking myself, “Okay, if I saw this on the back cover of a book, would I be curious enough and have enough information that I wanted to read more? Is this really what my idea is about, or do I need to change something to make it more accurate?”

You don’t have to stick to four paragraphs, but I find that for me, four is a good number to keep things from getting too vague or giving away too much information.

Create a Mind Map

Honestly, I have never used this technique for fiction, but I used it once for nonfiction and it’s a great way to get all your thoughts down on paper, which is the first goal of the plotting stage.

Write down a phrase in the middle of a sheet of paper. Let’s say it’s, “What is Hero Joe going to do to find the Golden Scroll?” Circle it.

Now, draw a line from that and write an idea. “Hero Joe gets his friends to help him search the library for old maps about the Scroll’s location.”

Write down any ideas relating to that point as branching off from that sentence. Write any new ideas as branching off from the starting point.

You have now begun your mind map! You can now follow the branches of your “tree” and pick out the ideas you like best. It might be a good idea have a highlighter on hand so you can make the trails more visibly separate from each other, or to mark favorite ideas so they’re easier to find.

Remember, unless you’re working with a publisher, nobody but you needs to understand your outline. You just need to have all those thoughts on paper where you can see them and put them together into a brand new story.

Brooke Johnson, out.