Step 6: Simple outline
Here’s what you’ve accomplished towards your project so far. You:
If you haven’t done these things yet, you can always catch up by following the links!
Last week, you figured out where your story started and ended the arc of change for your reader (nonfiction) or protagonist (fiction).
This week, let’s sketch out the internal (reaction) and external (action) movements of your story. Fill out this super simple summary for your project:
Once upon a time, there was ____.
Who is the protagonist/reader before the transformation begins?
Every day, ____.
What is the status quo of your reader/protagonist’s world?
One day ____.
What forces the status quo to change?
Because of that, ____.
What does the protagonist/reader decide as a result of the previous step? That action will have consequences.
Because of that, ____.
With every subsequent action, the stakes are raised (in fiction). What happens (plot) has to mean something to the protagonist/reader and influence their decision/reaction.
Until finally ____.
The protagonist/reader arrives at a resolution/solution to the problem that kicked the story off.
And ever since that day ____.
The reader/protagonist goes about their new life that is a result of all the actions taken and decisions made and new skills developed and implemented, etc.
Here’s a great example from fellow book coach and friend Sara Gentry. Follow this link to see the Twitter thread where she demonstrates the simple outline through a real-world example.
The point of this exercise is to use “because of that” to link plot points. If there is no “because of that” to link one step to another, you just have a bunch of events that don’t show a transformation. And the transformation (of the protagonist, for the reader) is why someone will read your book.
Next, we’ll flesh this summary out into an outline of your book!
Image credit: https://www.rootinc.com/change-starts-with-us-how-business-methodology-can-translate-to-a-colorful-home-life/story-arc/
Simple outline credit: Jennie Nash, Blueprint for a Book and Blueprint for a Nonfiction Book
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