Go from Idea to Outline—And Finish Your Draft Without Freaking Out
When writing’s going well, it can be immensely satisfying, not to mention lucrative.
But, all too often, this isn’t the case.
In the beginning, sure. Enthralled by your story idea, you write tons of material. Your word count grows in leaps and bounds. But the deeper you get into your screenplay or novel, the more difficult writing it becomes.
The words no longer flow freely; they trickle out.
Panicked, you stare at your computer screen, wondering, What happens next?
You have no idea.
You’ve run out of steam.
You’re stuck.
You end up with a half-finished draft. Thousands of words that go nowhere.
After a few cycles of this, you may question whether you’re even cut out for this writing gig, after all.
Don’t lose faith!
The problem isn’t with you. It’s with your method.
Here’s one solution: outline your screenplay or novel before writing it.
With such an outline in hand, you won’t get stranded. You’ll know where your story is headed; you won’t have to decide where to take it.
You can navigate blank pages without panicking.
With this writing skills guide, you’ll learn how to quickly produce such an outline. A 3-part process, it looks like this:
Make Sure Your Story Idea Isn’t a Time-Sink
When you get a seemingly great story idea, you probably like to “run with it.”
Here’s the thing: not all ideas are worth the time it takes to outline them, let alone write a first draft based on them.
No matter whether you’re a “plotter” or a “pantser,” you should develop your story idea first, so it has the 6 components all compelling stories share.
This way, you can maximize its potential, making sure it has enough substance to sustain a full-length film or novel—and enough appeal to attract an audience to read (or watch) it.
Build Your Story Structure
Even a great idea can collapse if it doesn’t have solid structure to support it.
Basically, when well executed, story structure ensures your screenplay or novel becomes progressively more interesting as it goes along.
In addition, because you’ve figured out structural signposts in advance, you won’t be traversing “in the dark,” for very long.
You’ll always have a bearing to head toward, a destination just around the corner. Hence, you’re unlikely to become so discouraged that you abandon your project altogether.
But if you want to boost your confidence and enhance your efficiency, then you’ll want to—
Outline Your Story with a Method Backed by Scientific Research (Sort Of)
Here, you’ll learn about a radical new outlining method that will help you plot out your entire story in as little as 2 hours.
It incorporates a simple technique Stanford researchers have concluded can make you 60% more creative (on average).
A Sampling of What You Will Accomplish with This Step-By-Step Writing Guide
- your protagonist’s goal will have the attributes necessary to prevent audience attention from drifting away
- you’ll make your story idea more ironic, and hence, more commercial
- using a simple template, you’ll produce a one-sentence summary of your story (which will help you write and market it)
- you’ll figure out your first-act break and inciting incident in 10 minutes (probably less)
- you’ll crack the middle of your story (including the midpoint and the end of Act Two), so that writing it will be less of a stress-fest
- you’ll take measures to prevent your screenplay or novel from wimping out during the climax
- you will have a list of all the plot points in your story, ultimately enabling you to write a better story, faster (no fancy software required)
