How To Create a Plot Outline

Glossary

Inciting Incident: In the first two chapters of your story, something will take place—causing conflict—that catapults your protagonist forward on a new path. If nothing happens, then there’s no reason for your protagonist to change, which means there’s no story. This important event is called the inciting incident. 

Point of No Return: This is the time when your protagonist is forced to completely leave their old world behind. Your protagonist is unable to move backward due to their newfound knowledge and choices they’ve been confronted with.

​Why is a plot outline good for your writing? Not every writer creates an outline, but many writers do. You don’t have to know exactly what will take place in each chapter before you write, but the more you know, the better. I’ve known many writers, including my younger writer self, who have written their stories into dead-ends by not having an outline. 

An outline will ensure that your story contains the right amount of conflict between characters throughout each chapter. An outline will ensure that each chapter has a goal that moves the plot and/or character forward. An outline will ensure that you have a well-developed idea!

How do you create a plot outline?

​Well, this is not a simple answer, but I’ll try to make it as simple as possible. There are two ways to create an outline, you can complete a chapter outline, which involves a few sentences about each chapter. These sentences would include the goal of each chapter, the scenes and characters that are included in the chapter, and anything else you feel is important. 

Instead of a chapter outline, you can create a plot outline. This will focus on the key details for each act of your story, including the inciting incident, point-of-no-return, climax, and resolution. 

Wordy Woman

3 Act Plot Structure

​Based on a 3-Act Plot Structure, the following is a quick overview of a plot outline pulled from A Wordy Woman’s Guide for Writing a Book. 

• Act 1a. What’s the inciting incident that forces your protagonist on a new path?
• Act 1b. What event takes place? What are the stakes for your protagonist?
• Act 2a. What event takes place that raises the stakes?
• Act 2b. What does the protagonist discover? What is the point-of-no-return? What stakes are raised? What happens that forces him/her to make a choice that means he/she can’t go backward on their journey? This is the monumental, perpendicular point in the road for your protagonist.
• Act 3a. How are the stakes raised more?
• Act 3b. What is the climax of your story? What’s the resolution? Who dies? Who ends up together? Is there a happily-ever-after?

​In A Wordy Woman’s Guide for Writing a Book, I dive deeper into each act and help you plot each chapter within the act. But until you read the book, I hope this blog post has helped you.

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Dawn Husted

Dawn wrote her first book in 2008. Now, she’s the author of 5 books, owner of Yaupon Berry Press, and a member of SCBWI and Texas Association of Authors. She's passionate about the Oxford comma and loves a well-structured plot.
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A Wordy Woman's Guide was created with a tenacious spirit and an enormous vision to offer resources that empower aspiring authors.

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