HOW TO OUTLINE A STRONG OPENING ACT

Happy #WritersLifeWednesday my friend! Today is the FIRST EPISODE of my new series: HOW TO OUTLINE A RIVETING NOVEL (using the 3 act story structure). Today we're tackling act 1: THE OPENING OF YOUR NOVEL. (Don't worry, it's scary for every writer.) In this video I show you how to hook readers on page 1 and keep them engaged AND I reveal the one reason why most novel openings suck!!

Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday!!

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Check out my character creation series:

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THE TEMPLATE + QUESTIONS FOR ACT 1:

THE HOOK
What does my protagonist think will bring her true happiness or contentment? And how is her fear stopping her from going after it?

INCITING INCIDENT
Why does this inciting incident matter to my protagonist? How does it push her outside her comfort zone?

BUILD-UP
What internal conflict is going to arise for my protagonist in wake of the inciting incident?

1ST PLOT POINT
How is my protagonist going to react to the inciting incident, given her fear and misbelief about the world? What decision is she going to make now to avoid the most pain? (And get what she wants while steering clear of the thing she’s afraid of?)

1ST PINCH POINT
What is the opposition/antagonistic force my protagonist is going to have to face head-on later? How can I show the reader that it’s already looming in the distance?

NEXT VIDEO:

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✨ V A L U A B L E R E S O U R C E S✨

MORE VIDEOS YOU WOULD LIKE:

→ HOW TO WRITE DUAL POVS

→ SHOWING VS TELLING INTERNAL CONFLICT

→ HOW TO WRITE POWERFUL SIDE CHARACTERS

→ HOW TO WRITE THEME INTO YOUR STORY

✨F O L L O W ✨

✨ A B O U T ✨
My name is Abbie Emmons I teach writers how to make their stories matter by harnessing the power and psychology of storytelling, transforming their ideas into a masterpiece, and creating a lifestyle that makes their author dreams come true.

Story isn’t about “what happens” — it’s about how what happens affects and transforms the characters. I believe that there is an exact science (a recipe, if you will) behind a perfect story. And if you know what ingredients you need, you can create your own perfect story with ease and confidence. That’s what we talk about every week on this channel – and if it’s something you’re into, be sure to subscribe and join this community!

[stronggirlsyndrome]

I really felt the need to comment here in case it helps anybody who is stuck. I have been watching these videos for a while, trying to get to the bottom of my story, not understanding what'll happen, what should happen... until I actually TOOK her advice of "don't even TOUCH your outline until you know your story's theme and then the misbelief (or lie) the protagonist has." She says this for a REASON guys! Honestly! I struggled and finally, right now, I went back and worked out the theme. And guess what? EVERYTHING fell into place. I now know WHY the story matters, what my protagonist believes, why they do, how the inciting incident must go so it connects to her fear...and that's not all of it! I never realised just HOW IMPORTANT it is that you know your theme. That simple first step - What is the truth you want to tell with your story? - changes everything. It pulls it ALL into focus. YES, THIS COMMENT REQUIRES THIS LEVEL OF ENTHUSIASM. I AM VERY EXCITED.

[lakshyabakshi]

"Your inciting incident doesn't have to be some big, crazy, epic call to adventure."
*Me planning out my crazy, epic call to adventure* YES IT

[tangerinetundraag]

I really love how you say, "what's up my friend" instead of 'friends'. It's like you're talking directly to ME, as my personal writing coach or something. I really do love it!!!
-adrienne

[hadarsnorlax]

Negative character arc can bring positive to the world, the purpose of this is to show the reader the wrong way. It can realy convey the message

[allisonjuno]

I really disagree with you on writing negative character arcs, they can absolutely be beneficial to the reader. It can work as a cautionary tale, not every protagonist needs to be a good role model.

[Emma-ssgg]

I don’t know man. We can’t always be positive when writing because it’s simply not realistic. I want to understand the good, but it’s also important to understand the bad. Negative character arcs can be powerful.

[noahatlas]

I swear I took more notes and paid more attention to this video than any class I've ever taken in college. I've seriously watched this a dozen times, rewinding, going back, reviewing my notes to make sure I'm doing this right. I would've never considered outlining before but now I actually know what I'm DOING with my story. Your videos are so thorough and helpful. You're saving my butt here, thanks so

[deebomcdeebo]

After searching for some advice on Novel Outlines, I became quickly disappointed as many that would make videos would not break down outlines too much or they did not stay within the topic. There are good videos out there, however, I must say your video should have been the top of the list. Awesome breakdown, perfectly paced and explained. You love, have gained a subscriber! Keep up the awesome work!!

[mr.pompodill]

Negative character arcs can inspire good by showing the consequences of, let's say, leaving the government in control of every person's life (Orsen Well's 1984), or how letting fear control your decisions can lead to losing everything you care for (George Lucas' Star Wars Prequels (Anakin Skywalker)). Considering the benefits and warnings that come with a negative character arc, I find it strange a professional author would say something like, "...I don't see the point in writing negative character arcs for your protagonist." We live in reality, and reality has a slew of negative aspects authors can use to teach the world what will happen if we aren't aware of them.

[marcioventura]

when you said "congratulations, you're going to have a freaking powerful opening" i was so pround of myself because I'm writing this short film which I have the answer for all those questions. I have all of this. Thank you cuz I have a lot of anxiety about it

[Carlos-toyt]

So about a negative character arc. To a lot of people, a story is NOT about feeling good. To a lot of people, a story is just about feeling strong emotions.

[ness.ness.]

THIS IS BRILLIANT AND BEAUTIFULLY TIMED

IM OUTLINING RIGHT NOW SGHGFG

[LoreFriendlyMusic]

In the popular Anime series "Death Note" thereis a negative character ark for the protagonist. It's very interesting. I guess "Her" has a negative character arc for the protagonist as well. The great thing about these stories is that you don't really root for the protagonist, but you are fascinated by them, all the while rooting for the antagonists of the series. Especially in death note where the Antagonist is a good guy.

[kathecamargo]

Today I bought your book 100 days of sunlight and started reading it, and now I have a whole new perspective of you as a writer, it hit me hard, I had to stop reading because I literally couldn't breathe from the tight knot I got... thank you.

[aaroncheung]

I subbed the moment you said “I wanna inspire some good in the world”

[EllePlowPlow]

I *love* how enthusiastic you get about story writing.

[janie]

you are so different from my creative writing professor and a lot of other youtubers as well lol. You really value characters over plot, it's an interesting point of view! I'm personally 49% plot, 51% character, so both viewpoints are work pretty well with me. Very excited to keep watching your videos to get ready for preptober! subscribed :)

[kekster]

I'm a fifty year old guy from Holland who sold his company to pursue his dream of becoming a writer (why I am writing about myself in the third person?). I published a short story called "how I lost my leg" and now I am working on two novels. To prepare myself I took a very expensive creative writing course which taught me a lot but I wish I had discovered your videos earlier. You make it so simple and doable. I haven't been this confident in years ;-) Never thought I could learn so much from a twenty year old. Thank you.

PS. I don't know if I agree that there isn't a good negative character arc. What about "The Joker" movie? Or Lolita by Nabokov. Great stories with despicable characters.

[mommany]

I'm in the process of outlining, and I am going absolutely nuts. It's like hearding cats in my head! Her explanation of the 3 part act is so helpful! I've seen it, I know the diagram, but the way she explains it and the notes she puts up are really helpful at driving it home. You earned yourself a subscriber!

[graceboulet]

I disagree on the negative character arc thing - but that's a preference. I'm sucker for an excellent fall arc that you don't know is going to be a negative arc - at least for most of act one. They are only good when you learn from their mistake by the end or it poses a question about ethics or morality (aka a more open-ended ending that's still mostly satisfying). I will agree that most stories don't tackle this very well and it's frustrating. Honestly, this is better in film.


Awesome video though. Thank you for putting so much time and effort into teaching people for free!! It's greatly appreciated :)