How to Plot Your Novel FAST | Writing Advice

Today I'm going to walk you through my process for quickly plotting a novel. I have a few other videos about plotting, but in this video I wanted to explain how to reason your way to a plot outline based on what you already know about your idea.

SHOW NOTES

Steps for Plotting a Novel:
• Summarize your basic idea for the novel and list out the information you already know you want to include in the plot.
• Ask questions about what you don't know, especially questions that focus on why each element would be relevant to the plot and characters.
• Create a synopsis (a summary of the plot) that answers the questions you've posed.
• Make a list of all the scenes you know should be included in the plot based on your synopsis.
• Go back into your outline to add scenes and flesh things out (over and over) until you have a full story.

[dirkwalker]

Me at the beginning of the video: "Well that's the dumbest writing prompt I've ever heard in my life"
Me by the end: "Where can I pre-order this novel? and when will it be made into a movie?"

[mforvendetta]

This is brilliant, it showcases one of the most important things about outlining that I struggled with before I figured it out. Build your story on a message, don't wait for your story to produce a message - it won't happen.

[VampCoffee]

this prompt thing should be a series :D

[TyberZann]

I wasn’t sold on the premise at first, but then little by little, you made the idea more and more compelling. A simple, yet lovely story.

On a side note, I’m glad you’re using more visual aids in your videos. That’s always been something I found lacking in your earlier videos. For a visual medium like YouTube, showing what you’re saying can highlight the points you want to emphasize.

[NekoSamaIru]

I feel like the love interest should have been a sailor as well, who wants the protagonist to come back, but supports her anyway. So, when she loses to her rival, she knows he'd try to get her to go back to being a sailor, and she might agree. As a result, she ignores all his calls and messages.

Anyway, this video was quite interesting. I didn't think asking and answering some questions would help that much. I think I want to try it now.

[rednecktash]

You can’t leave us hanging!! This outline needs a sequel!

[ledge-magee]

It's really hard to link up the nonsense in those prompt generators, yet I can see a really charming, Great British Bake-Off -esk book series coming out of this.

Respect.

[EveHenryTravel]

So that’s how a Hallmark film is written!

Thank you for this video, it’s really helped me get my head around basic outlines.

[kennethkingsbury]

Her construction of the plot is simple but fantastic. When you add all meaningful details, you would have a heart-warming story.

[alannothnagle]

Wow! While I haven't gotten around to writing any baking novels yet, this is perhaps the most cogent summary of the outlining process ever. I guess I already knew a lot of this intuitively, but I've never seen it presented so clearly! Yet another reason why this is my favorite writing channel!!

[pagebeam]

I am speechless. I've never seen a video nor read an article that so thoroughly placed me within the mind of a story builder. I’m encouraged by your willingness to resolve some plot questions later, but to push forward with the questions you can answer now. Personally, I tend to get frustrated when I don't know everything at the beginning, and I am therefore blocked and stop writing. Thanks for the reminder about how exciting and resourceful the imagination can be.

[gary]

What about at the end. There's a judge who really liked her entry. And he helps her get a job as a chef. So she lost but now she has a career

[vithoralbertim]

this looks like a plot of a Sandra Bullock's movie.

[physikus]

Your videos persuaded me that writing is so much more about logic and system than people think. I'm discovering some perks of writing myself now, but your advices already helped me three or four times, so thanks:)

[morningcoffee]

Wow. When she began I was so disappointed in the example story idea. It was basic and boring. It was garbage. And when she started breaking it down it became plausible. Then somewhere around the 3/4 mark I had to keep rewinding to get the points she was making because the characters were talking and distracting me. It went from juvenile garbage to something that I’d like to read, or write, in less than 15 minutes. Ellen has some serious skills.

[jeromyperez]

So I already had my story plotted, but this inspired me to go back and see if there's anything I should add or take away. Thanks for the great reminder.

[exendar]

Thankyou so much for this. After watching a few 'how to develop your story' videos I was getting sick of them all being fluff and no content. Yours is a super practical, pragmatic and hands-on explanation - it's helped me a lot.

[eleanorcm]

This is really good, thank you Ellen. I've had an idea for ages, which over time has evolved into a detailed setting with ideas for subplots, and some characters I'm happy with, but I've struggled to simplify it enough to tease out a compelling plot. I think this approach will really help.

[christinag]

Honestly, I wanted the rival to be the romantic partner by the end! Thanks for the super helpful video!

[Cinemaniac]

I've been trying to find information on how stories are constructed and what makes them compelling and after finding almost nothing but vague and often contradicting information this channel is a godsend holy shit