This helped me a lot! I'm a composer/recording musician, and I am working on a concept album- I plan on writing a fairly detailed story first, and then I plan on translating it into music. After watching this I have a good idea of how I want to organize it and what directions I want to take it in. I'll follow this structure pretty closely, with each act represented by a whole cd's worth of music- so it will be a triple album. Right now, music is just a hobby, but within the next 5 years I hope to make the leap into the professional!
Thanks everyone! This project fell by the wayside for me, but I'll probably come back to it eventually. At least my home studio is really starting to be something special!
Grayson Wilson-Cacciapalle that's brilliant! I've also distanced from projects, but i suddenly wanted to write them again this year, so the urge to write it will provably return! Keep composing and writing! :D
this is the most detailed outline out there!! it's perfect for novice writers like me. thank you so much, kat, for posting this. i couldn't even start my book before this.
Kat, I am a student at ICL and want to say you are an excellent writing instructor. I could never get the story structure sorted out. Your 27 Chapter Outline puts it all together for me and your presentation is outstanding. You are right saying adjust the guideline to the story. An excellent road map to writing. Oh yes, the brunet is best.
I am currently re-reading the Hunger Games books, and I just realized I think Suzanne Collins used this method. Each book has 3 parts and 27 chapters at least....
This is amazing! I am such I nerd. I may or may not have copied down everything on this powerpoint into my writing notebook. Along with notes from your factors of a great novel series. MY HAND HURTS.
I absolutely love this outline! I was listening to it and could imagine how this would apply to the trilogy I'm writing. Not only can I do the 3 acts per book, but I can do the 3 acts across the entire trilogy. You bring up some great advice and offer wonderful solutions to authors who might be struggling with their outlines. Fantastic! Thank you.
For my NaNoWriMo, I had my story all outlined out, I was ready to go, chapter by chapter, and I'm basically not a pantser at all, just so you know... so then, I realized I hated my story three days in, threw it out, and started a completely new story with no outline at all and began anew! My story is a mess right now, but after letting it sit for a month I reread it, found some parts I liked, and am now using this outline structure to help me reorganize everything. I really like this structure, it's working for me great so far, so thanks a ton! Just a note: if any of you are planners out there, try pantsing! Even if it's not for you (cause I probably won't do it again) it's a really freeing, different experience. And vice versa, for those pantsers! I don't regret throwing my old story out at all!
This structure has been super helpful for my NaNoWroMo plotting this year. I have always written by the seat of my pants and this is the first year I have attempted an outline. I had no idea where to begin before finding your video. Thank you!!!
I've been using this to outline a novel I want to write for Nanowrimo this year. It's such a great help to plan out and keep my story organized. I did have to switch Pinch 1 from Block 3, with Action from Block 2 in order to fit my story, after all, the story defines the outline not the other way around. I've actually never properly outlined before, but I'm not a pantser, I usually just have an idea of what happens in my head and go with it, but outlining is actually a lot better and easier than I thought! If I always outline from now on I think I'll be able to write much faster, I always get stuck and don't know what to do. :P
the structure I use, which is best suited to thrillers and which I read in several thriller writing books is... the plot, each subplot and each chapter etc needs to have - *set up* *first turning point* *halfway point* (not always necessary) *second turning point* *climax* *resolution* (not always necessary) I stick to that format and it's served me very well.
I actually took notes on this video. Very helpful! :D having such a succinct outline helps someone like me who has trouble focusing on one thing at a time. Instead of forcing myself to do one thing at a time, I can go to whichever part of whichever act I need to work on! :D So many more ideas to be spawned this way. Thank you so much for making this video!
This is so useful! I finally managed to properly organize the events of the novel I've been writing for some years now. However, I noticed that my plot simply couldn't be reconciled with this outline without blocks 6 & 7 switching places so that the low-point preceding the resolution is actually the end of Act II, with Act III starting on a reaction to the darkest moment and dedication to victory.
You have no idea how much this helped me. I was constantly being told to outline ny story but I didn't know how until I was looking through your playlist and stumbled upon this video. Thank you so much I can now write without any writers block!
This video was even better than all the others of yours I watched!!! Wow! Thanks. I really benefited from this structural formula. I even took notes. I've been building my world for several years now, and this video has given me the blueprint I need to catalogue my ideas into a coherent chronology of creativity. Thank you so much!!!!
I'm doing NaNoWriMo and I'm really far behind but then I remembered this video and looked it up in my writing favorites and it still holds water. I know tomorrow is the last day but considering that I know what I want out of the story this helps me to break it down into much more manageable bites. And, the average word count for each chapter is one thousand eight hundred fifty two words. I did round up a little but that's totally manageable. I don't know if I'm going to hit my target but it's going to be fun trying.
A really great tutorial. I remember this from last year and it's definitely the best method I've seen. I have found that my third act tends to be quite a bit shorter than the previous two.
What's really cool is that I compared your outline to the drafts of my series and for the most part, it was spot on! I think a lot of writers use this formula without even realizing it.
Love this, Katytastic! You've gotten me out of a hole in my novel. After my first draft (totally Pantsed), I had several chapters that were floating loose. I knew they belong in the story, but couldn't see where to fit them. Now I can see where they fit into the outline. Thanks for taking the time to do this!!
This was the best, most lucid description of how to basically structure a work of Fiction I have ever heard. I was enthralled and totally excited (and it was a great lead in to the followup video using Scrivener)
I'm writing a documentary about climate change and have been looking through the heroes journey charts, and this video is the most helpful that I've found - thanks so much :)
Great video! I’m working on expanding my psychological thriller novella into a novel, and I’ve been at a loss for how to do that. This information really helps. I can see where each of my story’s events would fall in this outline, and I see where I might need to expand. Thanks for sharing! 👍🏽
Story structure rocks my world. It looks like you've got quite a useful model here. I structure my writing slightly differently but it pretty much achieves the same thing. I use the story structure described by Larry Brooks and K.M. Weiland, where the book is divided into 4 parts. First plot point at 25%, midpoint at 50% and second plot point at 75%. It's basically 3-Act structure but act two is twice as long as the others and is broken into two distinct parts.
I love it. Amazing well done looks like you compared a lot of books to come up with this organizer. This will be most useful for my novel writting and how I can structure it more properly thank you saved a ton of work for me in just few minutes.
Sadri'El The Sorrowful Sinner I've used it for some of my short story ideas. I just kind of mix some of the chapters together and it seems to flow pretty well. It's all just a method of trial-and-error until you find the thing that works best for you
Sadri'El The Sorrowful Sinner It really depends on your style of writing. You could have 5 chapters but each chapter is like 25 pages. Or 25 chapters and each one is 5 pages. I forget but I think a short story is considered under 10,000 words. I recommend reading some short stories and see how many chapters they have. But never base it off of how many pages each chapter should have. As long as you get the point across that you were aiming for in that chapter it doesn't necessarily matter how many pages.
Thank you so much for this, Kat! I'm having such a hard time with outlining my story right now and this really helps. I also got new ideas from watching this so THANK YOU. Plot is my weakest point. Characters come so easily to me but PLOT. D:
I stumbled onto this video. It makes my heart so happy because I don't think you realize just how complex into literary theory you are actually getting. The basis of this is Campbell's heroes journey and I really do think that I'm going to start using this to explain the setup of epics to my high schoolers. It really makes that process a little more understandable for young learners. So thanks for the resource that I didn't know I needed
I mixed this in with the Snowflake Method and it worked really awesome (for me at least)! At first I thought it this was going to be complicated but you explained the entire 27 ch. break down really well!
oh heavens! why did this take so long to find! a simple and no shit structure to follow.... I'm a plotting geek and, not kidding, wrote every single thing down in my nb, and am so thankful to have found this.... the story residing in my mund has already begun to make sense and take shape on paper now.... the only thing i might have trouble with niw is flexing my sub plots in here.... thank you so much for this...
I a definitely going to try this thank you! I guess I missed the November writing thing, so I am going to do something now. My mind is always active on stories and what not, need to get them down on paper and this is definitely going to help me out.
The explanation of your outline is a good description on the bones of a story. I will be using your outline points as questions to help me figure out the next thing that needs to happen in my stories. I do more of a number 1-10 to "outline" my novels. But at times I'm not sure what needs to happen next to reach the conclusion. Your explanations of each of the 27 blocks will work great to help me progress through each plot. Thank you for the work you put into making these videos. With info like this who needs to pay for a college course. :)
I have used this system for my NaNo novel this year and found it extremely helpful. The first time I have really tried to plot and I am doing far better than I have in previous years
This was really helpful. I have been sitting on a story idea since high school (that was a while ago for me) and I never really had any idea how to get it started. This and your other writing tips video really helped me with getting started. So, thank you. :D
Thank you so much for this. I'm preparing for nano and I have a whole bunch of ideas for my current WIP and I've been having problems sequencing them. I typed up this outline and printed it to work on off the computer. It helped me see everything so much clearly and I've been able to get my thoughts out more easily. Thank you!!!
This is fantastic. I am currently scrambling because this will be my first nanowrimo and I need all the help I can get, so this will definitely be of use to me.
Thank-you so much for this video it has been so helpful. I was working on a story but i found it had no real structure so i am defiantly going to try and use this! Thanks so much!
It's actually really cool cuz this set up of the outline works for contemporary stories too! At first when I watched this video, it sounded like it only worked for fantasy stories what with the new world and such. But that is kind of metaphorical for different elements of a contemporary novel!
I applied this to the NaNoWriMo outline I am working on. I was worried that forcing my story into this structure would seem very artificial but it has worked perfectly. It has really helped me get a clearer picture of my story and should help a lot with pacing. I have only made a very minor changes, incorporating a prologue and epilogue, and I will probably also add more chapters as my subplots develop.
I was looking for a way of outlining my NaNoWriMo novel and this has worked perfectly! My story fits pretty well - like you said, some chapters need squishing together, but I can see light at the end of the tunnel and it's clear in my head. Roll on November!
I love this layout, but I am going to have trouble putting it to use. Tragedy and darkest moments are a recurring theme throughout the first novel in the series, and conflict is also rampant. I am going to give it a go though! Thanks for putting this video up almost 5 years ago!
Outline is a great writing tool, although I've never been able to do it. I just have a main idea and just go with it. I do promote the idea of outlining since I know it actually works for many people, not all, but many. Thanks for taking the time to make this video
This helped me so much, thank you =) I learned this on a Script (writing) class I had in college, but my teacher made it look so much more complex and at the same time so much more incomplete than this.
Thank you so much for sharing. I am a newby to writing and was in need of some structure for all of my ideas. I found this to be very helpful and easy to follow. Thank you again.
Yay, I just finished outlining by story. I also added a fourth Block in Act III as the ending because I had no idea how else to do it. This was really helpful. Thank you :)
I watched this video last week and went back to a manuscript I put on hold a year ago because I got stuck...I've now written over half of it using this outline :) really useful video thanks
I enjoyed this video. Since 2009, when I started to write (now I am 18), I follow kind of this structure of storytelling. That's why this video actually so interesting and whoa, I gonna be crazy with this coincidence. By the way, I liked it and subscribe to channel. It's so interesting your way to explain. I love it! Xoxo
I'm a panster, but have discovered a new found appreciation for outlines. This will be helpful to more fully flush out my writing pieces--maybe as a checklist as I write. Suggestion/Question: I'd like to see how and where the ideas of theme and inner need would be worked into this structure. Thank you for the video.
thanks for the idea i am plotting a trilogy and this has put an idea in my head for the trilogy and i am using your three act structure for the last two books. sad to say i didnt have this video when i was plotting my story for november. so now i am trying to restructure my story with your ideas for plotting. while using this also to outline my trilogy! so thanks because my second and third novel are coming together perfectly thanks to your structure.
Thanks. My "ending" just came to me, and it's a very personal subject. I started writing an outline but as it was racing out of me I felt TOO connected, too emotional already. So I sought out some help. The "skeletal" outline you provide helped me quite a bit. I'll get back to you as I flesh it out.
This is good stuff, It has helped me with a plotting problem that has been bugging me. I have created a mind mapping template for this in FreePlan (free mind map tool). All I have to do is fill in the blanks with my brainstorming ideas. This has really helped!
What if you have multiple characters telling the story, would you follow the chapters individually with EACH chapter, or would the actual story be what follows the skeleton?
M.G. Summers Each co-protagonists story is up to you to determine what's most important to tell and when, but each one will have their own mini-arc. As she stated, this is a skeleton. 27 chapters is a good start, but you can add more very easily. Hell, you should have 21 characters to start with (minimum), so 27 chapters is nothing. As she stated in the video, the middle can be 50% of the story, if you add another protagonist arc, it would be perfect.
That's my problem hahaha..I have like 5 main characters and their stories interweave with each other...I think you would have to think of it like 5 different smaller stories that intersect with each other (depending on how many characters you have) and the way in doing it is evenly spreading the story telling out.. What helps me is thinking of a soap opera because that's what they do.... also I have a habit of not telling the story of the villain, they can't just be "bad", why or how did they get bad?! I used to like the element of surprise but what's surprise if you confuse the reader? So that adds even more main characters, and in my story I have two villains one is more "evil" than the other. Then you have "supporting characters" and maybe one or two main characters could be considered supporting characters but in my case I think I delve into their back stories more than I should. And then you have characters which show up only a few times, these tend to be family members, long lost friends, ex lovers, a random stranger, ect and I am a true believer in giving them "life" too, just because they only show up a handful of times doesn't mean they should be neglected..I think a lot of novel-to-movies struggle with exposing some of these characters because of the time constraints but we don't need to do that in the novel.
I'm going to try this for my three viewpoint plot. I'll do a separate outline for each character and see how it goes. Two of the characters hook up around the end of act two, so instead of 81 chapters, it'll probably come out at around 60-65 chapters, or 180,000 words. The best fantasy averages about that anyway. Wish me luck!
Hey, thanks for the video. I've been struggling with how to structure my story for a long time. I like how you went as detailed as the 27 chapter outline, very helpful.
I needed this video as I am floundering at the moment to outline my novel for NaNoWriMo. This is my first time participating and need as much help as I can get. Thanks, awesome video
I say write the story first, from the heart. Do it with or without your own outline. Let the characters and the world determine your story. You'll end up with something bigger and richer than with this method. You will have to revise and twist a lot more, invest more time. ...and you'll be the better writer for doing so. After that you can always decide on dramaticing it with the standard curvature of a 'Hero's journey'.
Dividing the story into bite-sized chunks really made it easier. This was a huge help.
i come back and re-watch this video as i outline my nano novel every single year. here we are again.
I'm going to try Nano this year. You must be super dedicated if you do it every year
This helped me a lot! I'm a composer/recording musician, and I am working on a concept album- I plan on writing a fairly detailed story first, and then I plan on translating it into music. After watching this I have a good idea of how I want to organize it and what directions I want to take it in. I'll follow this structure pretty closely, with each act represented by a whole cd's worth of music- so it will be a triple album. Right now, music is just a hobby, but within the next 5 years I hope to make the leap into the professional!
Grayson Wilson-Cacciapalle How are you doing now, Grayson?
Sounds interesting, if you haven't finished by now keep going
That is a very cool idea! I wish you the best of luck, six years later! :D
Thanks everyone! This project fell by the wayside for me, but I'll probably come back to it eventually. At least my home studio is really starting to be something special!
Grayson Wilson-Cacciapalle that's brilliant!
I've also distanced from projects, but i suddenly wanted to write them again this year, so the urge to write it will provably return! Keep composing and writing! :D
this is the most detailed outline out there!! it's perfect for novice writers like me. thank you so much, kat, for posting this. i couldn't even start my book before this.
Kat, I am a student at ICL and want to say you are an excellent writing instructor. I could never get the story structure sorted out. Your 27 Chapter Outline puts it all together for me and your presentation is outstanding. You are right saying adjust the guideline to the story. An excellent road map to writing. Oh yes, the brunet is best.
This stuff is amazing. You should be proud of yourself for helping so many of us writers without even charging a penny. Thank you, Katy:)
I am currently re-reading the Hunger Games books, and I just realized I think Suzanne Collins used this method. Each book has 3 parts and 27 chapters at least....
That was the first thing I thought of.
I just finished the first 3 and I'm 3/4 the way through the 4th and I know what you mean
One of the web tutorials for this method actually uses The Hunger Games as its example.
This is amazing! I am such I nerd. I may or may not have copied down everything on this powerpoint into my writing notebook. Along with notes from your factors of a great novel series.
MY HAND HURTS.
As did I Martha, as did I
You're not alone...
Same here ✍️
I wrote it into an excel document and use it as a template. This method is amazing. Helps me see my story so clearly.
I typed mine as we speak. I wonder if I will indeed finish this thing m working on
this video made me realize why there are usually only 27 episodes of really good animes....
Sammy Kammy Studios what about Fullmetal alchemist?
Avatar the Last Airbender disagrees. 61 Episodes
Alex Xavier Well ATLA isn't an anime so
Holy shit
I absolutely love this outline! I was listening to it and could imagine how this would apply to the trilogy I'm writing. Not only can I do the 3 acts per book, but I can do the 3 acts across the entire trilogy. You bring up some great advice and offer wonderful solutions to authors who might be struggling with their outlines. Fantastic! Thank you.
I think it's AWESOME!
You may not think much of yourself as anything, but you're one very talented lady.
THANKS A LOT!
For my NaNoWriMo, I had my story all outlined out, I was ready to go, chapter by chapter, and I'm basically not a pantser at all, just so you know... so then, I realized I hated my story three days in, threw it out, and started a completely new story with no outline at all and began anew! My story is a mess right now, but after letting it sit for a month I reread it, found some parts I liked, and am now using this outline structure to help me reorganize everything. I really like this structure, it's working for me great so far, so thanks a ton!
Just a note: if any of you are planners out there, try pantsing! Even if it's not for you (cause I probably won't do it again) it's a really freeing, different experience. And vice versa, for those pantsers! I don't regret throwing my old story out at all!
This structure has been super helpful for my NaNoWroMo plotting this year. I have always written by the seat of my pants and this is the first year I have attempted an outline. I had no idea where to begin before finding your video. Thank you!!!
I've been using this to outline a novel I want to write for Nanowrimo this year. It's such a great help to plan out and keep my story organized. I did have to switch Pinch 1 from Block 3, with Action from Block 2 in order to fit my story, after all, the story defines the outline not the other way around. I've actually never properly outlined before, but I'm not a pantser, I usually just have an idea of what happens in my head and go with it, but outlining is actually a lot better and easier than I thought! If I always outline from now on I think I'll be able to write much faster, I always get stuck and don't know what to do. :P
the structure I use, which is best suited to thrillers and which I read in several thriller writing books is...
the plot, each subplot and each chapter etc needs to have -
*set up*
*first turning point*
*halfway point* (not always necessary)
*second turning point*
*climax*
*resolution* (not always necessary)
I stick to that format and it's served me very well.
I actually took notes on this video. Very helpful! :D having such a succinct outline helps someone like me who has trouble focusing on one thing at a time. Instead of forcing myself to do one thing at a time, I can go to whichever part of whichever act I need to work on! :D So many more ideas to be spawned this way. Thank you so much for making this video!
Perfect for nanowrimo- a chapter a day, and you get four days of leeway 😁 Love this!
This is so useful! I finally managed to properly organize the events of the novel I've been writing for some years now. However, I noticed that my plot simply couldn't be reconciled with this outline without blocks 6 & 7 switching places so that the low-point preceding the resolution is actually the end of Act II, with Act III starting on a reaction to the darkest moment and dedication to victory.
I've rewatched this video at least once a month since 2013 and I can quote the entire thing at this point so thank you
This is one of the best explanations that I've seen for the structure of a novel or movie -
Thanks so much! Great outline format!
You have no idea how much this helped me. I was constantly being told to outline ny story but I didn't know how until I was looking through your playlist and stumbled upon this video. Thank you so much I can now write without any writers block!
This is like finding a $20 bill you forgot you had in you're jeans you just put on thinking you were broke.
Mann, that’s deep
@@anniek1746 mi .
oh man I love the fractal nature of your set up! It's mathematically beautiful!
This video was even better than all the others of yours I watched!!! Wow! Thanks. I really benefited from this structural formula. I even took notes. I've been building my world for several years now, and this video has given me the blueprint I need to catalogue my ideas into a coherent chronology of creativity. Thank you so much!!!!
I'm doing NaNoWriMo and I'm really far behind but then I remembered this video and looked it up in my writing favorites and it still holds water. I know tomorrow is the last day but considering that I know what I want out of the story this helps me to break it down into much more manageable bites. And, the average word count for each chapter is one thousand eight hundred fifty two words. I did round up a little but that's totally manageable. I don't know if I'm going to hit my target but it's going to be fun trying.
A really great tutorial. I remember this from last year and it's definitely the best method I've seen. I have found that my third act tends to be quite a bit shorter than the previous two.
This is probably the best explanation of the three act structure I’ve seen/watched. Thank you! This has helped me so much.
What's really cool is that I compared your outline to the drafts of my series and for the most part, it was spot on! I think a lot of writers use this formula without even realizing it.
Love this, Katytastic! You've gotten me out of a hole in my novel. After my first draft (totally Pantsed), I had several chapters that were floating loose. I knew they belong in the story, but couldn't see where to fit them. Now I can see where they fit into the outline. Thanks for taking the time to do this!!
This was the best, most lucid description of how to basically structure a work of Fiction I have ever heard. I was enthralled and totally excited (and it was a great lead in to the followup video using Scrivener)
I'm writing a documentary about climate change and have been looking through the heroes journey charts, and this video is the most helpful that I've found - thanks so much :)
You are an inspiration, Kat. Thank you for helping me get back into writing. I hope to see all your novels published one day.
Great video! I’m working on expanding my psychological thriller novella into a novel, and I’ve been at a loss for how to do that. This information really helps. I can see where each of my story’s events would fall in this outline, and I see where I might need to expand. Thanks for sharing! 👍🏽
Nice work! I am a reformed pantser and found your method wonderfully explanatory! Thanks!
Good plan on this style of structure, I plan to implement.
Story structure rocks my world. It looks like you've got quite a useful model here. I structure my writing slightly differently but it pretty much achieves the same thing. I use the story structure described by Larry Brooks and K.M. Weiland, where the book is divided into 4 parts. First plot point at 25%, midpoint at 50% and second plot point at 75%. It's basically 3-Act structure but act two is twice as long as the others and is broken into two distinct parts.
I love it. Amazing well done looks like you compared a lot of books to come up with this organizer. This will be most useful for my novel writting and how I can structure it more properly thank you saved a ton of work for me in just few minutes.
This has been so dang helpful with my writing journey! Thank you so much!
Sadri'El The Sorrowful Sinner I've used it for some of my short story ideas. I just kind of mix some of the chapters together and it seems to flow pretty well. It's all just a method of trial-and-error until you find the thing that works best for you
Sadri'El The Sorrowful Sinner It really depends on your style of writing. You could have 5 chapters but each chapter is like 25 pages. Or 25 chapters and each one is 5 pages. I forget but I think a short story is considered under 10,000 words. I recommend reading some short stories and see how many chapters they have. But never base it off of how many pages each chapter should have. As long as you get the point across that you were aiming for in that chapter it doesn't necessarily matter how many pages.
Thank you so much for this, Kat! I'm having such a hard time with outlining my story right now and this really helps. I also got new ideas from watching this so THANK YOU. Plot is my weakest point. Characters come so easily to me but PLOT. D:
Wooooow I’ve been seeking for someone to provide me with a clear format and you definitely hit the nail on the coffin
I stumbled onto this video. It makes my heart so happy because I don't think you realize just how complex into literary theory you are actually getting. The basis of this is Campbell's heroes journey and I really do think that I'm going to start using this to explain the setup of epics to my high schoolers. It really makes that process a little more understandable for young learners. So thanks for the resource that I didn't know I needed
I mixed this in with the Snowflake Method and it worked really awesome (for me at least)! At first I thought it this was going to be complicated but you explained the entire 27 ch. break down really well!
This is absolutely beautiful. This is helping me a ton with completing my first novel. Thank you so much for making it so much easier.
I love watching your Nanowrimo/Writing videos. You're basically the one who inspired me to do it for the first time. Woo! Are you doing it this year?
+Rachel Writes I asked her a few days back and she said she wasn't entirely sure as she was moving house, hope this helps!
oh heavens! why did this take so long to find! a simple and no shit structure to follow.... I'm a plotting geek and, not kidding, wrote every single thing down in my nb, and am so thankful to have found this.... the story residing in my mund has already begun to make sense and take shape on paper now.... the only thing i might have trouble with niw is flexing my sub plots in here.... thank you so much for this...
I've never used this structure, though I have to admit it all makes sense. I will probably consider using it for future projects.
you're awesome for this ! this is my first writing experience, and i feel like you gave me a great way to get started on the right track! thanks!
Holy Mozes its 2016 now and this video from 2012 just made my life better. Thank you! I'm off to NaNoWriMo with a better outline :D
thank you so much for this video, I was really struggling with my outline even though I had a really good idea of a story! this really helped me out
I a definitely going to try this thank you! I guess I missed the November writing thing, so I am going to do something now. My mind is always active on stories and what not, need to get them down on paper and this is definitely going to help me out.
The 27 chapter outline is now my bible. Thank you. Like really really thank you!
The explanation of your outline is a good description on the bones of a story. I will be using your outline points as questions to help me figure out the next thing that needs to happen in my stories. I do more of a number 1-10 to "outline" my novels. But at times I'm not sure what needs to happen next to reach the conclusion. Your explanations of each of the 27 blocks will work great to help me progress through each plot. Thank you for the work you put into making these videos. With info like this who needs to pay for a college course. :)
Excellent video, Kat. Thanks for your insights.
For the very first time, ever, I actually understood the three act structure. Awesome video!!!
I have used this system for my NaNo novel this year and found it extremely helpful. The first time I have really tried to plot and I am doing far better than I have in previous years
This was really helpful. I have been sitting on a story idea since high school (that was a while ago for me) and I never really had any idea how to get it started. This and your other writing tips video really helped me with getting started. So, thank you. :D
Thank you so much for this. I'm preparing for nano and I have a whole bunch of ideas for my current WIP and I've been having problems sequencing them. I typed up this outline and printed it to work on off the computer. It helped me see everything so much clearly and I've been able to get my thoughts out more easily. Thank you!!!
This is fantastic. I am currently scrambling because this will be my first nanowrimo and I need all the help I can get, so this will definitely be of use to me.
Thank-you so much for this video it has been so helpful. I was working on a story but i found it had no real structure so i am defiantly going to try and use this! Thanks so much!
Intriguing. Going to give your method a shot. Thanks so much for putting these videos onto TH-cam. Much appreciated.
It's actually really cool cuz this set up of the outline works for contemporary stories too! At first when I watched this video, it sounded like it only worked for fantasy stories what with the new world and such. But that is kind of metaphorical for different elements of a contemporary novel!
So immensely helpful! I used to be a by the seat of your pants kinda guy, but I am considering changing over to the Outliner side!
It's nano time again which means I'm watching this video again --for the third year straight!
I applied this to the NaNoWriMo outline I am working on. I was worried that forcing my story into this structure would seem very artificial but it has worked perfectly. It has really helped me get a clearer picture of my story and should help a lot with pacing. I have only made a very minor changes, incorporating a prologue and epilogue, and I will probably also add more chapters as my subplots develop.
I was looking for a way of outlining my NaNoWriMo novel and this has worked perfectly! My story fits pretty well - like you said, some chapters need squishing together, but I can see light at the end of the tunnel and it's clear in my head. Roll on November!
Yes indeed, this is perhaps the best concise explanation of the structure of a novel. Thank you so much!
I love this layout, but I am going to have trouble putting it to use. Tragedy and darkest moments are a recurring theme throughout the first novel in the series, and conflict is also rampant. I am going to give it a go though! Thanks for putting this video up almost 5 years ago!
Ive used this outline once already and absolutely loved it. It will also be taking the spotlight once again for the upcoming November nanowrimo!
Outline is a great writing tool, although I've never been able to do it. I just have a main idea and just go with it. I do promote the idea of outlining since I know it actually works for many people, not all, but many. Thanks for taking the time to make this video
This helped me so much, thank you =) I learned this on a Script (writing) class I had in college, but my teacher made it look so much more complex and at the same time so much more incomplete than this.
Thank you so much for sharing. I am a newby to writing and was in need of some structure for all of my ideas. I found this to be very helpful and easy to follow. Thank you again.
Yay, I just finished outlining by story. I also added a fourth Block in Act III as the ending because I had no idea how else to do it. This was really helpful. Thank you :)
Coming all the way from the year 2020, 8 YEARS after the og post, but its still a solid set up for my NaNo writing project this year.
This video is very helpful. I am currently in the planning stages of my first novel, this has helped me. Thanks for sharing.
I watched this video last week and went back to a manuscript I put on hold a year ago because I got stuck...I've now written over half of it using this outline :) really useful video thanks
I'm planning for NaNoWriMo 2014 last minute and I remembered this, so I am using this to outline that novel :) thanks for your help!
I enjoyed this video. Since 2009, when I started to write (now I am 18), I follow kind of this structure of storytelling. That's why this video actually so interesting and whoa, I gonna be crazy with this coincidence. By the way, I liked it and subscribe to channel. It's so interesting your way to explain. I love it! Xoxo
Are you the creator of this method? Then you have created something that the writing world desperately needed.
I'm a panster, but have discovered a new found appreciation for outlines. This will be helpful to more fully flush out my writing pieces--maybe as a checklist as I write. Suggestion/Question: I'd like to see how and where the ideas of theme and inner need would be worked into this structure. Thank you for the video.
Yay! More nano vids from Kat! Now I have somthing else to watch a bajillion times this month.
I have the flu. :(
Thank you for sharing this! Using this structure for NaNoWriMo this year. Very helpful!!
thanks for the idea i am plotting a trilogy and this has put an idea in my head for the trilogy and i am using your three act structure for the last two books. sad to say i didnt have this video when i was plotting my story for november. so now i am trying to restructure my story with your ideas for plotting. while using this also to outline my trilogy!
so thanks because my second and third novel are coming together perfectly thanks to your structure.
Thanks. My "ending" just came to me, and it's a very personal subject. I started writing an outline but as it was racing out of me I felt TOO connected, too emotional already. So I sought out some help. The "skeletal" outline you provide helped me quite a bit. I'll get back to you as I flesh it out.
This is good stuff, It has helped me with a plotting problem that has been bugging me. I have created a mind mapping template for this in FreePlan (free mind map tool). All I have to do is fill in the blanks with my brainstorming ideas. This has really helped!
You'd be so proud! I am using this outline process for NaNoWrimo!
What if you have multiple characters telling the story, would you follow the chapters individually with EACH chapter, or would the actual story be what follows the skeleton?
+M.G. Summers I just wouldnt write a book with that many MCs
M.G. Summers Each co-protagonists story is up to you to determine what's most important to tell and when, but each one will have their own mini-arc. As she stated, this is a skeleton. 27 chapters is a good start, but you can add more very easily. Hell, you should have 21 characters to start with (minimum), so 27 chapters is nothing. As she stated in the video, the middle can be 50% of the story, if you add another protagonist arc, it would be perfect.
That's my problem hahaha..I have like 5 main characters and their stories interweave with each other...I think you would have to think of it like 5 different smaller stories that intersect with each other (depending on how many characters you have) and the way in doing it is evenly spreading the story telling out.. What helps me is thinking of a soap opera because that's what they do.... also I have a habit of not telling the story of the villain, they can't just be "bad", why or how did they get bad?! I used to like the element of surprise but what's surprise if you confuse the reader? So that adds even more main characters, and in my story I have two villains one is more "evil" than the other. Then you have "supporting characters" and maybe one or two main characters could be considered supporting characters but in my case I think I delve into their back stories more than I should. And then you have characters which show up only a few times, these tend to be family members, long lost friends, ex lovers, a random stranger, ect and I am a true believer in giving them "life" too, just because they only show up a handful of times doesn't mean they should be neglected..I think a lot of novel-to-movies struggle with exposing some of these characters because of the time constraints but we don't need to do that in the novel.
I'm going to try this for my three viewpoint plot. I'll do a separate outline for each character and see how it goes. Two of the characters hook up around the end of act two, so instead of 81 chapters, it'll probably come out at around 60-65 chapters, or 180,000 words. The best fantasy averages about that anyway. Wish me luck!
I'm using this as I watch the video. I love this structure idea! It is helping me for my NaNoWrimo setup! Thanks so much Kat!
I refer and watch this video. Got to love Katytastic
Well presented. Love your energy. A good staring place with logical progression. Thank you!
Okay. Thanks for this! Doing nanowrimo this year and this will totally help me! You're also my favorite nanowrimo blogger :)
Watching this made me want to write.
This is exactly what I need. Thank you so much for going to the trouble of posting this!
A very concise and clear explanation of the three acts. Thank you.
Astounding. You really did your homework. Thank you. 🕊
Looks great. I'll be using this and let you know how I get on. Thanks for sharing!
Enjoyed the lesson. Feel comfortable using this format :)
Hey, thanks for the video. I've been struggling with how to structure my story for a long time. I like how you went as detailed as the 27 chapter outline, very helpful.
I needed this video as I am floundering at the moment to outline my novel for NaNoWriMo. This is my first time participating and need as much help as I can get. Thanks, awesome video
Amazing! Thank you for this. Best explanation of how to plot a novel that I've come across
I say write the story first, from the heart. Do it with or without your own outline. Let the characters and the world determine your story.
You'll end up with something bigger and richer than with this method.
You will have to revise and twist a lot more, invest more time.
...and you'll be the better writer for doing so.
After that you can always decide on dramaticing it with the standard curvature of a 'Hero's journey'.