
Lizzy meets proud Mr Darcy and dashing stranger Mr Wickham. Two wealthy gentlemen, Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy, arrive. Lizzy and her sisters will be plunged into poverty if her father dies, so they need to marry (and marry well). If your were plotting Pride And Prejudice, the outline might look something like this:Įlizabeth (Lizzy) Bennet, one of five daughters in Regency England. Let’s say your name was Jane Austen and you had a great idea for a story about a prideful guy and a charming but somewhat prejudiced girl. You probably want an example of what your outline should look like, right? And it’s those bones that will hook an agent/editor/reader. Fixating on intricate plot detail at drafting stage will only get in the way of finding the actual bones of your novel. It’s important to keep it simple at this stage as complex is our enemy.

In this step by step guide to plotting a novel I will be teaching you everything you need to know about novel plotting – from my favourite mind mapping method, to understanding character arcs and how to tie up loose ends.Īre you ready to learn the most important part of the writing process? Here we go… The Best Way To Plot A Novel (Or – full disclosure – it’s what you’re going to do.

All stories share a simple common structure – so the simplest way to outline your novel is to use that universal template by way of scaffolding.įiguring out that template and how best to use it to create the best story possible for your readers is exactly what I’m going to do in this post.
