Novel outline template and example

Novel outline

1. Story direction

Working title: Estimated total chapters (a range is fine): Estimated number of parts (optional): Genre and intended readers: Point of view and tone: One-sentence premise: Who wants what, what stands in the way, and what is at stake? Main goal: What result is sought, and how will you know it has been achieved? Motive for action: Why does this matter enough to act, and why now? Central tension: Which needs are difficult to satisfy together, and where does resistance come from? Deadline and costs: What happens if they delay or fail, and what must success cost them? What should readers feel at the end?

2. Core cast and conflicts

Start with the characters who drive the main story. There may be several protagonists; other characters can emerge during writing.

Core character card (repeat for each character) Name and role (protagonist, co-protagonist, opposing character, key supporting character, etc.): What do they want, and why does it matter to them? What abilities and resources do they have, and what limits them? Who do they cooperate or clash with, and why? What belief, position or relationship might change? (Leave open if undecided.)

Central conflicts (as needed) Which characters are involved? Why are their goals, interests or values difficult to satisfy at the same time? What choice or event might escalate the conflict or make new cooperation possible?

3. World, rules and tensions

Time and place: Who controls key resources or opportunities, and why do different parties need them? Which world rules help or obstruct the characters’ goals, and how? What conflicts of interest or belief arise from institutions, customs or the environment? What does each side want to preserve or change, and why? What does using an ability, gaining a resource or changing the status quo cost? Which limits cannot be bypassed, and what choices do they force?

4. Story direction and key turns (optional)

Opening state: How do the core characters live, and where do their relationships stand? Inciting event: What disrupts that life? First commitment: Whose choice changes the situation or relationships so they cannot simply return to the starting point? Midpoint: How does new information change the characters’ goals, methods or positions? Crisis: Why does their original approach fail? Climactic choice: What do the key characters each choose, and what does it cost them? Ending: How do the external problem and key relationship resolve?

5. Part and length planning (repeat for each part or stage)

Part number and title (or stage name): Estimated chapter range (for example, Chapters 1–30): Estimated chapters in this part: The main goal and conflict in this part or stage: The intended change in a character or relationship: Important story moments you want to retain: The situation you want to reach by the end: Details to develop during the writing process:

6. Setups and open questions (optional)

A setup or key fact you already have in mind: Planned introduction part or stage (leave open if undecided): Planned payoff part or stage (leave open if undecided): The event or character choice it may support: Possible circumstances for its payoff (leave open if undecided; no chapter number needed): Facts to research: Unresolved plot decisions and possible directions:

Title: The Unfallen City

Story direction

Genre and viewpoint: Epic fantasy, told in alternating third-person viewpoints through Leon, Selene and Kaya. Premise: With the once-a-century Long Night approaching, the empire abandons three northern cities. Dragon commander Leon seizes a flagship to save them. His pursuer is his wife, Selene, the empress awaiting coronation. Goal and motive: To answer for his part in conquering his homeland, Leon must deliver three military sun-cores before ice closes the route and secure permanent civic seals for their use. Central conflict: Saving the cities weakens the imperial fleet. Selene must protect the wider empire; the cities demand autonomy. National security, local survival and marital trust cannot all remain intact. Stakes: Failure forces evacuation or leaves people trapped in the cold. Success still requires withdrawal from offshore outposts and the surrender of power or identity.

Core cast and conflicts

Leon — Rebel dragon commander: A skilled naval tactician who wants to save his homeland and marriage, but assumes he should decide for others. He must respect the three cities’ own choices. Selene — Empress and Leon’s wife: Controls seals and diplomacy; fears invasion if the fleet weakens. She must choose between centralized control and sharing power through an alliance. Kaya — Leader of Frosthaven: Controls supplies and charts. She demands autonomy but puts her own port first, trading the alliance’s route for separate protection and causing the loss of escort ships. Ores — Admiral and Leon’s former mentor: Commands the navy and believes losing deterrence will endanger more cities. He may defy even Selene if she approves the rescue. Heryon — Leon’s oath-dragon: Wields sunfire and wants to protect the land without serving conquest. Dragon and rider must jointly decide whether to end their bond forever. Relationship tensions: The spouses clash over rescue and defense. Cities need Leon’s strength but reject his rule. Kaya’s self-preservation threatens their alliance, while Ores’s loyalty may become a new rebellion.

World, rules and tensions

Setting and resources: The final sailing season before the northern sea freezes. Six inland cities hold the civilian reserves; the north must seek military cores aboard three flagships. Sun-cores: Store sunlight and can power civic beacons, but cannot recharge or be copied during the Long Night. Moving and installing them takes time and strips the fleet of expeditionary power. Seals: Military seals allow operational control. Permanent civic use requires a personal grant from the sovereign holding the crown’s master seal; seizing ships or stealing the crown cannot bypass it. Dragon bonds: A human may bond once in a lifetime. Mutual consent to sever it releases one flare that can open a storm passage, but cannot recharge cores. The rider permanently loses the bond’s powers. Autonomy: Each city must sign its own agreement on core ownership, heat and defense. Kaya cannot commit the others, and rescue grants no right to rule.

Story direction and key turns

Opening: Leon seizes a ship; Selene orders his pursuit, forcing others to take sides. Turn: Kaya sells the route and the convoy is ambushed. Leon discovers that a shared enemy does not mean shared interests. Crisis: All three cores are assembled, but ice, Ores’s blockade and the missing civic seals prevent delivery. Climax: Selene grants the seals and cedes power; Kaya reveals her bargain and yields command. Leon and Heryon end their bond to open the final passage. Ending: Three beacons ignite. The north gains autonomy and the empire contracts its defenses. Leon stays to face the cities’ judgment; Selene returns to the capital. Their rescue succeeds, but marriage and trust still need repair.

Part and length planning

An initial 100 chapters in three parts. Set part goals and length first; develop individual scenes during writing.

Part One — The Rebel Standard (Chapters 1–30; 30 chapters)

Goal and conflict: Take the first core and reach Frosthaven. The spouses become public opponents; Kaya demands autonomy in exchange for aid. Key turns and end state: Seizure, pursuit and harbor negotiations. Leon loses his commission but establishes a rescue alliance. Leave open: The seizure, the cost of pursuit and the spouses’ first negotiation.

Part Two — A Wager of Cities (Chapters 31–65; 35 chapters)

Goal and conflict: Contest the remaining cores. Each city puts itself first while Ores blockades supplies. Key turns and end state: Kaya leaks the route and escort ships are lost. Leon yields decision-making power to win cooperation. The cores are gathered, but the exposed betrayal nearly breaks the alliance. Leave open: City demands, battles for the cores and personal losses from the betrayal.

Part Three — Daylight Is Not the Crown’s to Keep (Chapters 66–100; 35 chapters)

Goal and conflict: Secure civic seals and break the blockade. Selene splits with Ores; Leon faces the loss of his bond. Key turns and end state: Kaya yields command, the cities sign, Selene grants the seals and dragon and rider sever their bond. The beacons ignite; everyone bears the new order’s costs. Leave open: Final negotiations, splitting the fleet and the spouses’ separation.

Setups and payoffs by part

Military cores can power civic beacons — Introduced through temporary power in Part One, used for conversion plans in Two, fulfilled by lighting the cities in Three. Military seals are not civic seals — Established during the seizure in One, a negotiating obstacle in Two, resolved by Selene’s grant in Three. Kaya’s separate guarantee — Her fallback demand appears in One, drives betrayal in Two and costs her command after disclosure in Three. The severed-bond flare — A former rider establishes the rule in One; its cost becomes clear in Two; it opens the storm passage with permanent loss of power in Three. Part placements are provisional; exact chapters and emphasis can evolve during writing.

Open questions and research

Undecided: City governments, overseas armistice terms and each spouse’s limits. Research: Basic naval logistics, cold-weather migration and alliance negotiations.