Novel outline template with a chapter example

# Novel outline

Working title: [title]
Premise: [person] must [act] before [pressure], or [consequence].
Point of view and tense: [choice]
Central desire: [what the protagonist wants]
Inner tension: [belief or relationship that makes the goal difficult]
Setting and story rules: [what the reader needs to know]
Ending choice: [what the protagonist finally does and what it costs]

## Major turns
- Opening: Show the character trying to manage an ordinary problem.
- Disruption: What makes that approach impossible?
- Commitment: Which choice closes the easy way back?
- Escalation: How do attempts create more difficult consequences?
- Reversal: What changes the character's understanding?
- Crisis: What must they risk or give up?
- Final action and aftermath: Resolve the central problem and show the change.

## Chapter-by-chapter plan

| Chapter and viewpoint | Goal | Resistance | Choice or discovery | Consequence that creates the next chapter |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [1 — viewpoint] | [want] | [obstacle] | [turn] | [new pressure] |
| [2 — viewpoint] | [want] | [obstacle] | [turn] | [new pressure] |

## Worked example — The Last Ferry
Premise: A ferry mechanic must get her island's last boat running before a storm, then discovers that the evacuation order leaves one neighborhood off the passenger list.

| Chapter and viewpoint | Goal | Resistance | Choice or discovery | Consequence that creates the next chapter |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 — Mira | Repair the engine before departure. | A replacement part is missing. | Mira takes a part from a moored rescue boat. | The boat's owner demands a place on the ferry. |
| 2 — Mira | Secure that place without delaying departure. | The passenger list is already closed. | She finds an entire neighborhood missing from the list. | Repairing the engine is no longer enough; she must change who gets aboard. |
| 3 — Tomas | Prove his neighbors were excluded. | The official list shows their homes as vacant. | He brings their school attendance register to the dock. | Mira has evidence, but using it will expose the person who signed the order. |

These are starting chapters, not a complete novel. Decide whose choice resolves the evacuation and what that choice costs before planning the ending.

## Revision check
- Remove a chapter in the outline: does the following chapter still happen unchanged?
- Give each viewpoint information or pressure another cannot supply.
- Track subplot changes beside the main plot.
- Replace an arbitrary chapter count with the scenes your story needs.
- Keep research questions separate from facts you have established.