The short answer
Outline as deeply as you need to in order to start drafting and keep going. For most first novels, that lands somewhere between a one-page premise and a chapter-by-chapter breakdown. Less than that and the middle stalls. More than that and the outline becomes the project.
The best outline is the one that gets cut by drafting, not the one that survives drafting intact. If your outline never changes during the writing, the writing is not discovering anything. If your outline changes completely, the outline did not give you enough structure. The right amount sits in between.
Why outline at all?
Most working novelists outline at least loosely, even the famous discovery writers. Stephen King calls outlines "the last refuge of bad fiction writers" but still arranges the book in his head before drafting. George R. R. Martin calls himself a gardener (vs. an architect) and still has a multi-book arc he is working toward. Pure no-outline writing is rare among writers who finish books.
Three reasons outlining helps:
- Decision fatigue is the enemy of finishing. Every scene drafted without a plan requires a fresh round of "what happens next." That cost compounds across 80,000 words.
- The middle is where novels die. Most abandoned novels stall between 20,000 and 40,000 words. An outline gives the middle structure.
- Revision is cheaper from an outline. Cutting a scene in an outline is one line of text. Cutting a chapter you already drafted is days of rewriting. Outlining moves more of the structural decisions to before they are expensive.
See also how long does it take to write a novel for the pacing math behind outline-vs-draft choices.
The three outlining schools
Plotters
Plotters outline extensively before drafting. Chapter outlines, scene cards, character arcs, sometimes multiple revision passes on the outline itself. Famous plotters include James Patterson, Brandon Sanderson, and J. K. Rowling.
Strengths: First drafts come together fast, revision is lighter, the middle does not stall.
Risks: The book can feel mechanical. Outlining can become a procrastination loop ("I need one more pass on the outline before I'm ready").
Pantsers (discovery writers)
Pantsers start with a premise and discover the rest as they write. Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, and George R. R. Martin work closer to this end.
Strengths: Voice and surprise often come through more naturally. The book stays alive on the page.
Risks: Heavy revision is the norm. First novels especially can stall in the middle when there is no map. Many discovery writers do significant structural rewrites between drafts.
Hybrids (the realistic majority)
Most working novelists are hybrids. Loose outline, flexibility to discover within scenes, willing to re-outline when the book teaches them something. This is the most common professional approach because it limits both downsides.
The choice between plotter, pantser, and hybrid is not a personality test. It is a project-by-project decision. The same writer might outline a thriller in detail and discover a literary novel as it goes.
The major outlining frameworks
Three-Act Structure
The oldest and most adaptable. Act 1 (setup, ~25%) ends with the protagonist crossing into the story proper. Act 2 (confrontation, ~50%) builds complications to a midpoint reversal, then escalates to a low point. Act 3 (resolution, ~25%) drives to climax and denouement. Most other frameworks are versions of three-act structure with more granular beats.
Save the Cat Beat Sheet
Blake Snyder's 15-beat structure adapted from screenwriting (Save the Cat, 2005) and brought to novels by Jessica Brody (Save the Cat Writes a Novel). Beats include Opening Image, Theme Stated, Setup, Catalyst, Debate, Break Into Two, B Story, Fun and Games, Midpoint, Bad Guys Close In, All Is Lost, Dark Night of the Soul, Break Into Three, Finale, Final Image. Genre fiction writers use this extensively because the beat math fits commercial pacing well.
The Hero's Journey
Joseph Campbell's monomyth (1949), simplified by Christopher Vogler for Hollywood and now widely applied to fantasy and adventure novels. Twelve stages: Ordinary World, Call to Adventure, Refusal, Mentor, Crossing the Threshold, Tests/Allies/Enemies, Approach, Ordeal, Reward, Road Back, Resurrection, Return with the Elixir. Useful when the book is a transformation arc.
Story Grid
Shawn Coyne's framework based on identifying the "obligatory scenes" of a genre and using them as outline anchors. Particularly strong for genre fiction where reader expectations are well-defined (a thriller needs an inciting crime, a romance needs a meet-cute, etc.). Pairs well with three-act structure.
Snowflake Method
Randy Ingermanson's iterative method: start with a one-sentence premise, expand to a paragraph, expand each sentence in that paragraph to its own paragraph, then to scenes. The outline grows fractally from premise outward. Good for plotters who like to develop the book in passes.
Other notable frameworks
K. M. Weiland's Structuring Your Novel: percent-based plot points, popular with self-published fiction writers. The Heroine's Journey (Maureen Murdock): an alternative arc that focuses on connection and integration rather than separation and return. Dan Harmon's Story Circle: an eight-step circle adapted from Campbell, popular with writers from a TV background.
Pick one. They are all variations of the same underlying shape (setup → escalating complication → climax → resolution). The framework is a checklist, not a prescription. Use whichever one helps you see your story.
How detailed should the outline be?
The honest answer is: just detailed enough to start drafting without losing momentum. Practically:
| Outline depth | What it looks like | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Premise only | One or two sentences | Pure pantsers, short projects, experiments |
| Beat sheet | 10–15 major beats | Most working novelists; flexible enough for discovery |
| Chapter outline | One paragraph per chapter | Plotters, genre with strong reader expectations |
| Scene outline | One paragraph per scene | Heavy plotters, complex multi-POV, mystery |
| Full prose synopsis | 5,000–10,000 words of prose summary | Sanderson-style, commercial epic fantasy, project pitches |
For most first novels, the beat sheet or chapter outline depth lands well. Less than that and the middle stalls. More than that and the outline becomes the project.
The five-step process
Step 1: Write the premise as a single sentence
Protagonist, want, obstacle, stakes. If the sentence does not fit on a sticky note, the book does not yet have a center. The premise is the test you run every outline decision against.
Step 2: Identify the act breaks
Mark where Act 1 ends, the Act 2 midpoint, and where Act 3 begins. These three turning points anchor the rest of the outline. For an 80,000-word novel: Act 1 ends around 20,000 words, midpoint around 40,000, Act 3 begins around 60,000.
Step 3: Sketch the major scenes
List 8 to 15 major scenes that get the protagonist from premise to resolution. One or two lines each. Resist the urge to fill in every scene now. Major scenes are the load-bearing beats: inciting incident, first turn, midpoint reversal, second turn, climax, denouement.
Step 4: Fill in connective tissue as needed
Plotters expand each major scene into a chapter outline at this step. Pantsers leave space between major scenes and let drafting fill in. The right depth is whatever lets you start writing tomorrow without re-outlining first.
Step 5: Test against your daily writing pace
Multiply your target word count by your real daily output. If the outline implies a year of writing and you have six months, either compress the scope or extend the deadline. Doing this math now is cheaper than doing it in week 12 when you discover the book is too big for the window.
Common outlining mistakes
Outlining instead of writing. The most common failure mode. Outlining feels productive without the risk of bad pages. After a few weeks, the outline is its own project. The fix: pick a depth, hit it, then start drafting on a fixed date no matter what.
Outlining the book you wish you were writing. The outline gets ambitious in ways the actual book cannot support. Easier to revise outline ambition than draft ambition, but the gap between outline and draft eventually has to close.
Outlining without the protagonist's want. Outlines that focus on plot mechanics ("then this happens, then this") without grounding scenes in what the protagonist wants tend to feel like a series of events rather than a story.
Outlining once and refusing to revise it. Drafting teaches you things the outline missed. If the outline never changes, you are either writing a very lucky first attempt or ignoring the lesson.
When to stop outlining and start drafting
Three signals it is time:
- You can describe the major arc of the book in 30 seconds.
- You know the next 5 to 10 scenes well enough to draft them.
- You are revising the outline rather than expanding it.
When all three are true, the outline has done its job. Open the manuscript and start writing. Drafting can keep referencing the outline; it does not need the outline to be done first.
How a tracker fits
The outline gives you the structure. A tracker keeps you on the structure. Once the outline lists the chapters or major scenes, the daily question becomes: am I drafting toward them on pace? Authorlytica answers that with a streak, a chart, and a pace projection. Set the project goal to your target word count, set the deadline, and the dashboard tells you the daily pace required to hit it.
For the math behind the daily target, the daily word count goal calculator works on any outline.
The bottom line
Outline as deeply as the book needs and you can tolerate. Pick a framework that matches the genre and your temperament. Test the outline against your real daily writing pace. Then start drafting and let the writing teach you which parts of the outline survive.
The writers who finish are the ones whose outlines are useful enough to keep them on the rails through the long middle. They are not the ones with the prettiest outlines.
Common Questions
How long should it take to outline a novel?
For a beat sheet, a few hours to a few days. For a chapter-by-chapter outline, one to four weeks for most writers. If outlining takes longer than the drafting that follows, the outline has expanded past its job.
Should I outline before I know the ending?
Most working novelists outline forward from the premise and backward from a tentative ending, then connect the two. The ending often changes during drafting, which is fine. Knowing roughly where the book is headed makes the middle navigable.
Is it cheating to use Save the Cat or Story Grid?
No. Frameworks are templates that distill what successful books do. Using them is no more "cheating" than studying poetic forms before writing a sonnet. The book still has to be yours.
Can I change the outline once I'm drafting?
Yes, and you probably should. Drafting will teach you things the outline missed. The right discipline is to update the outline when you change course rather than just abandoning it. The outline becomes a living document.
Read next: How long does it take to write a novel.