Novel Outline – insert working title here

Plot
One Sentence Summary
Summarise your plot here in just one sentence.

One Paragraph Summary

Summarise your plot here in one short paragraph.

One Page Summary

Describe your plot here in one page.

Chapter List
Summarise what happens in each chapter.

Chapter 1
Summarise here.

Chapter 2
Summarise here.

Chapter 3
Summarise here.

Chapter 4
Summarise here.

Chapter 5
Summarise here.

Add more chapters as applicable.

1
Setting
Political context
E.g. political conflict, religious strife.

Social conventions
Historical social conventions that will feature in your story.

Every-day life
List some key features of every-day life during your historical period that you would like to
include in your story.

Environment
What are the key features of your story’s physical environments?

Main Characters
Insert your first main character name here

Basic Details
Name, where they come from, basic role in the story, etc.

Physical Attributes
Height, body shape, eye colour, etc.

Back Story
What is the character’s background? What’s happened to them in the past?

Core Values
What are the character’s core values?

Aims and Motivations

2
What is the character trying to achieve in the story and why?

Key Behaviours
What kind of behaviour does the character exhibit, e.g. are they shy, rude, gregarious?

Flaws
What are the character’s flaws?

External Conflicts
What are the character’s external conflicts? This includes conflicts with other characters.

Internal Conflicts
What internal conflicts does the character wrestle with in their own mind?

Key Relationships
What are the character’s most important relationships in the story and how are they
tested?

Character Development
How does the character evolve throughout the story?

Reader Appeal
What keeps the reader interested in the character?

Insert your second main character name here

Basic Details
Name, where they come from, basic role in the story, etc.

Physical Attributes
Height, body shape, eye colour, etc.

Back Story
What is the character’s background? What’s happened to them in the past?

Core Values
What are the character’s core values?

Aims and Motivations

What is the character trying to achieve in the story and why?

Key Behaviours
What kind of behaviour does the character exhibit, e.g. are they shy, rude, gregarious?

Flaws
What are the character’s flaws?

External Conflicts
What are the character’s external conflicts? This includes conflicts with other characters.

Internal Conflicts
What internal conflicts does the character wrestle with in their own mind?

Key Relationships

3
What are the character’s most important relationships in the story and how are they
tested?

Character Development
How does the character evolve throughout the story?

Reader Appeal
What keeps the reader interested in the character?

Insert your third main character name here

Basic Details
Name, where they come from, basic role in the story, etc.

Physical Attributes
Height, body shape, eye colour, etc.

Back Story
What is the character’s background? What’s happened to them in the past?

Core Values
What are the character’s core values?

Aims and Motivations

What is the character trying to achieve in the story and why?

Key Behaviours
What kind of behaviour does the character exhibit, e.g. are they shy, rude, gregarious?

Flaws
What are the character’s flaws?

External Conflicts
What are the character’s external conflicts? This includes conflicts with other characters.

Internal Conflicts
What internal conflicts does the character wrestle with in their own mind?

Key Relationships
What are the character’s most important relationships in the story and how are they
tested?

Character Development
How does the character evolve throughout the story?

Reader Appeal
What keeps the reader interested in the character?

Add more characters as applicable.

Secondary Characters
Insert your first secondary character name here

4
Basic Details
Name, where they come from, basic role in the story, etc.

Physical Attributes
Height, body shape, eye colour, etc.

Back Story
What is the character’s background? What’s happened to them in the past?

Aims and Motivations

What is the character trying to achieve in the story and why?

Key Behaviours
What kind of behaviour does the character exhibit, e.g. are they shy, rude, gregarious?

Flaws
What are the character’s flaws?

Conflicts
What conflicts does the character experience?

Insert your second secondary character name here

Basic Details
Name, where they come from, basic role in the story, etc.

Physical Attributes
Height, body shape, eye colour, etc.

Back Story
What is the character’s background? What’s happened to them in the past?

Aims and Motivations

What is the character trying to achieve in the story and why?

Key Behaviours
What kind of behaviour does the character exhibit, e.g. are they shy, rude, gregarious?

Flaws
What are the character’s flaws?

Conflicts
What conflicts does the character experience?

Insert your third secondary character name here

Basic Details
Name, where they come from, basic role in the story, etc.

Physical Attributes
Height, body shape, eye colour, etc.

Back Story
What is the character’s background? What’s happened to them in the past?

5
Aims and Motivations
What is the character trying to achieve in the story and why?

Key Behaviours
What kind of behaviour does the character exhibit, e.g. are they shy, rude, gregarious?

Flaws
What are the character’s flaws?

Conflicts
What conflicts does the character experience?

Add more characters as applicable.