Congratulations! Over the past month you’ve brainstormed all the major aspects of your story. Now I’ll help you condense it into a usable story plan for your fast-drafting month. Follow the steps below to formulate your story plan (or download a printable story plan template online at www.denisejaden.com/fastdraftprintables.html). Choose what you would consider your “best” ideas, or the ones that are pulling at you the hardest. Don’t throw away the others, as sometimes ideas are deceptively better than they first appear. After completing the story plan, you’ll be almost ready to start drafting!
The information you need for this exercise should be included in your notes from chapters 1 through 7. If you haven’t come up with any of these details yet, now is the time to brainstorm missing items so you will have a complete story plan all in one place.
1. Start a new page in your notebook, and label it “Story Plan.”
2. Write your planned title, or any possible titles.
3. Write your planned drafting start date.
4. Premise: Write your one-sentence story description from chapter 1.
5. Form your three-act structure: For each act, write a one-paragraph description of what will happen in that act (see chapter 2).
6. Write a sentence that describes the main theme of your novel, or list any theme words from the wordle you made in chapter 4.
7. List any important notes on the setting of your novel (see chapter 5).
8. Make a list of your best symbols, images, and icons from chapter 6.
9. Make notes on your characters (see chapter 3):
A. Main character:
What does your main character want most?
What does your main character need?
What are your main character’s heroic qualities?
What are your main character’s biggest flaws?
B. Antagonist:
What does your antagonist want most?
What does your antagonist need?
What are your antagonist’s heroic qualities?
What are your antagonist’s biggest flaws?
C. Make a list of all your character names for easy reference while you’re drafting.
10. Make a list of the planned scenes you came up with in chapter 7. Jot them down in the order you expect them to appear in your novel.
For each scene, list
• the main event
• the function of the scene
• the setting
• the characters who may be involved
• the outcome of that scene
11. Read through your story plan. Are there any other notes you’d like to include? If so, add them.
Now that your story plan is complete, you have an easy reference to return to at any time during your month of fast-drafting.