I was watching a video about outlining on youtube this morning and it got me to thinking, how many people here do outline? And is it a detailed outline or just a rough sketch outline?
The posted of the video presented an outline something like this:
Act One
- Opening conflict
- Protagonist Introduction
- Chance for change
- Resistance to change
- Point of no return
Act Two- Entering the new situation
- Meeting friends, enemies, etc. Tranformative experiences
- Problems bring them together
- Problems draw them apart
- Crisis hits!
Act Three- Troubling secret revealed or attack starts
- All seems lost
- Self-sacrifice or symbolic death
- Final showdown
- Conclusion- wed or dead
She suggested about 30 chapters of 3000 words in a problem /solution format (though it can be less chapters) and was of the opinion that with something like the above outline the book can practically write itself. I think it bears a similarity at least to the Hero's Journey outline though I can't argue with her point of needing to know where you're going so as to not lose the thread of your story.