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Plan a novel from scratch

Estimated time: 60–90 minutes.

By the end, you will have a central premise, principal characters and locations, at least eight events, and a reusable set of relationship, time, and canvas views.

Before you begin​

  • Complete Your first Project.
  • Prepare a one-sentence premise, such as: “When someone wants something, an opposing force makes them pay a price for pursuing it.”
  • Choose one consistent time system for the story, using real dates or your own story calendar.

1. Explore the conflict in Mindmap​

  1. In Story, create a Mindmap saved view named Novel Premise.
  2. Put the one-sentence premise in the central node.
  3. Add child nodes for the protagonist's goal, opposition, cost, major turns, and possible endings.
  4. Remove repeated ideas, then arrange the remaining nodes into a parent-child path from premise to turning points.
  5. Select Create outline and save the result as text you can continue organizing.

Flowchart nodes, connectors, the shape library, and canvas tools in the English Scroll interface

2. Create characters, locations, and events​

Create at least:

  • three character cards: the protagonist, principal opponent, and an important relationship character;
  • two location cards: the opening location and the main conflict location; and
  • eight event cards: opening, inciting event, first escalation, midpoint, second escalation, crisis, climax, and resolution.

Add dates, participants, locations, Status, and any necessary Parent to the events. Built-in templates are enough for this tutorial; a custom Pro model is not required.

3. Review the character network​

  1. Create a Relationship graph saved view named Main Character Network.
  2. Filter it to the main characters and organizations.
  3. Distinguish explicit relationships you created from read-only connections shown through shared events.
  4. Open each principal character from the graph and add any missing goal, conflict, or relationship.

Main Character Network and Story controls in the English Scroll interface

4. Arrange the plot in Timeline and Gantt​

  1. Create a Timeline filtered to events and set its scope to the full story range.
  2. Group by character or location and look for events that place the same character in two impossible locations.
  3. Create or duplicate a Gantt view and use Parent to group events under stages such as Act One and Act Two.
  4. Add start and end dates to events with duration, then review overlaps and gaps between stages.

A Timeline and event ranges in the English Scroll interface

5. Test causality in Flowchart​

Draw the most important decisions as action → decision → consequence. Label each branch with a specific condition and link it to an event card you already created. Here, Flowchart is a planning tool; it does not generate a runnable script or execution preview.

6. Save the planning set​

Give every saved view a purpose-driven name and save its scope, filters, grouping, and sorting. Close and reopen the Project, then confirm that:

  • all eight events open from at least one time view;
  • graph relationships match the character cards;
  • the Gantt stages have no unintended gaps;
  • each important Flowchart consequence links back to an event card; and
  • every saved view is still available.

What you learned​

You turned an abstract premise into local cards and several views that can be checked independently. Continue with Build a fantasy world or use Manage writing progress to turn the plan into scheduled work.