An action outline is a point by point outline of the events that you intend to have happen in your story. The action outline serves as a roadmap for your plot. It demonstrates to you how your plot will be driven forward. It helps you to think about how an action taken in chapter two might result in an event in chapter ten, due to the sequence of events it causes.

The beauty of an action outline is that it allows you to look at the complexities of the different things happening in your novel. How the choice not to return a phone call early on may result in a lawsuit or a suicide attempt as the story continues. These action-based relationships are what are generally lost when you write without an outline.

Cause and Effect Drive a Plot Forward

When writing an action outline, think in terms of cause and effect. While, in everyday life, not every mistake or missed opportunity matters in a given day, in a novel these things must matter. If the choice to go to a party rather than visit a sick friend has no consequence further down the line, then it probably doesn’t belong in the novel. Life may sometimes feel random, but in the end, a story needs to feel like an evolution. An illogical event might happen early on, but as the story progresses it must have a logical impact on all the people concerned.

Some consequences may be less startling than others. A character may not suffer external consequences to an action, but may pay an emotional price that results in them making a different decision later on. The decision not to visit a sick friend on Tuesday weighs on the character until Thursday, then the character finally does go, just in time to run into someone the character didn’t want to see or find out that they missed out on something they would have wanted to be present for.

If you map out those possibilities from the beginning, you will not only understand what drives your plot forward, but it gives a shape to what you write so that everything feels logical within the framework of your story, no matter how different your world might be from reality.

Sample Action Outline

This outline shows two different chapters in a novel, demonstrating that actions from an earlier part of the novel often result in consequences later on. This is a very bare-bones outline to demonstrate the process. You might want to be far more detailed about the actions that occur.

Chapter 3

1. Lisa comes home to find Sam’s father Roy parked in front of their house.
2. Roy demands to see Sam. He is clearly drunk and angry.
3. Roy grabs Lisa, holding her helpless. He threatens her life.
4. Jeremy  arrives from next door and bashes Roy on the head with a baseball bat. Knocking him out.
5. Jeremy tells Lisa he will take care of things
6. Jeremy shoves an unconscious Roy into the passenger seat of his own car.
7. Jeremy takes Roy’s keys, gets in on the drivers side and drives off.

Chapter 8

1. Lisa tells Sam that his father has been in the Hospital for several days.
2. Sam confronts Lisa about her keeping the information from him.
3. Sam and Lisa break up.
4. Sam goes to Union Hospital to see his father.

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The first step in writing an essay is to determine a topic and a point of view. Your essay’s point of view may be to persuade the reader to share your beliefs on the topic, it may try to explain how to complete a certain task, or it may try to familiarize or educate the reader about the topic. Or it could take a completely different approach.

Every good essay should contain the following parts:

1. Outline of the topic
2. Introduction
3. Thesis
4. Body (Consist of 3-6 Paragraphs)
5. Conclusion

Outline

To create an outline, list your topic at the top of the page. Under the topic, list three to six main ideas, feelings or beliefs about your topic, list these as A. B, C, etc. Then, list a few ideas, opinions, or statements to support the main ideas. The outline will be used to create your essay’s paragraphs. Your outline may look similar to this one:

Topic Idea

A. This idea about topic
1. Info to support this idea
2. Statements to verify this idea

B. This fact about topic
1. Specific info to verify this fact
2. Statement from an expert on your topic

C. This information about topic
1. Statistical information on topic
2. Important dialogue about the topic

Introduction / Thesis

The first paragraph includes the introduction and a thesis statement. The introduction should captivate the reader’s attention and give an idea of the essay’s focus. You may start your essay with an attention-getter such as a bit of fascinating information, captivating dialogue or an interesting fact.

Start with a few sentences that explain your topic in basic terms and lead into your thesis statement. Each sentence of your opening statement should become a bit more specific, until you reach the thesis statement.

The thesis statement tells the reader what the essay will be about and what points you will be making in your essay. Your thesis statement should state the subject of the essay, explain the point of view the essay will take or describe the ideas on your topic that you determined in your outline.

Body Paragraphs

The body paragraphs will explain your essay’s topic. Each of the main ideas that you listed in your outline will become a paragraph in your essay. If your outline contained three main ideas, you will have three body paragraphs. Start by writing down one of your main ideas, in sentence form.

If your essay topic is a new university in your hometown, one of your main ideas may be “population growth of town” you might say this:

The new university will cause a boom in the population of Fort Myers.

Build on your paragraph by including each of the supporting ideas from your outline.

Conclusion

The conclusion serves to give the reader closure, summing up the essay’s points or providing a final viewpoint about the topic.

The conclusion should consist of three or four convincing sentences. Clearly review the main points, being careful not to restate them exactly, or briefly describe your opinion about the topic.

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Victoria Walker’s writing credits include articles published in The Writing Parent, Main Street Mom, Datable.com, eWriter’s Place, Author’s Network and Every Woman’s News.

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