But what if you’re a plotter like me and want to plan out the story in advance? How do you outline a short story? I ran into this problem last November as I was searching for a short story outlining method that I could use in preparation for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). You see, during NaNoWriMo 2024, instead of the usual 50K word novel, I decided to write ten short stories of around five thousand words each. I found this exercise refreshing, as I had just finished editing the third draft of a 158K word manuscript – I definitely needed much shorter projects to work with while I let my WIP rest!
In preparation for NaNoWriMo, I created a simple five-scene story structure for the short stories, and today, I’m sharing my outlining method with you. For NaNoWriMo purposes, I aimed for around one thousand words for each of the five scenes, but obviously there is no need for the scenes to be of uniform length. And if your short story benefits from it, feel free to add more scenes to the story. This is only a simple beat sheet to use as a starting point. I'm also offering a free short story template based on these tips. Read to the end to sign up for the template!
This five-scene structure is loosely based on Freytag’s pyramid with its five key moments for the plot, but I was also inspired by Save the Cat! Writes a Novel beat sheet (*Amazon affiliate link). The five main plot points in my structure are exposition, rising action, midpoint, climax, and resolution. I also created corresponding five-point character arcs employing K.M. Weiland’s book Creating Character Arcs (*Amazon affiliate link).
The First Steps of the Outlining Process
I started the
outlining process with a one sentence tagline describing the main character,
their goal, and what happens to them in the story. I also wrote a line or two
of description for the setting of the story and described the minor characters
– there were usually only three or four other characters that I needed to worry
about. And then I could start thinking about the character arcs and the finer
details of the plot.
Main Character and Their Character Arc
The second
step was to describe the main character in more detail. I focused especially on
the main character’s goal and lie. The character’s goal is what they want to
accomplish in the story or, in other words, what their goal is. Since this is a
short story, the goal can be relatively small – maybe they just want to have a quiet
evening and not be disturbed by their noisy neighbor.
The lie is something the main character has believed about themselves or the world that is wrong. This lie holds them back from getting what they want. Knowing the lie helps you identify the main conflict of the story, and also tells you what the character needs to learn in the course of the story (the truth, which obviously is the opposite of the lie they believe in the beginning).
After I had figured out what the character wants and the lie they believe, it was time to decide the story’s ending: is the ending happy or sad? Does the character get what they want? Do they learn the truth, or do they cling to the lie they believe? The answer to these questions determined which character arc worked the best for the story I wanted to tell.
For character arcs, I used the five character arcs delineated by K.M. Weiland. The five arcs are the positive arc, the flat arc, and three types of negative arcs: disillusionment, fall, and corruption arcs. You can read more about these arcs in Weiland’s excellent blog post and in her book Creating Character Arcs. But to present the character arcs in a nutshell:
- In the positive character arc, the character who has previously believed the lie overcomes it and embraces the truth.
- The disillusionment arc is similar to the positive character arc in the sense that the character, who has previously believed the lie overcomes it, but unlike in the positive arc, the truth is tragic.
- In the fall arc, the character who has believed the lie rejects the truth and instead believes a worse lie.
- In the corruption arc, the character sees the truth from the start but over the course of the story rejects it and instead embraces the lie.
- In the flat character arc, the character already believes the truth and uses it to overcome the lie that the rest of the world believes.
For the purposes of outlining a five-scene short story, I condensed Weiland’s character arcs into five main points.
Five-Scene Story Structure in Action
Now let’s
look at the five-scene short story structure and what it looks like for
different character arcs in more detail. To demonstrate how the structure
works, I’ll use as an example Edgar Allan Poe’s famous short story The Masque of the Red Death, which has a fall arc. It’s on the shorter
side of short stories, so make sure to read that if you haven’t already!
Scene One: Exposition
Like in any
story, the first scene sets the story in motion and introduces the characters, setting,
and the story world to the reader. This scene also offers any necessary background
information of the characters and the world. Use this scene to introduce the
main character’s goal in the story and the lie they believe in.
Since this is a short story, do not linger too long in the normal, ordinary world of the character. This scene should have the “inciting incidence” where the trouble or occurrence that creates the main tension in the story takes place. Remember to also present the stakes: what will happen if the character does not reach their goal or if they refuse to handle the problem presented in the inciting incident.
So what does the exposition look like in terms of character arc?
- In the positive, disillusionment, and fall character arcs, the character at this point believes the lie but is presented with a hint that the lie is not true.
- In the corruption arc, the character understands the truth and is faced with a temptation of lie.
- In the flat arc, the character believes the truth in a world that believes the lie. The inciting incidence challenges them to use the truth to oppose the world’s lie.
The Masque of the Red Death begins with a short description of the background for the story: the Red Death is devastating the country. We are introduced to the main character, Prince Prospero, who is described as “happy and dauntless and sagacious.” He invites his friends to retire with him to seclusion, claiming that it is “folly to grieve, or to think.” The setting of the rest of the story is also described in detail: it is a magnificent castellated abbey with strong walls and iron gates that are welded shut so no one can enter or leave the place.
The lie Prince Prospero believes is the misconception that he and his friends can escape death. He thinks that he doesn’t need to care about the rest of the world and instead he can continue to enjoy life as if nothing bad was happening.
Scene Two: Rising Action
Scene two describes
the action that leads to the midpoint. In this scene, the character accepts the
challenge presented by the inciting incident. They decide on the course of
action and act according to their decision in order to reach their goal, but in
trying to solve the problem, they face obstacles or opposition that hinder them
from reaching that goal. Their inability to solve the problem is usually due to
the lie that they still believe.
In terms of character arc, in scene two:
- In the positive and disillusionment arcs, the character is punished for using the lie and gets to experience how the lie is not (or no longer) effective.
- In the fall arc, the character tries to use the truth, but their attempts are only halfhearted and thus not effective.
- In the corruption arc, the character is torn between the truth and lie, as the lie seems more effective in giving them what they want.
- In the flat arc, the world tries to impose the lie, and the character is uncertain if truth is capable of defeating it.
In The Masque of the Red Death, after six months of seclusion, Prince Prospero decides to entertain his guest at a masked ball. Poe’s story is full of description rather than action, and the rooms where the ball is held are painted in vivid detail. All of the seven rooms are different colors, with the seventh room being black with blood-tinted panes and an ebony clock. Every hour, the clock strikes, forcing the musicians and dancers to stop and listen, but after the chimes end, people laugh and continue to make merry.
The clock’s strikes are the attempt at truth in this story: the clock ticking symbolizes the time running out, but it is not enough to make the guests realize that death is inevitable. Instead, the clock’s reminder is met with temporary unease followed by laughter and is not effective in teaching the guests the grim reality.
Scene Three: Midpoint
Scene three
in this five-scene structure is the midpoint. At this point, new information is
revealed which helps the character move towards their goal – or in case of a
negative character arc, sends them spiraling towards an unhappy ending. The new
information can come in a form of small victory for the main character.
The midpoint is the moment of truth. In terms of different character arcs, this means that:
- In the positive and disillusionment arcs, the character sees the truth but doesn’t yet reject the lie.
- In the fall arc, the character sees the truth but rejects it and instead chooses a worse lie.
- In the corruption arc, the character also embraces the lie, but doesn’t fully reject the truth.
- In the flat arc, the character proves the power of truth to the world that has previously not believed it.
In The Masque of the Red Death, despite the clock’s warnings that time is running out, people continue to revel and make merry. Poe continues with further description of the ball rooms and their bizarre decorations and the dream-like figures who stalk around the rooms. But the moment of truth happens when the clock strikes midnight and people are forced to stop dancing for longer than ever before, giving them a chance to take a proper look at the other guests.
In terms of character arc, Prince Prospero’s new and worse lie becomes evident in the climax of the story, after which Poe’s short story wraps up very quickly.
Scene Four: Climax
Scene four
is the climax, the point the story has been going towards. This can be a
literal battle or a smaller altercation that leads to a victory or defeat,
determining whether the character gets what they want or not. Before the final altercation,
the character is forced to face the lie and embrace the truth – or in case of a
fall or a corruption arc, they embrace the lie.
So what’s happening in the climax of the story in terms of character arc?
- In the positive arc, the character finally rejects the lie and embraces the truth.
- This also happens in the disillusionment arc, but as the truth is depressing, the character is disillusioned with it.
- In the fall arc, the lie is effective but destructive. The character fails to get what they want, and the climax is their last desperate attempt to reach their goal.
- In the corruption arc, the character resists the sacrifice demanded by the truth and instead embraces the lie.
- In the flat arc, the lie-driven world fights back, which leads to the final confrontation between truth and lie.
In The Masque of the Red Death, in the interim caused by the twelve strikes of the clock, the festive crowd notices a masked figure who has adopted the form of Red Death with its bloody vesture. Prince Prospero becomes angry and demands people to expose the intruder so that he can be hung at sunrise from the battlements. When no one dares to approach the figure, Prospero charges after the intruder, dagger drawn and ready to kill the intruder himself.
Instead of the truth that no one can escape the death, Prince Prospero now believes a worse lie: he thinks that he can escape death by a direct attack at anyone who questions his beliefs – even if it means attacking death itself. This attack is his last effort to salvage his want, his desire to escape death by retiring to the fortified seclusion.
Scene Five: Resolution
The last
scene of the five-scene structure contains the falling action and resolution of
the story. This scene wraps things up and presents the aftermath of the climax,
bringing the story to a happy or a sad ending. It may also hint at the next step
in the character’s life.
What does the resolution look like in terms of character arcs?
- In the positive arc, the character embraces the truth and uses it to gain what they need (and usually, although not necessarily, what they want).
- In the disillusionment arc, the character acknowledges the truth but is disillusioned with it.
- In the fall arc, the character faces total destruction and its aftermath after they have failed to embrace the truth and have instead chosen a worse lie.
- In the corruption arc, the character similarly faces moral failure and its aftermath after they have embraced the lie.
- In the flat arc, truth defeats the lie, and the rest of the world now believes the truth as well.
In The Masque of the Red Death, Prince Prospero’s attack against the figure dressed as the Red Death fails dismally: he falls to the floor, dead. In frenzy, the other guests seize the intruder only to find out that he is not corporeal but is in fact the real Red Death. The story ends with total destruction and its aftermath as everyone at the ball dies and Red Death rules the world.
Some Final Words
After
outlining and writing the ten short stories, I was really pleased with the outcome
of this method. Writing the stories was for easy and smooth – easiest writing experience
I’ve ever had. Some of the stories succeeded a lot better than the others, but not
because of the outlines – the problems were more due to the fact that I was
experimenting writing different genres than I normally write.
I noticed that in terms of character arcs, short stories really don’t offer enough room for major changes in the main character. That’s why short stories with flat arcs or more minor chances in the character’s attitude worked a lot better – at least in case of those ten stories. With some stories I was clearly trying to bite more than I could chew with a complete change of heart in the main character and important life lessons they would learn. Those stories work better as zero drafts that I can later expand into a novella or a full-length novel.
My prepping for NaNoWriMo and writing the short stories also had a second element: writing detailed outlines for each scene. But that will be topic for another blog post!
And finally, I promised the five-scene short story template I used for planning and outlining the short stories. Sign up with your name and email address, and I'll send the template to your inbox. Simple as that!
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Let me know
in the comments if you like writing short stories. In that case, did you find
this post helpful or do you have any other tips for outlining and plotting
shorter pieces of fiction?
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