Outline a Short Story in Seven Steps by Chris Winkle

[K. J. Harrowick]

Hi all! 

Just wanted to add this lovely article to our resources. If you're struggling this week with revisions and how to inject some structure/goals into your story, here's a great outlining tool from Chris Winkle at Mythcreants.

Outline a Short Story in Seven Steps

It's a great way to help your story open and close around a single focus.

Good luck and may the rewriting dragons be ever in your favor! 

[JenDavenport]

I started this tonight for my revisions, and already it's making a BIG difference!

[K. J. Harrowick]

Hooray! So glad it's helpful. 

I already got stumped on question 3, and now I'm glaring at question 4.. 

[Grim Dreamer]

I liked the article, but as far as outlines go, it seems a little vague. Might be too broad for a short story, you think? Not that the questions weren't good, they just seemed to be something to consider for longer fiction, say a 5K to 8K or longer piece.
Of course, I'm one to talk about outlines. I usually have to climb on a chair and hyperventilate when I hear the word. 

[K. J. Harrowick]

I've also found it helpful for longer fiction as well, when you need to streamline the focus of a 100K word story instead of wandering the plot all over the map.

Probably comes down to how you use it, but I found that with a shorter piece, it helps me to keep the focus on goal, resolution, twist. 

[Grim Dreamer]

It looked like it would be helpful for longer fiction.