Six outline templates compared: when to use which
Three acts, the hero's journey, Save the Cat, seven-point structure, Freytag's pyramid and kishōtenketsu: what each is good for and when it gets in the way.
An outline template does not write your story. It gives you a set of questions about where things should happen, so you can see when a book is lopsided. Author includes six, and each can be applied as a ready-made structure strand with one beat per beat, with a target position in the book.
This is a short comparison of what each template asks of you.
Three-act structure#
Set-up, confrontation, resolution. The shape most stories already have. It is the least demanding template and the easiest to fit to almost any plot. Use it when you want a rough check that the middle is not too long.
The hero's journey#
Twelve stages in three movements: departure, initiation and return. It suits stories about a protagonist who leaves the ordinary world, is changed and comes back. It can feel forced for stories where nobody leaves or comes back.
Save the Cat#
Fifteen beats, each placed at a share of the pages. It is the most specific template and gives you the most to check against: where the catalyst falls, where the midpoint falls. It was written for screenplays and carries that rhythm, so novels may deviate on purpose.
Seven-point structure#
Start with the end, then the middle, then the turns. You decide the resolution first and work back. It suits writers who plot from the ending and mysteries where the answer is fixed.
Freytag's pyramid#
Five acts: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, catastrophe. A classic shape for tragedy. It gives the climax a place of honour in the middle and a long fall after it, which suits some stories and punishes others.
Kishōtenketsu#
Four acts without conflict at the core: introduction, development, twist, reconciliation. A reminder that a story can run on surprise and juxtaposition. It is the most different template and the most useful when you suspect your plot is propped up by conflict it does not need.
How to use a template without being used by it#
- Apply a template to see the beats as a strand against your chapters.
- Assign each beat to the scene that does that job. Where no scene fits, ask whether the book has a gap or the template is wrong for it.
- Read the beat off its mark information. It is not an error. It says "this beat is far from where this template expects it", and you decide whether that is a problem.
- Remove the strand when it has done its job.
Templates are rulers. Use them to measure, not to decide what to write.