# One-page plan for writing a book

From "How to write a book, from idea to finished draft" by the Feldar team:
https://feldar.com/guides/how-to-write-a-book

Free to use, copy and change. Fill in the plan in an evening, then tick the
checklist as you go. Come back to the plan when the draft drifts; change the
plan, not your resolve.


## 1. The book

Working title:
Genre:
Who it is for (one reader you can picture):
Target length (words):
Point of view (whose, first or third person):

Premise (two sentences: who wants what, what stands in the way,
what it will cost if they fail):

Want (what the main character chases):
Need (what they must learn, accept or give up):
The question the book keeps asking:


## 2. The shape

Fill in what you know. A direction is enough for the ones you don't.

Opening state (life before the story):
Inciting incident (what breaks it, in the first tenth):
End of act one (the point of no return, about a quarter in):
Midpoint (what changes the game, halfway):
Crisis (the worst moment, about three quarters in):
Climax (the choice only this character can make):
Resolution (the new normal, and the final image):


## 3. The people and places

Main character, in one line:
The opposition (a person, a group or a force), in one line:
Two or three people who matter, one line each:
Two or three places where the big scenes happen:


## 4. The schedule

Words a day:
Days a week:
Draft finished by (date):
Where and when I write:

Words a day x days a week x weeks = target length.
At 500 words a day, 6 days a week, an 80,000 word draft takes
about 27 weeks.


## 5. Checklist

Planning
[ ] Premise written in two sentences
[ ] Want and need named
[ ] Ending decided, or a direction chosen
[ ] Seven turns of the shape filled in, even roughly
[ ] Main cast and places listed
[ ] Target length and words a day chosen

First draft
[ ] First chapter written, without rewriting it
[ ] Act one finished (about a quarter of the target)
[ ] Midpoint reached; plan checked and updated
[ ] Crisis written
[ ] Last line written: the draft is finished

Revision
[ ] Rested the draft for at least two weeks
[ ] Read it through in as few sittings as possible, notes only
[ ] Structural pass: cut, merge, move and add scenes
[ ] Scene pass: every scene changes something
[ ] Line pass: sentences, repetition, dialogue
[ ] Feedback from two or three readers
[ ] Final pass for spelling and consistency


## 6. Fix-later list

Keep writing; note the problems here instead of stopping to fix them.

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