Section 10 of 13
Chapter-by-Chapter Outline
Time to turn the big three-act shape into an actual map of chapters — the one you'll write the book from.
This outline works for you, not the other way around. Add chapters, delete them, merge two into one, split one into two, shuffle the order — the outline should keep changing as your understanding sharpens. Numbers renumber themselves automatically.
Start your chapter map
What do the little buttons on each chapter do?
↑ and ↓ move a chapter earlier or later. ＋ inserts a new chapter right after (that's also how you split one — insert, then move half the plan into it). ⇤ merges a chapter into the one before it. ✕ deletes, and always asks first.
Outline check-in
As your outline fills in, I'll point out patterns worth a second look. They're observations, not corrections — you know your book.
Chapter
Answer what you know — a planned chapter needs a purpose and an ending more than it needs all 23 answers.
What jobs does this chapter do?
Tag any that apply — most chapters do two or three jobs at once.