For plotters, pantsers and first novels
Novel Outline Template: 3-Act Book Outline
Your premise, your ending, and 20 chapters across three acts, each with one plain job and the big turns already placed.
The Salt Archive
20 chapters · turns at chapters 5, 10 and 15
- 1OpeningInes catalogs flood-damaged records and turns down a job upstairs.
- 3Inciting incidentShe finds her own death certificate, dated next April.
- 5Point of no return · 25%She steals the original and is fired.
- 10Midpoint · 50%It was filed from inside the archive. She starts hunting.
- 15Lowest point · 75%The archive is sealed and her only copy is ruined.
What you'll get
A 20-chapter, three-act map with one job per chapter
- 20 chapters in three acts, turns at 5, 10 and 15
- One plain job per chapter, in words for any genre
- Your premise, best-guess ending and main cast up top
Before and after
Your notes in. Twenty chapters, each with a job.
A junior archivist finds her own death certificate, dated next spring, and has until then to learn who filed it. Ines Halasz, 31, works nights at the city archive. Her brother Tamas is a police clerk who wants her to let it go. Her boss, Dr. Kollar, is kind and hiding something. Midpoint idea: the stamp on the certificate matches one used in 1956. I want it to end with Ines filing a certificate of her own.
Your book in one line: Ines wants to keep her quiet night job at the city archive, but a certificate says she dies in April. If she can't learn who filed it, she believes it will come true. 3. Inciting incident. Re-shelving flood records, Ines finds her own death certificate, signed and stamped. 5. Point of no return (about 25%). She steals the original rather than report it, and Dr. Kollar lets her go. 10. Midpoint (about 50%). The stamp matches one last used in 1956. She stops hiding and starts hunting. Open question for you: what is Dr. Kollar hiding?
Every job stays in place. Your names, ideas and ending fill the rows around it.
Why it works
What is a novel outline template?
A novel outline template is a chapter-by-chapter plan of your story. This one is a three-act structure template: 20 chapters, with the big turns at chapters 5, 10 and 15, close to the quarter, half and three-quarter marks K.M. Weiland sets out in her four-act structure guide. Every chapter carries one plain job, such as "show what the flaw costs" or "close the door behind them," so you always know why a chapter is in the book.
The jobs are written for any genre. Plenty of structure guides lean on adventure words like "final battle," which leaves romance and literary writers translating every line. Here, the midpoint is simply where your protagonist stops reacting and starts acting, whether that means admitting a feeling or naming a suspect. Above the map sit your premise in one line, your best guess at the ending, and your main characters. A short table says what belongs in an outline and what stays out.
Jericho Writers suggests sketching each point "in as few words as possible," one to three sentences, in its guide to plotting a novel. The map follows that advice, so it stays easy to change. Take it as a Word download, or open it in River. Tell River about your book, from a premise to pages of notes, for a first pass across all 20 chapters. For a denser plan, try the 24-chapter novel outline; to plan by beats instead, use the Save the Cat beat sheet.
What lands in your doc
What's inside the novel outline
- A one-line premise
Who wants what, what stands in the way, and what failure would cost. - Your best-guess ending
Written early, so every act knows where it's heading. Change it anytime. - Main characters at a glance
Protagonist, opposition and one key ally, each with what they want. - 20 chapters in three acts
Act One runs chapters 1 to 5, Act Two 6 to 15, Act Three 16 to 20. - A plain job per chapter
One line saying what the chapter must do, in words that suit any genre. - What goes in, what stays out
A short table that keeps prose, backstory and lore out of your outline. - Room to resize
A note on adding or merging chapters while the turns stay where they work.
How it works
From blank page to chapter map
Open the template
Click Edit with AI. Your novel outline opens in River with all 20 chapters in place.
Tell River your story
Optional. Say who it's about and what goes wrong, or paste the notes and chapter ideas you already have.
Get a first pass
River writes what happens in each chapter, keeping every job and turn where it sits.
Make it yours
Rewrite, merge or move chapters, then keep going: ask River to draft chapter one from the plan.
Questions authors ask
Common questions
What is a novel outline template?
A novel outline template is a ready-made plan you fill in before or while you draft: your premise, your ending, your main characters and a slot for every chapter. Some writers call it a story outline template. This one gives each of its 20 chapters one job, so no chapter is filler.
How does the three-act structure work?
It splits a story into setup, complications and resolution. Act One ends at about 25%, when the hero commits and can't go back. Act Two runs to about 75%, with a midpoint turn at 50%. Act Three holds the climax and the ending. In this template, those turns fall at chapters 5, 10 and 15.
How do I outline a novel?
Write your book in one line and your best guess at the ending. Map the chapters across three acts, with the big turns near a quarter, half and three quarters of the way through. Give each chapter one job and one to three sentences. Nathan Bransford calls an outline "a living document", so keep changing it as you write.
What should be in a book outline?
What happens in each chapter, why it happens, what changes by the end of it, where each setup pays off, and the ending. Leave out prose, dialogue and long backstory. Worldbuilding belongs in a story bible template, and scene-by-scene detail goes on scene cards.
Is this also a book outline template for nonfiction?
Not quite. The three acts and turns are built for stories. If you're writing nonfiction, the nonfiction book outline template gives you a promise, a reader and one takeaway per chapter instead. For a life story, the memoir outline orders your moments by meaning rather than by plot.
Is there a novel outline template for Word?
Yes. Download gives you this outline as a Word file with no account needed. It includes the one-line premise, the ending, main characters, the 20-chapter map and the in-and-out table. Prefer to work online? Edit with AI opens the same outline as a River document.
Can River fill in the outline for me?
Only if you ask. Edit with AI opens it empty. Tell River about your book, from a premise to your full notes, and it writes a first pass under every chapter. It keeps each job in place, uses the names and beats you gave, and lists open questions instead of inventing twists. Want a quick chapter list first? Try the book outline generator.
Your next step
More for your book
Know why every chapter is in your book
Open the chapter map in a doc you keep. Fill it yourself, or tell River what you know so far.