Plotting is where most writers lose the most time. Not drafting. Plotting. The circling, the second-guessing, the "is this story even working?" spiral that can eat weeks before you write a single line.
Here's how I get from idea to full outline in one afternoon.
Hour 1: The brain dump and the questions
Open your voice memos and talk through everything: tropes, the opening scene you can already see, the ending you want, the villain, the vibe. Fifteen minutes, no editing.
Then paste the transcript into your AI tool with one instruction: pull out the strongest tropes, dynamics and stakes, and ask me three questions about the gaps. No outline yet.
Answer the questions in quick bullet points. Correct anything it got wrong about the tone.
Hour 2: The three-act skeleton
Now ask for a tight, commercial three-act outline with clear turning points. For romance, check that it hits the beats readers expect:
- The meet: the first spark or clash
- The pull: they keep getting thrown together
- The midpoint: the relationship shifts for real
- The dark moment: everything falls apart
- The grand gesture and HEA: they choose each other
If a beat is missing or weak, push back until it's there.
Hour 3: The bible
Before you break it into chapters, lock in your characters and world. For each lead: their goal, the lie they believe, the wound behind it, and the one line they swear they'll never cross. Add the world's rules and pressure points.
Merge everything into one Project Bible document. This is your source of truth for the whole book.
Hour 4: Chapter by chapter
Hand the AI your bible and ask for a chapter-by-chapter roadmap: the main event of each chapter, the emotional shift, and where the scene ends. Want more control? Ask for beat-by-beat breakdowns with dialogue cues instead.
Then run a quick stress test: ask it to act as an impatient reader and flag every chapter where the tension drops.
That's it
Four hours, and you have a book you can actually draft. The full version, with every prompt I use, lives in lessons 2, 5 and 8 of Plot. Publish. Profit. Or skip the afternoon entirely with my done-for-you plots.
