A perennial method many writers use to tack down their storyline is snowflake plotting. No, the stories aren’t all about winter weather. Like the fractal nature of the ice crystal, a story can be outlined in an ever-repeating and expanding pattern.

Randy Ingermanson is credited with coining the term and popularizing the method. A full explanation is at his website. The steps look simple, but require a lot of thought.

The snowflake plot outline is a tool for the writer; it doesn’t have to sound pretty, grab a reader’s attention, or make sense to anyone else. The writer just needs to get their thoughts down on “paper” in order to organize them.

I’ve also applied snowflake plotting to a completed work. Using the method, I created a short synopsis of my unpublished novel to provide to agents. I struggled with describing the plot of that book the whole time I was writing it, and the snowflake method really helped me focus.

1. Start with a one-sentence summary. This can be hard! The sentence should not be any more than fifteen words and have no character names. Tie together the story’s big picture with the main character’s personal mission. For my novelette, Water of Life, I might say something like: Young rum runner fears faeries have spirited away his missing friend. Or I could summarize my short story (published in Golden Vision Magazine), “At The Old Gallows Tree,” as Queen, seeking divine help for her war-torn land, discovers she has the true healing touch.
2. One, five-sentence paragraph for the plot. Expand the one-sentence summary to include the background, the major disasters, and the ending. For “At The Old Gallows Tree,” that paragraph might read: A vaguely nordic, newly crowned, young queen seeks mystical revelation to help her heal her land after years of constant warfare. She keeps sacrificial vigil all night, accompanied by her loyal Fool, but receives no divine message. Attacked by a brigand, she learns about the common people’s struggles during the war. She inadvertently kills the man, but discovers she has the healing touch of royalty and brings him back to life. The barren land flowers and she feels more confident in her future as queen.
3. Develop the characters. One paragraph for each character, summarizing their goals, obstacles, epiphany, and storyline. A very short sketch like this is also called a thumbnail. Back to our example, Queen Clothilde: Has taken the throne because father and brothers are all dead. Was never trained for this. The Fool: Grew up at court with the young princess, now queen. Secret crush. The Brigand: Desperate, hungry, lost everything in the war.
4. Plot summary. Each of the five sentences in the paragraph gets its own paragraph. Each paragraph needs to end in a disaster, except the final one. This is an excellent stage to generate a one- to two-page plot synopsis, good for agents and other promotional purposes.
5. Expand the character thumbnail sketches to around a page each.
6. Expand the plot summary. Each paragraph to a page each. You now have quite a detailed treatment of the story.
7. Scene list. Make a list of the scenes.