The Fiction Plotting System
Most novels that stall in Act 2 fail for one reason: the author ran out of structure. Most novels that never get started fail for the opposite reason: the author spent so long planning that the story felt already told.The Fiction Plotting System threads the needle. It's a complete Notion workspace that gives you enough structure to draft with confidence — without asking you to solve every problem before you've written a word.What's inside:Story Foundation page — lock in your premise, theme, genre, and story type before touching anything else. Includes a fill-in premise formula: [CHARACTER] wants [GOAL] but [OBSTACLE] so [STAKES].Three-Act Structure Worksheet — fill-in prompts for every major beat from Opening Image through Closing Image. Eight anchors across four acts.Scene Database — your working outline. Every scene tracked by goal, conflict, outcome, act, POV, word count, and status. Four views: Full Outline, By Act, Status Tracker, Word Count.Character Arcs database — track every significant character's transformation from starting state to ending state, linked to the scenes that carry the arc.Beats & Turning Points database — the structural skeleton. Major turning points logged separately from the scene list, linked to the exact scene where each beat lands.Plot Holes & Open Questions database — a running log of every logic problem you spot, rated by severity (Minor / Moderate / Critical), linked to the scene where it surfaces.Claude Prompt Library — five copy-paste-ready prompts for the moments when plotting stalls: Premise Stress-Test, Midpoint Generator, Subplot Builder, Plot Hole Stress-Test, and Scene Goal Diagnostic. Paste into Claude at claude.ai with your book's details and get actionable output in minutes.All five databases connect to each other through Notion relations. A plot hole logged in Scene 14 links directly to that scene record. A character arc links to every scene that carries it. The system gets more useful the more you use it.Works on Notion's free plan. No paid subscription required.After purchase you'll receive a PDF guide and a link to duplicate the template directly into your Notion workspace. Setup takes about ten minutes.Also available from Stowell Creative: Fiction Series Bible Template ($17) — continuity tracking for series writers: characters, world, timeline, and plot threads, all connected The KDP Launch Kit ($27) — blurb framework, Amazon metadata, and ad copy templates with Claude prompts for every piece of copy your book page needs stowellcreative.com
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