- Free Resources
- Success Stories
Book Template: 9 Free Book Layout Templates for Word & More
BY Angelica Hartgers | Mar 14, 2023 | Writing , Design , Printing , Production
Do you need a book template to get started writing your book ? If so, you’ll want to download a book layout template before you start typing up your manuscript. This will save you a ton of wasted effort and formatting issues later on!
Whether you're writing a fiction book or a nonfiction book , you'll want to start writing as quickly as possible to reach your goal of becoming an author .
A book template can help you do just that by saving you time from having to set up your own book file.
Select your book writing software, then you can find a book template that is already set up and formatted to get started writing. Using a book template, you’ll begin writing your book by typing your manuscript directly into your template. Once your book is written and ready for edits and production, the template will come in handy since it’ll already be in a common format and file for you to start the book production and publishing process.
Even better – the book templates listed in this article are absolutely free. Since self-publishing costs come out of the author's own pocket, it's important to save money where you can, so that you can use that budget to hire professional editors and cover designers .
Here are the top free book templates:
Free fiction & nonfiction templates.
- DIYBookFormats
- BookPrintingUK
- Book Template Generator
Please note that several of the sites listed here offer book production services. This article does not review the quality of the services provided by these sites, so we aren’t able to provide any endorsement or testament as to whether these companies are good to work with or not.
Book Templates
Get a nonfiction book outline for your manuscript.
Get Our 6″ x 9″ Pre-Formatted Book Template for Word or Mac
We will send you a Book Template for US Trade (standard paperback size).
By submitting this form, you consent to receive marketing text messages from selfpublishing.com at the phone number provided
In this article, we are simply listing the free book template resources that self-published authors can utilize as they write a book.
Reasons to use a book template
Every author has their preference on writing tools, and one that continually tops the chart is Microsoft Word.
It’s your standard word processor, and while it seems basic, it’s super versatile and easy to use.
If you don’t need a fancy writing software , or are just getting started as an author on a low budget, Microsoft Word may be your best bet.
It’s readily available, user-friendly, and has all the nuts and bolts you need (including a powerful editor).
Ready to find your perfect Microsoft Word book manuscript template? Here we go!
Here's 5 reasons why you should use a book template to write your book:
- There is little to no learning curve.
- It is readily available on most computers, and can be purchased at major retailers.
- It's versatile for use on a variety of word processing projects.
- It has a powerful document editor for spelling and grammar checks.
- It has several formatting options and includes free templates.
If you don't want to fuss with setting up a book template in Word, or want more variety in templates to chose from, consider downloading a pre-made book template for Word.
There are several sites that offer free downloadable book templates, and they are already set-up and formatted specifically for writing a book . You can download the template, then open it in Word, and get to writing!
These sites offer free, downloadable book templates for Microsoft Word .
If you're writing a book and need a template to help you organize your chapters, content, and format, then we have a book template for you!
When writing a book, templates are helpful to keep you on track and plan for which content your book needs to include.
Here's where you can download a free template for book writing:
- Writing a Book: Template For Nonfiction
- Writing A Book: Template for Fiction
KDP Free Paperback Manuscript Templates
For a basic manuscript template, use these free book layout templates from Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).
Download them here .
If you plan to publish your eBook to KDP, these templates will work just fine. They are available in all of the common standard book sizes.
Download blank templates, or pre-filled templates with sample content, if you want to have an overall example of how a book will appear with the template.
If you need a book template for Word in a language other than English, these templates will be helpful as they are available in a variety of different languages.
Once you download the files, a .zip folder will appear on your computer. Once you unzip the file, you will then see zipped folders for each language.
You can unzip the folder in the language you need, which will give you access to the various size book templates.
BookBaby Free Book Template
With several different sizes to choose from, BookBaby offers a variety of book layout templates depending on the type of book you are writing.
From standard book sizes to niche-specific sizing options, you’ll want to be clear on which type of book template size you need for your story.
The common standard sizing for most printed books is the US Trade 6” x 9” which is listed under the Interior Text Templates category.
Once you find the correct size for your book, you can download the free book layout template by clicking the orange “Download” button underneath the corresponding size.
The .zip file will then download to your computer, and it contains the template file. Once you unzip the file, you can then open the Word book template (it will be the file that ends in “.doc”).
If you need additional instructions, BookBaby offers some helpful information in the “Using Our Templates” section. You can check out their specifications, and even download their Book Printing Preparation Checklist PDF.
DiggyPOD Free Book Template for Word
A book printing company, DiggyPOD offers free book layout templates for your book interior and exterior. While the sizes offered aren’t as extensive as some, you can find the most common sizes for book printing available.
If you’re just getting started with writing your book, download the interior template.
If you’ve already written your book, you can use the resources on the page to create your own book template for your typed manuscript.
DIYBookFormats Free Templates
This site offers 5 free minimal book layout templates that you can use with a variety of programs , Word included.
These templates offer different designs, not just your standard text and format options. While you can access five templates for free, any additional access to other styles will have to be purchased.
You’ll also have to do some extra clicking and typing to access these manuscript templates (unlike some of the other sites listed in this article).
The free book templates are a gated offer, which means you will have to provide your email address , and then the templates are sent directly to your inbox.
Once you download the .zip file, you’ll want to unzip it. Then, you can open the folder for each styled template, and select the file you need. If you are using Word, you’ll want to click on the .doc or .docx file, depending on which Word version you are using.
The site also provides some helpful tutorial videos on how to format your book in Microsoft Word, if you want to skip the template and do it all yourself.
48HrBooks Word Templates
This site offers four of the most common standard book sizing options available – no email required. Perfect for use if you haven’t started typing your story yet, these Microsoft Word book manuscript templates are straight and to the point.
To begin your download, look under the “Free Book Templates” heading, and scroll down to the “Inside Pages” option. You can then click on the book icon for the corresponding size you need, and the file will begin downloading automatically.
If you need further instructions, there is also a handy PDF that you can download with more info.
BookPrintingUK Template Generator
Featuring an easy-to-use design, this responsive template generator is great if you know the specifics of your book’s layout, such as binding and size.
You can start by selecting which program you are using to write your book, and Microsoft Word is the first option you can select.
You’ll need to know the document type needed, the book option, template size, color (if applicable), and orientation to generate your template.
One thing to note is that this site is for UK book printing, so it will be UK sizing. However, you can always look up the US equivalent with a quick Google search, if needed.
UsedtoTech Free Word Book Template
A simple, clean design, this free Word book template is specifically for the standard 6” x 9” book , which is the most common book size for printed paperbacks.
To download, you’ll need to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the “Download” button. This will prompt the download of the .zip file to start automatically.
Unzip the file, then select the file that ends in “.docx” or, if you need to, you can download the .pdf file.
This book template for Word features a minimal design, and is free – no email required!
Book Template Outline Generator
If you need a done-for-you book outline to fill in your book's contents into, consider using a pre-made outline for your nonfiction or fiction book.
This is not a print-ready format for your book, but an actual outline to organize your manuscript.
Use this Book Outline Generator to select your genre and immediately get access to complete outline – all you need to do is add your content!
Once you choose your book type and generate an outline, you'll get access to a done-for-you book template in Google Docs . You then follow the steps in the document to get started.
Can I write a book in Microsoft Word?
Yes, you can write a book in Microsoft Word, and it may even help you write your book faster and increase your writing focus, since you can save time formatting and setting up your book layout. You can write a book in Word by downloading a free book template, by using the standard book template Word offers, or by setting up your own (which is more time-consuming).
Because Word is a flexible word processing system, you can simply use a book template within Word, and start typing your book directly onto the page.
Even if you don't use a book template, you can still write a book using Microsoft Word – just be aware that you may have to spend more time formatting your book when it's time to publish it .
How to write a book in Microsoft Word
To write a book in Microsoft Word, simply download a free book template, open the file, and start typing your manuscript into the template.
You’ll want to be sure that you download a book template that is formatted specifically for Word, and all of the sites listed in this article offer Word templates.
Once your template is downloaded, you can then open it on your computer, and make any modifications as needed.
Then, you can start typing your manuscript directly into your Word template. That’s it!
You don’t need a fancy template to start with ; you can simply make do with the free templates that are available for download on these sites. However, if you want to purchase a template, there are some paid book templates that you can buy if you choose to.
Here are the steps to write a book in Microsoft Word:
#1 – Step 1: Download a Microsoft Word book template (more instructions on this below)
#2 – Step 2: Open Microsoft Word on your computer and click “File” then navigate to “Open.” Select your book template file.
#3 – Step 3: Your book template file will open and appear on the screen. You can now start typing your text directly into Word.
#4 – Step 4: Click “Save” often throughout your writing process, and before you exit the Word application.
Does Word have a book template?
Yes, Microsoft Word offers several templates within the application, including book templates to choose from. Different sizes and formats are offered, depending on the type of book you are writing.
All of the available book templates are customizable and editable, which means you can tailor the template to fit any specific requirements you need for your book.
To access the standard book template in Word, follow these steps:
- After opening Microsoft Word, click “File” then “New.”
- Double click “Books” folder icon in the “Available Templates” section.
- Double click “Other Books” folder icon.
- Browse through the available templates and select one that best fits your needs and book type.
- Customize your book template settings as needed.
- Start removing the placeholder text and typing your own book information directly in the document.
- Click “Save” any time you make changes and before closing the Word application.
How do I make a book template in Word?
If you prefer to make a book template in Word that is customized to fit your specific writing needs, then there's an easy way to do this, too.
Microsoft Word is a versatile word processing tool that's relatively easy to learn and super customizable. You can make a variety of projects, including a novel or book template with a little learning and direction.
The key is to start simple with one of the pre-made templates in Word, then format and customize the book layout to fit your needs.
Please keep in mind that depending on the Microsoft Word version your computer or laptop has, the step-by-step instructions may vary, since older or newer versions may have different menu items, names, or placements.
Here are the steps to make a book template in Word:
- Open the Microsoft Word program or application.
- Click “File,” then “New.”
- Go to Layout and click on “Page Setup” . Note: Depending on your Word version, you may have to click the launch icon to the left of Page Setup (it looks like a square with an arrow).
- Click “Margins.”
- Click “Custom Margins.”
- Click “Mirror Margins.”
- Enter the margin values you need. For standard book margin values, enter the following: Top & Bottom: .5, Inside: .8, Outside: .5, Gutter: 0.
- Click “Portrait” under Orientation.
- Click “Whole Document” under Apply To.
- Click on the Paper tab.
- Adjust the values to match the height and width of your book's printed paper size. If you do not know these yet, you can adjust them later.
- Click “Save.”
How many Microsoft Word pages equal a book page?
As you start writing in your book template, you can easily track the word count. But, that doesn't necessarily tell you how many actual “book pages” you have typed up.
Depending on how you like to track your progress, it might be helpful to know how many Microsoft Word pages equal a book page. While this will vary depending on your book's genre and writing style (some authors are more wordy than others), there is a rough ballpark range you can use.
Determine what your book's word count goal should be
First, we recommend determining how many words your book should be. You can use this Word & Page Count Calculator to plug calculate how many words you should aim for as you write your book. It calculates the word count depending on your book's type, genre, audience.
Use the Word Count tool in Microsoft Word
As you write, it's important to keep track of how many actual words you are writing. Word has an easy tool that makes it super simple to keep count, and it updates in real time.
Again, depending on your version of Word, there may be a different way to access the Word Count tool, but you can play around with it a bit – it almost always will be in the “Tool” menu.
Here's how to track your book's the Word Count in Word:
- In your Word document, click “Tools” from the top menu tool bar.
- Click “Word Count.”
- A small window will appear with the total number of words.
Determine how many Word pages equals one book page
Once you have determined your writing word count goal, and know how to easily track how many words you've written using the Word Count tool, the next step is to figure out how many Word pages equal one book page.
To do this, you will first need to understand that there will not be a direct correlation. In other words, there isn't an easy, super accurate answer. The reason for this is because it will depend on your finished book's page size.
A standard US paperback novel is typically printed as a 6 in. x 9 in. book, but it can be printed in a variety of other sizes depending on your book size.
Your book page in Word will be the standard paper size of 8.5 in. x 11 in. Therefore, the variance in size between the Word book template and your finalized printed book means there isn't an exact equivalence.
Generally, a paperback novel in the standard print size can contain about 250-300 words per page. In Microsoft Word, one page in the standard size and 12-point font will be about 500-550 words per page.
So, a rough estimate is that 2 paperback printed pages will equal 1 Microsoft Word page, more or less. Please note that this is a very rough estimate, with several variables involved.
The only way to find an exact correlation is to set your Word document up to be the same size as your finalized printed book. So, you could set your word document up to be 6 in. x 9 in. However, there will still be some variance due to margins, printed text size and typeface, paragraphs, etc.
The best thing is to just go by your desired Word count and worry about the printed pages later. Focus on getting your story out, and the rest will follow suit once you get there!
Start typing your manuscript into the book template
Once you find your perfect Microsoft Word book manuscript template, you’ll be ready to start typing up your book!
Achieve your writing goals by committing to writing each and every day. Find a fellow author friend to make yourself accountable, or attend a writing conference to drive urgency for your writing career.
Once your manuscript is typed and self-edited, you can start the editing and production process to get your book published and into the hands of readers!
When you're ready to write a new book, you can use the same book template, or make your own!
Which book templates did you find the most useful?
Need some help along the way as you self publish?
Angelica Hartgers
Related posts
How to Write About Feminism: Books, Articles, & 5 Principles
If you want to know how to write about feminism in a way that will actually captivate your readers, there are definitely a adjustments you'll want to make. The truth is, the topic of feminism often gets ignored because of it's very name. Mainstream media (and haters)...
Your Complete Guide to Writing Tones: What are the Different Ones and When to Use Them
While you can’t change the personality of a character or of yourself as the author, you can play around with the tone to create a compelling story! Some stories have a humorous tone, some have a serious and melancholy tone. In this article, we'll break down what...
How to Become a Fanfiction Writer
What is fan fiction? Fanfiction is a type of creative writing that involves taking existing characters, settings, or storylines from a particular work of fiction and using them to create new stories. Essentially, it is a piece of writing that is based on or inspired...
How to Write a Book Using Microsoft Word
by Sarah Gribble | 0 comments
If you want to write a book, you'll need book writing software that's up to the task. Yes, you can invest in dedicated book writing programs. But you don't have to: a great writing tool is likely already at your fingertips, if you know how to write a book using Microsoft Word.
There's a lot of book writing software out there. Many of these programs claim to offer intuitive use, help with organization, and even say they’ll keep you from distraction. The options can be overwhelming.
There’s still one tried and true option if you’re not interested in all that (or can’t afford the fancier programs): Microsoft Word.
I write most of my books in Microsoft Word , not to mention short stories. Here’s the rundown of how to write a book using Microsoft Word, and why that might be your best choice.
The Benefits of Microsoft Word for Book Writing
You most likely already have it. And so does everybody else. Word is the standard, accepted across platforms, and is easy to access for non-writers (your beta readers). It’s been around forever, so most people know how to use it.
There are book formatting templates. A ton of them. They have them for short story format and for manuscript format. Personally, I don’t use those templates, but they’re a nice baseline for beginners, or even old hats that just want to hurry up and write without setting up their document first.
It’s simple and uncluttered. There are a ton of apps and programs out there that will allow you to keep your plot structure notes close at hand, to rearrange your chapters with the click of a button, and to keep detailed character profiles right in the program. That’s all a little too much for me. I prefer handwritten notes and nothing else blocking my screen while I’m typing and Word gives me that.
It is worth noting that if all that sounds appealing to you, you can do those things in Word as well, it just won’t be as fancy as other programs.
How to Navigate Your Book in Microsoft Word
When you have a 90,000-word manuscript, navigating becomes daunting . Luckily there are ways to do it in Word that make it easier if you know where to look.
Chapter Headings
Word doesn’t divide your book into chapters for you like some other programs. There will be no easy way to click and drag to rearrange chapters.
What I recommend is using headings. On Word’s Home page, there are already standard headings listed. Definitely mess with them and change their formatting to something simple.
No one needs giant blue words as their chapter headings. (You can set your simpler formatting as your default style as well, so you don’t have to change it every time.)
Make the title or number of each chapter a heading. Then you can easily bounce around to different chapters through the navigation pane (check the Navigation Pane box under the View menu).
These basically work the same way as headings, but they’re for anywhere in your document. Have a specific scene you need to do more research on? You can bookmark it and jump back to it later.
Bookmark by going to the Insert menu and clicking Bookmark. Name your bookmark and voilà. You can delete them easily from the popup menu as well.
Find and Replace
CTRL+F brings up a simple search option to find words and phrases in your document. CTRL+H brings up the full gambit. From that dialogue box, you can search, replace certain words with others (i.e. Jennifer now becomes Julia all through the manuscript), and go to any page, section, heading, bookmark, etc. that you need to go to.
Microsoft Word is Great for Editing Your Book
Word has a ton of options for editing your story , including comments, tracking changes, and comparing documents. All of these are under the Review menu.
I use the comments feature to make notes to myself where I need to recheck facts or add description later. It’s easy to navigate through the comments with the search feature or the buttons under the Review menu. Don’t forget to remove them all before saving your document as a PDF or sending it off to an editor.
Tracking changes is awesome and a lot of editors (for short stories anyway) will use this feature to collaborate with you during the editing process. You can accept or reject changes or even revert back to the original.
Finally, make sure you have grammar and spellcheck on! Grammar check even allows you to check style issues (like how to use an ellipsis correctly ) and passive voice . It’s invaluable.
Pro tip: To keep you on track while you’re writing, turn off some of the more fine-tuning features of grammar check. There’s nothing that will ruin your flow more than a bunch of underlining you feel like you need to take care of immediately. I recommend running the full check when you’re done (or at least done for the day).
Formatting Your Book in Microsoft Word
Make sure you’re familiar with standard manuscript format for novels and formatting short stories . Take a look at those links and follow their instructions. You don’t want to get rejected out of hand because you tried some weird formatting that’s hard to look at.
One of the biggest gripes I see from editors is writers using spaces to indent paragraphs. Don’t do this. It makes it super hard on them when they’re putting a book together. Instead, use the ruler in Word (under the View menu) or the paragraph settings (under the Home menu) to adjust your tabs. A half inch is standard.
Despite what most of us were taught in school, the standard is now one space after periods, not two. This is another sticking point with editors, so don’t do it. If you’re used to two, there’s a grammar check feature in Word you can turn on to highlight every time you use two spaces.
Finally, use the page break option to break for a new chapter, not enter or a million spaces. You can find the page break under the Insert menu.
Pro tip: When in doubt about your formatting, you can turn on the Show/Hide option under the Home menu (looks like a paragraph symbol) to see all your formatting symbols.
Now That You've Mastered Microsoft Word, Go Write Your Book
Don’t let choosing writing software stagnant your writing. Don’t overthink it. You don’t need to keep up with the Joneses with the latest writing technology that’s trotted out on tech forums and in writing chats.
The important thing about writing a book is actually writing it . No fancy book writing software is going to help you with that.
So get writing!
Ever used Word to write a book? Do you have any more tips for how to write a book using Word? Let me know in the comments !
Get The Write Structure – $9.99 $5.99 »
Take fifteen minutes to write. Just write. Don’t worry about page setup, formatting, or which program you’re going to use. Open up Word or get out a pen and paper if you’d like!
When you’re done, share your writing in the comments . Don’t forget to comment on your fellow writers’ work!
Sarah Gribble
Sarah Gribble is the author of dozens of short stories that explore uncomfortable situations, basic fears, and the general awe and fascination of the unknown. She just released Surviving Death , her first novel, and is currently working on her next book.
Follow her on Instagram or join her email list for free scares.
Join over 450,000 readers who are saying YES to practice. You’ll also get a free copy of our eBook 14 Prompts :
Popular Resources
Book Writing Tips & Guides Creativity & Inspiration Tips Writing Prompts Grammar & Vocab Resources Best Book Writing Software ProWritingAid Review Writing Teacher Resources Publisher Rocket Review Scrivener Review
Are You Ready to Become a Writer?
Enter your email to get our free 10-step guide to becoming a writer.
You've got it! Just us where to send your guide.
You've got it just us where to send your book..
Enter your first name and email to get our free book, 14 Prompts.
How to Plot and Write a Novel With 12 Free Templates & Worksheets
Writing your first novel can be daunting. That's where these free novel-writing templates and worksheets can prove handy.
Writing your first novel can be more daunting in life than actually putting pen to paper or finger to keyboard. The untouched page is a frank sign of how much work there is to do.
In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott explains the writer's dilemma:
You are desperate to communicate, to edify and entertain...to make real or imagined events come alive. But you cannot will this to happen. It is a matter of persistence and faith and hard work. So you might as well just go ahead and get started.
Yet getting started is easier once you've done some initial prep work on your story; its structure, characters, and how on earth you're going to get this thing out of your head.
That's where these free novel-writing templates and worksheets prove handy.
1. Story Premise Worksheet
This worksheet from Evernote is a simple way to outline the main characters, plot themes, events, and conflicts within your story. By teasing them out of your mind and onto a worksheet like this, you'll be able to plot the broad story arc.
Remember to keep your descriptions specific and concise. This isn't meant to be an entire plot description.
If you're an Evernote fan, there are plenty of other Evernote templates you can use . But if you don't use Evernote, this worksheet can easily be replicated in other programs, or on a sheet of paper.
2. Character Basic Info Worksheet
This straightforward worksheet from The Novel Factory helps you to pad out your main characters. You'll find yourself adding to, and referring back to this info, time and again as your character develops.
If you want to flesh out your characters in more detail, you could download the accompanying Character Development Worksheet and Character Voice Worksheet .
3. The One Page Novel Plot Spreadsheet
If you're looking for a more linear approach to plan your novel, this spreadsheet from EA Deverell is especially useful. This customizable resource allows you to break down and describe each of your scenes so that you have a concrete plot before you start writing.
To start using this spreadsheet, open it up, click File then Make a Copy.
4. Freytag Novel Planning Worksheet
The Freytag method of planning out your novel sits somewhere between vague and extremely detailed. If that sounds like the approach you'd like to take, complete this worksheet from Duolit .
The model covers all essentials, without going overboard on planning. From the introduction of characters, through to rising action, and to the final resolution of your story.
5. Setting Worksheet
This PDF from The Writers Craft will help you to flesh out important scenes before writing them out in your first draft.
With this worksheet, you'll paint a detailed picture of an individual scene from your main character's viewpoints. You'll explore the sights, sounds, and smells of the situation to develop a vivid idea of what it is that you need to portray.
6. At a Glance Outline
Writer's Digest has a number of useful writing worksheets aimed at helping writers pen the first draft in 30 days. One of the most useful of these templates is the At-a-Glance Outline. This worksheet helps you to fill in any gaps and plot holes in your story before you come across them in the middle of your draft.
Working your way through this worksheet may be difficult at first, but when it comes to writing your novel, it'll make things a whole lot easier.
7. Choose Your Perspective Flowchart
This simple flowchart from Duolit will help you to figure out what perspective and tense you'll be writing in. This is an often overlooked part of writing a novel, so having this pinned down early on will give you a good advantage.
8. Chapter and Scene Breakdown
Another template from Evernote, this chapter and scene breakdown can easily be replicated in whichever program you prefer to use. Once you've planned out your novel in more detail, quickly creating a breakdown like this is useful for easy reference.
This will save you time searching through your notes when you're in the writing "flow".
9. Climax Sketch
Another great worksheet from Writer's Digest is their Climax Sketch PDF. This is where you will plan out the climax of your novel, "the point where the protagonist faces the conflict directly, with his goal on the line".
It's important you get this part of your story right, so spend some time on this to make it compelling.
10. Infographic: 10 Ways to End Your Novel
Technically, it's not a template or a worksheet, but given that figuring out how to end your novel will be one of the biggest challenges you face, this infographic is extremely valuable.
By knowing about the different ways in which you can draw your story to a close, you may well be able to improve your writing and introduce more interesting plot twists and character development than you might have otherwise.
11. Scrivener Story Structure Template
There are plenty of programs for creative writers , but Scrivener is arguably one of the best. Case in point: this seriously detailed Scrivener template for outlining and structuring your novel covers everything you could imagine.
From character arcs, premises, abbreviated outlines, and character details, to props, areas for worldbuilding, planning out a series, and more.
If you're using Scrivener (30-day free trial available) to write your novel, this free template is certainly worth checking out.
Other Scrivener templates you might want to try are:
- The NaNoWriMo Novel Writing Template
- The Seven-Point Story Structure Template
- Ray Daniel Novel Template
12. Microsoft Word Novel Templates
These five free Microsoft Word book templates from DIY Book Formats (email registration required) are of high quality. And what's more, they'll save you tons of time wrestling with document formatting when you could be writing.
Each template includes paragraph and header styling, a cover page, footers, and page numbers, and comes in PDF, DOC, DOCX, and INDD (InDesign) filetypes.
For Google Docs Users: The DOC and DOCX files included in this collection can also be uploaded and used on Google Docs . You may have to slightly tweak line spacing, etc. but most of the formatting is retained.
Start Writing
By the time you've worked through a few of the worksheets included in this article, you'll be in a much better position to finally put pen to paper and become the writer you always wanted to be.
And who knows? After a few rounds of edits, you may even be ready to finally publish your ebook , and get your story printed so you can enjoy the pride that comes with having a physical copy of your work in hand.
- Buying Guides
Complete Guides by How-To Geek
Our Latest Product Roundups
Reader favorites, more from how-to geek, latest geek news.
Latest Reviews
Across lifesavvy media.
Join 425,000 subscribers and get a daily digest of news, geek trivia, and our feature articles.
By submitting your email, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy .
- Microsoft Office
- Microsoft Word
How to Create a Book in Microsoft Word
Marshall is a writer with experience in the data storage industry. He worked at Synology, and most recently as CMO and technical staff writer at StorageReview. He's currently an API/Software Technical Writer based in Tokyo, Japan, runs VGKAMI and ITEnterpriser, and spends what little free time he has learning Japanese. Read more...
Microsoft Word comes with pre-built page settings for creating books. Whether you’re creating a memoir or event guide, these settings let you create a beautiful book or booklet, from start to finish.
Create a Book or Booklet
First, go ahead and open Word. It’s recommended that you adjust these setting before writing the content of your book to prevent formatting issues late on.
Once you’re in Word, head over to the “Layout” tab. In the “Page Setup” group, click the small arrow at the bottom-right.
This opens the “Page Setup” window, where you will automatically be on the “Margin” tab. In the “Margins” group, you’re able to set the margins of the page. By default, the “Gutter” margin will be set to 0. This could cause issues further on, as the gutter margin is the amount of space between the content of your book and the fold where the pages of the book will be bound together. That said, go ahead and give the gutter a 1” margin, so the content of your book doesn’t get lost in the fold.
Next, select the arrow next to “Multiple Pages” in the “Pages” group, then select “Book Fold” from the drop-down menu. Once selected, you’ll notice your page orientation automatically changes from “Portrait” to “Landscape.”
Tip: You may notice a “Reverse Book Fold” option. This is for content that reads from right to left, such as Japanese-style books.
Once you’ve adjusted the settings, click “OK.”
The page setup for creating a book or booklet is now complete. There’s a ton of stuff you can do from here depending on what you require for your book. You may want to add a header or footer , create a table of contents, or give your book page numbers for easier navigation. We’ll leave the content and add-ons to you—we’re just here to show you how to create the setup.
It’s also worth noting that, depending on the length of your document, you may need to split it up into multiple booklets due to the sheer size of the document. That’s fine—you can bind them into one book later.
RELATED: How to Reduce the Size of a Microsoft Word Document
Print Your Book or Booklet
Once you’ve finished composing your book, it’s time for printing. Select the “File” tab, then select “Print” found in the left-hand pane.
Next, select the second option in the “Settings” group.
A drop-down menu will appear, presenting a few different printing-style options. If you have a duplex printer, select (1) “Print on Both Sides” (and whether or not to flip the page on the long or short edge). If your printer doesn’t have this functionality, you’ll need to select the (2) “Manually Print on Both Sides” option.
All that’s left to do now is select Print, and you’re good to go!
- › How to Use Outline View in Microsoft Word
- › How to Search for Text in Word
- › 5 Google Maps Scams (And How to Avoid Them)
- › How Long Do SD Cards Last?
- › The Best DDR4 RAM of 2023
- › 10 Google Translate Features You Should Be Using
- › Can ChatGPT Write Essays: Is Using AI to Write Essays a Good Idea?
- › What It’s Like Using a Gaming Laptop as Your ONLY Gaming PC
Looking to publish? Meet your dream editor on Reedsy.
Find the perfect editor for your next book
1 million authors trust the professionals on Reedsy, come meet them.
Last updated on Dec 09, 2022
Book Writing Templates: A Writer’s Secret Weapon [Download]
No matter what level of experience you have as an author, you can always use a little help to get your manuscript off the ground. Book writing templates are tools that authors can leverage to fuel their progress: from brainstorming characters, to worldbuilding, to structuring a story, templates can help you make sure you start off on the right foot.
The goal of using a template is not to make cookie-cutter novels, but rather to better shape your book idea into a unique story. If you’re keen to receive a little help, here are 10 different types of book writing templates you can use to sketch out your stories.
Download: Reedsy's top writing templates
Sign up below to receive all ten book writing templates featured in this post (or continue reading to download individual templates).
FREE TOOLKIT
The Top 10 Book Writing Templates
Use these to develop your characters, outline your plot, and write your book.
Or if you'd like to build your story directly in a writing app, we recommend using the free Reedsy Book Editor. Simply create your account with one click below and start outlining with the pre-made story templates — right away!
FREE OUTLINING APP
The Reedsy Book Editor
Use the Boards feature to plan, organize, or research anything.
Developing an idea
The most fundamental type of book template concerns concept development. Think of book ideas as seeds: not all of them have the potential to become a great big oak — but some do.
1. Book Development Template
To help you determine if your idea is 'fertile' enough, we've made a book development template designed to test the waters.
Our seven-part book development template will guide you step-by-step in nailing down your protagonist, supporting characters, antagonists, as well as your worldbuilding and plot structure. If that wasn’t enough, it will also help you pick your voice and point of view .
In other words, it will help you germinate that idea into a sapling that will eventually become your first draft. To download this specific template, insert your email below — or sign up above to receive all templates.
FREE RESOURCE
Get our Book Development Template
Use this template to go from a vague idea to a solid plan for a first draft.
Structuring your narrative
Once you have a great story idea, you need to actually put it down on paper (or in a book editor , but paper sounds better, doesn’t it?). Many authors write when inspiration strikes, following their intuition for chapters on end without a plan. While this approach might be powerful to get things going, it can be useful to think about how to structure your novel early on in the writing process to avoid running into plot holes and writing yourself into a corner.
Luckily, in literature there are a few common story structures every author can refer to when plotting, starting with the most popular of them all 一 the Three-Act structure.
2. Three-Act Structure Template
Originally defined by Aristotle two thousands years ago, the Three-Act structure divides a story in a beginning, middle, and end. This method is one of the most commonly used when plotting novels, as it provides a basic skeleton for your story that ensures all your plot points are in place, building tension and stakes until the climax and resolution.
To download this specific template, insert your email below — or sign up above to receive all templates.
Free Download: Three-Act Structure Template
Effortlessly plot your story with our customizable template. Enter your email, and we'll send it to you right away.
By dissecting the story in three parts of equal importance, you’ll be able to create a strong narrative that keeps readers hooked from start to finish. You can print out the template or edit it online 一 for each section you’ll be asked to write a synopsis of what happens in the story, and a specific example of it.
3. Hero’s Journey Template
Another, more hands-on take on the Three-Act structure is the Hero’s Journey , which focuses on the transformation of a single protagonist. Divided in twelve distinct phases, it helps you deconstruct your protagonist's journey, from the initial call to adventure to the return home as a changed person.
Our template will help you write down a short synopsis about important story elements, such as:
- The ordinary world where it all starts;
- The call to adventure and refusal of it;
- Mentors, enemies, and allies on the hero’s journey;
- The moments of greatest fear and reward;
- The lesson to bring home, and more.
These timeless elements have been used in countless stories, from Biblical tales to Star Wars , and will give you creative freedom while ensuring your narrative stays on track. To download this specific template, insert your email below — or sign up above to receive all templates.
Free Download: Hero's Journey Template
4. save the cat beat sheet.
If you have trouble figuring out your list of scenes, you can get more granular with the Save the Cat template, which tells you exactly what should happen on what page. Originally developed for screenwriters, it has been widely adopted by novelists to plan their stories with theme, character development, and pacing in mind.
The Save the Cat template builds upon the classic Three-Act structure, but further dividing a story into 15 beats that tell you when the inciting accident, subplots, and other key elements should happen. In our template, you can simply enter your target word count and it'll tell you exactly when and for how long each beat should last, so that your story doesn't lag in places where it should be motoring along.
Free Download: The Beat Sheet template
You’ll get it in your email inbox right afterward.
Outlining your story
Once you have defined your larger story structure and developed your idea, you can use a book template to go in scene by scene and keep track of the main plot and subplots, and how they fit into your book’s overall timeline.
5. Book Outline Template
Save it in your Google Sheets, edit it, move scenes around, and tweak it until you’re satisfied with the narrative flow.
Depending on your preference, our book outline templates includes three exercises that can help you create:
- A basic story outline that includes all of the main variables;
- A plot-driven outline that tracks your main plots and subplots by chapter; and
- A simple scene list that defines each scene's purpose in the story arc.
Free Download: Book Outline template
You'll get it in your email inbox right afterward.
Building the world of your book
Apart from large-picture templates, some templates can help with specific aspects of your stories, like creating a fictional world from scratch 一 from your world’s history, to geography, to technology and more.
6. Worldbuilding Template
If you’re a fantasy or sci-fi writer, or you simply want to go deep with your worldbuilding , use our 7-part template to establish aspects such as:
- Name and location;
- People and language;
- Social systems (religion, history, etc.);
- Technology and magic; and
- Economy and politics.
If you struggle to piece together all of your world’s features, this template is for you 一 print it out and spend some time with it. This will help you map the environment to the point where it feels like a real place, and you can better communicate it to your readers. To download this specific template, insert your email below — or sign up above to receive all templates.
The Ultimate Worldbuilding Template
130 questions to help create a world readers want to visit again and again.
Creating compelling characters
Since characters are the heart of any story, it’s important to sculpt them to the smallest detail. To help you create remarkable characters, we made two separate templates: one to thoroughly define who they are, and one to test their boundaries in hypothetical scenarios.
7. Character Profile Template
Similarly to building a world from scratch, developing an identity is not an easy task. After all, think about yourself: how long did it take you to become the person you are today? As many years as you’re old. So, how do you replicate that same process not just for one, but multiple protagonists 一 so that they feel like someone you could bump into in real life? Well, you can start by creating a detailed profile.
For each major character in your novel, you can print and fill out our character profile template. It will guide you step-by-step in detailing your character’s features, such as:
- Basic information (i.e. age, occupation);
- Physical appearance;
- Personal relationships;
- Family history;
- Major life events;
- Psychological traits; and
- Their hopes and dreams.
The template may start with superficial traits such as appearances, but then it urges you to also look beneath the skin. So, take the time to ponder over each of the sections to give yourself the chance to create truly compelling characters that readers will resonate with.
Reedsy’s Character Profile Template
A story is only as strong as its characters. Fill this out to develop yours.
8. Character Questionnaire
Reedsy’s Character Questionnaire
40 questions to help you develop memorable characters.
Formatting your manuscript to professional standards
Not all book templates concern the writing aspect of authorship. Some are just useful to format your manuscript in a way that adheres to industry standards before you send out your query letters .
9. Manuscript Format Template
While content matters more than how it’s presented, literary agents and publishers still expect you to present a professionally formatted manuscript. To help you not stand out for the wrong reason, you can use Reedsy’s manuscript format template.
You just need to download a copy and edit it, either by writing directly in it, or copy-pasting (without formatting) the content of your novel. Again, if you want to download this specific template, insert your email below — or sign up above to receive all templates.
Manuscript Format Template
Get your manuscript ready for submission to agents and publishers.
10. Children's Book Manuscript Template
If you’re writing a children’s book, there are slightly different formatting rules you need to be aware of 一 for example if you’re writing in verse or adding illustration notes. Whether you’re submitting to traditional publishers or self-publishing your children’s book , you can use our template to get professional results. Again, you’ll just need to download a copy and edit it without changing the formatting.
Free Download: Children's Book Manuscript Template
Enter your email address and get your copy right away.
We hope that these templates will help you quickly test your story idea, and develop it into a solid draft. They'll hopefully serve as the framework for your wild imagination. It’s time to get writing .
Continue reading
Recommended posts from the Reedsy Blog
Alright vs All Right: What is the Difference? [+ Examples]
Wondering what the difference is between alright and all right? Or which spelling is correct? This posts breaks it down using plenty of examples.
How to Set Effective Writing Goals (That Will Help You Grow)
How can you set writing goals that are realistic, useful, and lead you “confidently in the direction of your dreams”? This post can help you set writing resolutions tailored to your individual needs.
Ensure vs Insure: How to Make Sure You Get It Right
Explaining the difference between ensure, insure, and assure with sample sentences and a memory trick to keep them apart.
What is an Oxford Comma and When Should You Use it? [+Examples]
Everything you need to know about the Oxford comma, from the grammar, to the controversy, to the consequences of mistaken punctuation. With examples.
Title Capitalization Rules: Learn Which Words To Capitalize
Whether you're using a style guide like AP, APA, MLA, or Chicago, or just want to make sure you're capitalizing your titles properly, this post explains all the rules so you know which words to capitalize or not.
Lay vs. Lie: A Definitive Explanation
To lay or to lie? Learn when to use each verb, and how to distinguish between them.
Join a community of over 1 million authors
Reedsy is more than just a blog. Become a member today to discover how we can help you publish a beautiful book.
1 million authors trust the professionals on Reedsy, come meet them.
Enter your email or get started with a social account:
We have an app for that
Build a writing routine with our free writing app.
- Technical Writing Certifications
- UX Writing Certification Courses
- Proposal Writing Certification Courses
- Technical Writer Degrees
- Content Design Courses
- Technical Writing Courses
- Knowledge Management Certification Courses
- Grant Writing Certifications
- Grant Writing Classes
- How to Get an HR Certification
- Human Resources (HR) Certifications
- Entry-Level HR Certifications
- HR Management Certifications
- HR Generalist Certifications
- HR Analyst Certifications
- HR Business Partner Certifications
- People Analytics Certification Course
- Human Resources (HR) Degrees
- Sensitivity Training Programs
- Diversity and Inclusion Certifications
- Diversity and Inclusion Training Programs
- Discrimination Training Programs
- Executive Coaching Certifications
- Life Coach Certifications
- Change Management Certifications
- Product Management Certifications
- Product Management Training Programs
- Product Owner Certifications
- Scrum Master Certifications
- Book Writing Software
- Writing Apps
- Screenwriting Software
- Novel Writing Software
- Writing Prompt Generators
- Digital Strategists
- Google Analytics Consultants
- SaaS Consultants
- SEO Experts
- SEO Consultants
- Digital Marketing Consultants
- Product Consultants
- Marketing Consultants
- Marketing Persons
- Marketing Consulting Firms
- Digital Transformation Agencies
- Product Design Companies
- Growth Marketing Overview
- Growth Manager Overview
- Growth Marketer Overview
- YouTube Growth Marketing Strategy
- SaaS Marketing Strategy
- B2B Marketing Strategies
- SaaS B2C Marketing
- 25 Million LinkedIn Views
- Product Hunt Overview
- Facebook Group Content Strategy
- Viral Marketing Strategy
- SaaS Metrics
- IaaS vs. PaaS vs. SaaS
- Software as a Service (SaaS) Examples
- SaaS Companies and Products
- ProfitWell Review
- IRS Form 6765 Instructions
- Leadpages Pricing
- Instapage Pricing Review
- Instapage vs Leadpages
- Instapage vs Unbounce
- Technical Product Manager
- Product Manager Jobs
- How to Become a Product Manager
- Product Manager Interview Questions
- Product Manager Resume Examples
- Associate Product Manager Overview
- Product Manager Overview
- Product Strategies
- Product Marketing Overview
- Product Marketing Manager Job Description
12 Best Novel Outline Templates to Structure Your Story
Become a Certified HR Manager
Table of contents.
Are you ready to overcome writer’s block with a book outline template?
Let me preface this by saying that while this article is about book outline templates, it’s not a “this is how we do it” article. Not everyone needs a novel outline template for their book road map, but they do help.
Like books, authors and their writing styles are unique and numerous. Even basic things like the programs we use to write in can be diverse. Many prefer to write using a word processor, whether paid or free. Others prefer to use something like Scrivener or Squibler.
Having said that, many new writers are overwhelmed by the writing process and aren’t sure how to write a book. For that reason, templates can help them get started. Even seasoned authors can find templates helpful, too.
Some simply prefer to write from an outline .
Benefits of Using a Novel Outline Template
Despite your writing style and whether or not you’re an author who typically relies on a book outline template, it’s probably safe to say there are times you might wish you had one. Maybe.
I should note there are a few definitive cases for having at least a loose outline of your book. Even those who hate to outline will agree to this.
- Keeps Your Plot Outline Fresh in Mind
There are times you start a book and for some reason, you put it aside. Maybe you have another story burning to be told. Maybe you had to deal with sickness, your own or a loved one’s. Your mind map of your book disappear, and you feel the need to start fresh.
Assuming you don’t have total recall, after months—or perhaps years—do you remember your story? It’s plot and all its details? Or have you completely lost its thread? If you have an outline, it doesn’t matter what you’ve forgotten.
- It Can Aid in Writing a Synopsis
Perhaps you’re intent on having your books traditionally published. If so, agents and publishers will often request a synopsis of your book.
Imagine this. The publisher you’re interested in requires a query letter, three chapters, and a synopsis. I know several authors, myself included at times, who would only have those first three chapters written.
Back when I started writing—this hasn’t changed, by the way—you could wait for months to hear back from a given publisher and depending on how quickly you wrote that was plenty of time to finish the book. Or at least motivate you to write faster. But you had to write your synopsis first.
That’s much easier to do if you have a detailed outline in place already.
- It Can Help you Ease into Writing in a New Genre
Templates and outlines might be especially useful to writers new to a genre. Some genres have very specific structures and arcs that need to be developed and followed. For example, if you’re thinking about writing a romance novel you need to meet reader expectations. An outline could help you meet them.
Let’s recap some reasons why templates or outlines may be good for some:
- Some writers, new or seasoned, are lost without one.
- If you have to leave off writing your book, you can come back to it any time.
- It’s much easier to write a synopsis when you already have an outline.
- If you’re new to a genre, an outline could be very helpful.
Which Novel Outline Template is the Right One for You?
The following is by no means a comprehensive list, but I’ve culled a fair selection. So no matter what you write, from academic treatises to screenplays, there should be something for you.
Also, note that book outlines are known by different names. Depending on the genre, they might be called beat sheets or something else, but they all serve the same purpose.
Since I’ve mentioned romance, let’s start there.
1. Squibler – Romancing the Beat Template
What makes a romance novel a romance novel? Just a bunch of lovey-dovey stuff, right? A couple makes eye contact, they fall in love, the end.
There is a very specific romantic arc that needs to be followed for a book to be a true romance novel. And the overall plot or arc of the story needs to be wound around the romantic arc.
Sound confusing?
That’s why using a romance beat sheet is so popular.
From the introduction of your main characters, through the meet cute—when and where they first connect—to all the reasons why they shouldn’t and couldn’t fall in love. To the maybe this could work, the this will never work, and finally happily ever after.
And that wasn’t all the points in the arc that need to be addressed.
The beats are broken out and provide you with sections like:
- Adhesion of the plot thrust
- Deepening desire
Since this is a romance, you know it doesn’t end with a breakup.
If you’re new to writing romance, you may have an easier time at it when using a novel outline. Specifically, a romance novel outline.
If Scrivener isn’t your thing, Gwen does offer an outline in PDF format for anyone who joins her mailing list.
Regardless of format, this outline is based on Gwen’s book of the same name.
Key takeaways:
- Romance writers must follow a specific arc—a template will provide that.
- For those who don’t use Scrivener, a PDF is available if you sign up for Gwen’s mailing list.
- The template is based on Gwen’s book of the same name.
2. Scrivener – Romance Template
The second book outline template on our list that focuses on romance is courtesy of Jami Gold .
While it will ultimately get you to the same place as Romancing the Beat above, these romance authors each approach things in their own unique way.
From a pure romance standpoint, Gwen’s outline might be easier for some to follow.
Remember the two arcs I mentioned above? The romantic arc and the story arc? Jami separates out the two arcs. From Martha Alderson’s The Plot Whisperer , she uses beats and terminology that play to the plot or story arc. They don’t deal with the character’s inner struggles and journey, which is central to a romance novel.
The advantage to you?
You can focus on the romance arc—the developing relationship between your main characters.
Some of the sections of the template are:
- Inciting incident
- The end of the beginning
If you don’t own or are still trying to learn how to use Scrivener , you can still follow Jami’s outline. She also has it available for free download in Excel format. Even better, it has the functionality to track your word count too.
If you’re still learning how to write a book and you’re contemplating writing romance, why not see what the Romance Writers of America has to say about the genre.
- Jami’s beat sheet—template—breaks apart the two arcs in a romance. The story arc and the romantic arc.
- If you don’t use Scrivener, Jami also has her template available in Excel format. It’s a free download, no signup necessary.
- If you’re new to the genre, check out RWA.
3. Scrivener – The Great American Novel Template
This is a Scrivener template created by Michael O’Bryan .
His stated purpose is to help with the writing process itself. Or at least give you a vehicle to help you get together everything you need in order to write your book.
He provides an Idea Creation section that has even more templates based on some of his favorite methods and formats, like the Snowflake Method or Truby’s Anatomy of Story .
The Great American Novel template provides lots of ways for organizing your writing project including folders and color coding.
You have folders for:
- Story Notes
- Story Elements
- Story Structure
- Story World
- Front Matter
He also includes what he calls an Obsolete Files folder, which I think is an excellent idea. This folder acts as a repository for ideas you may have had and discarded, revisions, drafts, and so forth. These are maintained on the off chance you may need or want to readdress them for some reason. Which you can’t do if you have deleted all these files.
- An excellent template for organizing and structuring your story.
- Folders for every component of your novel.
- A folder for obsolete files.
Have you started writing your own Great American Novel several times? Perhaps using this template would help you to finally finish it.
4. Squibler – The 30 Chapter Novel Template
This book template is courtesy of Damien Benoit-Ledoux .
This is a very clean, well laid out outline for a book. Each of the 30 chapters has a purpose, basically taking you by the hand and leading you through the creation of your masterpiece. At a very basic level, it can teach you how to write a novel.
You won’t be leading your readers in confusing circles.
To give you an idea, the outline starts off with the following chapters:
- Introduction of the MC – who, what, where and when
- I know what I want – the MC’s goals and dreams
- I’m getting what I want – the plan to obtain the above
- Inciting/life-changing incident – the plan is ruined
- I’m not getting what I want – why?
- Why did this happen – self-examination and a new plan
And continues on to chapter 30.
You will also find some of the typical ancillary templates and folders for things like character sketches, historical events, objects, and back matter.
For those without Scrivener, there is a Word document version of the template as well.
- A well laid out outline with supporting folders can help you learn how to write a book.
- MS Word version also available.
- Includes additional templates.
5. Scrivener – The Hero’s Journey
Got an epic story to tell?
This book outline template is based on Joseph Campbell’s theory that all stories are based on the foundation of a single story. This conclusion is reached due to an observation that there exists a common pattern in the narrative elements of nearly all great myths.
Mel Corbett wove that theory in with her own personal notes on The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler to give us the Hero’s Journey Scrivener template .
Using this template or outline will help you create and clarify conflict and enable you to keep your characters moving forward on pace.
You probably know this outline without even being aware of it. Many of today’s blockbusters are built on this plot pattern or outline.
To name a few you’re likely familiar with:
- Lord of the Rings
- Harry Potter
- The Lion King
You’ve heard of one or two of those, right?
The template takes you through 3 key stages:
- The Departure
- The Initiation
You also have folders for:
- Template based on The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler and Joseph Campbell’s theory.
- Will help you keep your story moving.
- Many great movies are built on the Hero’s Journey premise.
6. Scrivener – K.M. Weiland Template
An author of historical and speculative fiction, K.M. Weiland is also the author behind several books around the outline and structure of novels. The initial version of the book outline template that bears her name was created by one of her readers, one Stuart Norfolk. He based it on Outlining Your Novel and Structuring Your Novel.
Yes, she has provided a lot of info for any who are learning how to write a novel.
Jump ahead and K.M. has updated the template to include info from her book Creating Character Arcs and a folder system that she personally uses for keeping track of her notes.
This template provides you with some initial folders meant to help in the prep stage. Help on creating your outline, notes on character development, and catchall for all your worldbuilding details.
Then she provides you with the manuscript section. If you follow this, you are pretty much mirroring her footsteps as she builds her story. There’s even lots of color coding.
Use the color coding to aid you in keeping track of any foreshadowing setups and payoffs.
Here’s an example of the setup and payoff color coding:
- Setup: Foreshadowing, Hints (Yellow)
- Opportunity for Hints (Yellow)
- Misinformation (Magenta)
- Revealed Later (Light Blue)
- Setup That Must Be Fulfilled Later (Magenta)
- Payoff: New Info/Revelations That Turn the Plot (Green)
- Straightforward Facts That Don’t Turn the Plot (Magenta)
- Character Evolution Turning Point (Dark Blue)
- Based on Outlining Your Novel , Structuring Your Novel, and Creating Character Arcs.
- Folders for character development and worldbuilding.
- Some very useful color coding.
7. Squibler – Novel with 4 Parts
Did you even realize there was so much help available for those seeking to learn how to write a novel?
Courtesy of Tony McFadden , we have this Scrivener novel outline.
According to Tony, all good fiction—at least good fiction written in the last 100 years—follows a specific development arc broken down into four parts.
- Setup and hook
- First plot point
Let’s flesh those out a bit.
In part one, you have a goal. Sure you’re going to introduce your main character here, but you need to grab the attention of your readers and hold on to it. We’ve probably all read—or started to read—a book where an author failed to do that.
If you’re like me you have a huge TBR file, and you just move on to the next book. There isn’t enough time to read all the books we’d like to read, and if an author has lost you in the first chapter, that doesn’t bode well for the rest of the book.
Again, grab and hold the attention of your readers.
The first plot point is where our hero leaves behind the status quo and his quest—whatever it may be—begins.
At about half-way into the book, act two should begin. Our hero is now reacting to whatever brought about the change of status quo.
Finally, in act three our hero knows what’s necessary to succeed and overcomes all odds to do so.
Clearly, there’s a lot more involved than that. Why not check out the template?
- All good fiction follows a special developmental arc.
- Grabbing and holding the attention of your reader immediately is imperative.
- Guidelines are provided to indicate where your new stages should begin based on word count.
8. Scrivener – The Snowflake Method Template
As should be very clear by now, there are a number of methods and techniques floating around. Probably one of the most respected and well known is the Snowflake Method , inspired by Randy Ingermanson.
The concept behind the Snowflake Method is that great novels don’t just happen. They are based on sound planning and design.
The idea is you need to build upon an extremely simple theme and then layer on the complexities. It calls for some intense planning and research upfront.
Having said that, Randy freely admits that all authors are different and what works for him isn’t necessarily going to work for every other writer.
For those who would like to try this method, here’s a condensed version of the initial steps:
- Write a single, big picture sentence that summarizes your novel.
- Expand the sentence into a paragraph that includes the key plot points.
- Develop your characters.
- You now have the structure of your novel and will know if it works or not. If it does, continue to expand upon your sentence/paragraph outline.
Sound like something you would like to try? You can read Randy Ingermanson’s book of course, but you can also follow the book outline template based on his method.
- This method of outlining is one of the most popular today.
- Great novels are based on advanced design and planning.
- All writers are unique, so this won’t work for everyone.
9. Squibler – Thriller Template
This novel outline comes to you from writer Jennifer Mattern . A blogger and mystery writer, Jennifer writes both by means of an outline.
Her Murder Mystery Template provides you with all the necessary resources to plan, outline, and draft in a single file. If you also do any marketing for your book—and if you aren’t, you should be—there’s even a folder for promotional material.
- Promotional Material Folder
- Boilerplate
- Press Release
There’s a lot of research and planning to goes into a modern murder mystery, and there’s a spot within the template for nearly anything you could think of at this stage.
- Planning Folder
1. One-paragraph Summary 2. One-page Summary 3. Subplot Summaries 4. Suspect List 5. Secrets and Lies 6. Clues 7. Red Herring
- Research Folder
1. Murder Method 2. Police Procedure & Forensics 3. Other Research Notes
But if you write murders mysteries—or read them—you know there’s still more involved, don’t you? It hasn’t been forgotten.
- Settings Folder
1. Scene of the Crime
- Characters Folder
1. Protagonist 2. Antagonist 3. Victim
There’s still more to this template, but for any who may be writing a mystery for the first time, or even if you’ve struggled with writing one in the past, this is an excellent template to follow. You’ll be sure to hit all the key plot points of a good mystery novel.
- Adding folders and sections for marketing and promotion is a unique plus.
- If I were writing a murder mystery novel for the first time, I would definitely use this template.
- This comprehensive template will insure you don’t miss any plot points.
10. Excel – The One Page Novel Outline Spreadsheet
We’re leaving Scrivener behind and moving on to other book writing templates and novel outline formats. This one is provided courtesy of Eva Deverell . One of her favorite writers is Joseph Campbell, mentioned above, who theorizes that all great stories are based on the foundation of a single story.
So it’s not surprising she is also a proponent of outlining. And as she points out, even “pantsers” typically work from some kind of preconceived plot or outline. Scant or encyclopedic, all writers need to follow some type of story structure.
This template is based upon a video workshop that Ms. Deverell offers.
In this video, she covers the following and more:
- How to plot using one piece of paper—and just one side of it.
- She provides some info on archetypal plot structures.
- How to create a simple character arc.
- She identifies eight story stages and how they fit together.
Using the spreadsheet, you are taken through different stages and scenes. For example, some of the stages are:
The spreadsheet also gives you an idea of where you should be in terms of word count. The template is based on a 50K novel, but you could easily—depending on your math skills—adjust the final word count and where you should be at any given point.
Assuming your book was also 50K, when you reach the “Trigger” stage, you should be about 10K words in. This stage introduces a scene where your main character is involved in an incident that sets your story in motion.
- Even pantsers need to work from some kind of outline, no matter how brief.
- You are guided through the creation of an outline that would fit on a single sheet of paper.
- The spreadsheet provides the benefit of tracking where you are in terms of word count.
11. Scrivener – Blogging Template
This template is made available to us from Bryan Collins , a non-fiction writer who contributes to publications like Forbes .
Every writer isn’t a novelist. Especially in this content-driven world we now live in. We also have technical writers, case study writers, proposal writers and more.
Or perhaps as an author, you maintain a blog as well. Some offer priceless advice on how to become a better writer. For whatever reason you blog here’s an excellent template to use.
You do need to subscribe to Bryan’s mailing list to get his template, but in my opinion, it’s well worth it.
For all you bloggers out there, and especially those who have a busy blog you schedule for, you need to get this template.
I’m sure some of you are thinking a template for your blog is overkill, but here are a few ways it would be useful:
- You can manage all of your articles in one place.
- If you post to more than just your own blog, the included binder can be used as an editorial calendar, allowing you to quickly order and arrange your posts.
- For those who may often need to write with two separate Word documents open, the template also allows you to open your current work and research at the same time—the process is just easier.
- You can set word counts for each file.
The provided folders allow you to keep your workflow past and present neatly categorized.
- Archives – contains individual folders for each month of the year gone by.
- This Month’s Post’s folder, which includes the following:
- Bonding Post
- How to Post
- Future Blog Posts – individual folders for the months still to come.
- This template could be a huge asset to a busy blogger.
- An editorial calendar can help especially if you write for more than one blog.
- Complete organization for the entire year.
12. Scrivener – Screenplay Template
If you’re thinking of being the next George Lucas or James Cameron, you might want to consider using this screenplay template .
For those of you who already have Scrivener, you know this comes bundled with the software. For those who don’t maybe this will be some extra incentive to buy it.
It’s a fairly basic outline, but it has everything you need. However, some who actually write screenplays say it’s nothing to compare to using Final Draft, so you’ll need to draw your own conclusions.
I did find a last-minute bonus screenplay template though.
A Redditor has provided a Scrivener screenplay template that some are saying is much better than the one mentioned above.
You will need to be the judge of that yourself. You can download it using this link .
If you’re a beginner, this might be the one for you. It includes:
- Extra info about story structure
- Scene construction
- Template Sheets including:
- Character Sketches
- Setting Sketch
Do You Have to Use a Novel Outline Template?
At least that’s the short simple answer.
Should you use a book template or novel outline? That’s going to depend on the writer, especially when we’re talking about more of the complex outlines and templates.
But here’s the thing. Every writer should be writing from some form of an outline. For some, that could be a very brief outline consisting of nothing more than a handful of words.
Perhaps notes jotted down on things like the following:
- Physical features of your main characters
- Character traits of your hero
- Location and setting details (especially if you’re worldbuilding, but more on that in a bit)
- Motivations
Your brief outline may have more or less than that, it depends on you. And it depends on the feedback of your readers too.
Are your reviews complaining about major plot holes? Or in one chapter your character is a plump blonde but in the next a sleek brunette? Then you have some serious problems, and it really doesn’t matter what you think of your story.
Criticism can be hard to take, but constructive criticism is gold. Learn from your readers and your peers.
And start to use an outline or template. Who knows, you might decide you love it. Or you may just think this is all terrible writing advice. But at least give it a try.
A final note on things like worldbuilding.
Depending on what you write, it might be easier to get away without an outline or template. But the more complex your novel, the more detailed, the chances that you should be using an outline template increase significantly.
While the above list is long, it’s by no means comprehensive. And while most of these templates are for Scrivener, with some searching there are a lot more formats available. We also discuss some book outline templates I haven’t mentioned here in another post.
Happy writing!
Related Posts
Published in Book Writing
8 Novel Outline Templates That Help You Write Your Story
You’ve settled on the idea you believe has potential for a great novel.
You’ve done your research.
You’ve spent a great deal of time developing your characters .
Maybe you even started writing your outline, but you’re frustrated.
You’re ready to start writing, and you’re confused about which plot structure will best fit your story.
We know the drill—your frustration is all too familiar for many beginning writers.
That’s why we created this plot structures resource to help give you a better idea which direction you’d like to head as you create the plot of your story.
As well as creating a list of plot templates for easy, practical use, we've also created a detailed guide to what plot outlines are, how they've evolved over time and looking at the advantage and disadvantages of using them.
Click here to skip straight to the plot templates , or read on...
The Ultimate Guide to Plot Outlines
- What is a plot outline?
- The most basic plot outlines
The Hero’s Journey / The Universal Storyline
Doesn’t using this set of stages stifle creativity and turn us all into repetitive automatons, who came up with these stages anyway and why should i trust them, evolving the hero’s journey / universal plot outline.
- Genre specific plot outlines
What are the benefits of writing a plot outline?
What are the disadvantages of writing a plot outline, how to write a plot outline.
- Plot Outline Templates
What is a Plot Outline?
A plot outline is like your story’s skeleton. It’s the bones on which you hang the flesh, blood, sweat and tears of your story.
It sketches out the underlying structure of your novel: its key stages, including critical developments and pivotal moments.
It doesn’t list all of the chapters, or everything that happens in them. Its sticks to the heart of the story – which is usually the personal journey of the protagonist, from who they are at the beginning to who they are at the end.
For some people an outline may simply be a few ideas floating around their head , for others it may be a 50,000 word document.
For our purposes, we’ll assume a plot outline is a written document of a few pages, covering key stages and turning points.
The most basic plot structures
The simplest plot outline could be based on the three act structure :
For example:
- Beginning – Harry is a bullied orphan living with his aunt and uncle, who mistreat him
- Middle – He joins a magical school and learns of great friends, enemies and challenges
- End – He manages to stop an evil wizard from stealing an important artefact, and returns home confident and able to stand up for himself
But that’s simplistic to the point of being of limited use. So you may want to expand it into something like this:
- Rising Action
- Falling action
- Final Outcome
For many people, this is enough of a structure on which to hang the main points of their story. Using these stages will help ensure the story feels satisfying to a reader.
Imagine how a reader might feel if you wrote a story with the stages in this order:
- Final outcome
- Falling Action
It hurts just to look at it. Imagine what it would be like to read.
Applying this distortion to the simplest of plot outline makes it clear why getting the stages out of order can be confusing, unsettling and even nonsensical.
This is an important lesson, because while the diagram above is almost laughable, it might not be so obvious when stages are out of order when using a more advanced structure. However, there’s a high chance that readers will still feel less engaged and emotionally involved.
The most popular and widely used plot structure is probably the Hero’s Journey, which goes something like this:
- Ordinary World
- Call to adventure
Refusal of the Call
- Meeting the Mentor
Crossing the Threshold
- Tests, allies, enemies
- Approach the innermost cave
- Resurrection
- Return with Elixir
In this diagram, the higher the line, the higher the tension and stakes. The dip towards the end additionally represents a loss of hope.
Traditional diagrams depict the Hero’s Journey as a circle, but I find that doesn’t sit right with me, as it means the end point appears to be exactly the same as the start point.
For me the linear diagram better represents the concept the the hero returns ‘home’ (back to the baseline), but they are further forward than they were at the start.
Here’s a very brief explanation for each of these stages:
You can read about the stages of the Hero’s Journey in more detail here .
Before we go any further, let’s address some questions that writers sometimes raise with regards to the Hero’s Journey and other plot outlines.
It’s important to realise that each of these stages can be interpreted in an infinite number of ways, leading to an infinite variety of stories.
At first, it’s easy to be misled (especially by the wording) that this template will force your story into a particular style.
For example, at the most fundamental level, the word ‘Hero’ may give the impression you have to present a sword wielding, brawny young man who longs for adventure - but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
The ‘Hero’ just means the protagonist, and they don’t have to display any traditionally ‘heroic’ qualities at all. We are all the protagonist of our own experience, however flawed and morally questionable.
Similarly, the Call to Adventure doesn’t have to have anything to do with sirens, evil Kings or swordfights. It can be anything that unsettles and ordinary life.
So, while the hero could be a young man longing for exciting quests, and his call to adventure could be an old wizard telling him of a dragon who’s kidnapped a princess, it could equally be:
- A high school airhead who’s just been dumped and decides to go to law school to try to win her boyfriend back.
- A little girl who follows a rabbit down and hole, then has to find her way home.
- Or even a widowed fish who needs to find his missing son.
Click here for more examples of the Hero’s Journey in a range of stories.
If you start looking out for it as you watch movies and read books, you will start to see how varied the interpretations are, and how the same concepts that be found in all genres and mediums.
In fact, because of your own personal experience of life and the world, you couldn’t write a book that was the same as someone else by following these stages, even if you tried.
One of the most important things to remember when following the Hero’s Journey and its variations, is that nobody invented them.
An academic called Joseph Campbell is credited with analysing thousands of stories spanning the globe, from those told around tribal campfires to modern books and movies.
In doing so, Campbell identified similarities that emerged beyond all the borders and ages, and attempted to distil these common patterns into one fundamental ‘monomyth’. The Hero’s Journey is a modernised interpretation of that monomyth.
So, they are not a set of rules made up and laid out by some authority. They are a fundamental structure that emerged from the collective consciousness of our human psyche.
The success of the vast majority of bestsellers and box office huts is testament to the power of the Hero’s Journey to resonate with large numbers of people.
Cautions of the monomyth
Having said that… all interpretations we make of the world are shaped by our own experience, and the original monomyth laid out by Campbell certainly contains problematic terminology and elements.
Glaringly, there are those which focus on the traditionally male perspective and experience, but there are also issues with bias towards the western experience and attitudes of the time regarding dominance and individuality.
Campbell can’t be blamed for that, none of us can see the limitations of our own perspective because they are beyond our peripheral vision. However, it also means that we don’t need to treat his analysis as ‘sacred’.
And of course, the Hero’s Journey is already an interpretation of the original work, so it has already begun.
Despite these qualifications, disregarding the monomyth and Hero’s Journey would be throwing away some of a writer’s most useful tools.
And we can continue that work by evolving it to fit our changing experiences and attitudes to the world and our way of existing in it.
Of course, you could choose to throw it all out and start from scratch, creating your own stages, pacing and progression. But there is a much stronger chance you won’t tap into the collective unconscious; in which case you’ll need to work much harder to engage the audience.
Many have already begun this work, and created interpretations and variations which make it clearer that the emphasis is on a personal journey, rather than anything to do with men slaying dragons.
An excellent one is the Character Driven Hero’s Journey, as developed by Allen Palmer:
Genre specific novel outline templates
And of course, people who write in specific genres are able to identify stages and elements which tend to crop up consistently within their own genres, and have a positive effect on the popularity of their stories.
We’ve created a bunch of genre specific plot outline templates, including:
- Detective Noir
- Character Driven Hero’s Journey
- Mystery / Crime Thriller
- Short Story
You can access all of these below.
Stronger first draft
If you outline your plot before you start writing, you can be confident your first draft will have a solid structure from the outset, rather than hoping for it to emerge organically, or having to retroactively go and apply it
This will save time and effort when it comes to redrafting and editing towards your final manuscript.
Direction and Completion
Knowing where you’re going helps you get there.
Writing a novel is a mammoth task which can feel overwhelming. Having a plot outline helps break it down into manageable chunks, with clear goals.
It can keep you motivated and on track.
Frees up creativity
Contrary to stifling creativity, having a plot outline frees you up to let the words flow, because you don’t have to be preoccupied with the worry that you’re going to write 50,000 words then find yourself in a dead end.
Could take away the thrill of discovery
Many writers don’t want to know too much about their story before they start, as the knowing sucks out the excitement of discovering the story as they write.
And some successful writers report that they never plan before they start.
But when you analyse their work, you will usually discover that the stages are in fact. So what gives?
It’s not that they’re being dishonest, it’s that they have absorbed these patterns from their experiences of books, movies and life and are applying them sub-consciously.
If you don’t feel writing out a plot outline works for you, then it’s even more important to internalise the universal structures, so you can rely on your subconscious to take care of it.
Procrastination
Writers can sometimes be procrastinators to professional levels, so make sure you’re not doing your plot outline to death just to avoid starting your first draft.
But the fact is that there are certain things that tap into our human psyche. Skilled writers will subvert and break traditional structural conventions to great effect – but it’s unlikely they’ll do so by accident.
You have to know the rules before you can consistently break them effectively, so know about plot outlines and what they do is a great tool to have in your writer’s toolbox, whether you decide to use them in the end or not.
Find a plot outline that suits you
Read through a range of plot outline templates and see which resonates with you the most.
Write a few sentences for each of the stages
For each of the stages write a few sentences, or a paragraph which describe how that stage manifests in your novel.
Read through the entire thing and make sure it flows and makes sense. Make adjustments for consistency.
Ongoing improvement
As you’re writing your first draft and subsequent drafts, treat your plot outline like a working document, not a set of commandments carved into stone.
If it needs tweaking and updating, that’s fine. You may decide to reorder the stages, add new ones, or remove some.
Don’t be too rigid
As with all rules of thumb, you can break the conventions to great effect – the important thing is that you know what you’re doing and why, rather than just fumbling because you don’t have the right tools in the first place.
Following the stages fairly closely is the easiest way to take advantage of the patterns of the collective unconscious. Deviating from them is to be encouraged, but you have to be aware of the impact it will have, and realise you may have to work harder and use other techniques to engage the audience and keep them emotionally hooked.
Good luck with your plot outlines! Please share your plot outlines and other plot outline resources in the comments!
8 Plot Outline Templates - Free Downloadable PDFs
The plot structures below are available as free downloadable PDFs, but there is a better way to use them.
They are all fully integrated into the Novel Factory novel writing software.
There, you can select a template from the dropdown menu and begin writing within the software.
You are given the option to add and delete your own stages, sort them into acts, and drag and drop them into the order you prefer.
It takes using these novel outline templates to a new level of efficiency.
Get a free trial of the Novel Factory to see it in action.
If you like these, you may also like our free book writing worksheets.
Character Driven Plot Outline
This story outline is driven by the development of a compelling character arc.
The protagonist begins with something missing from their existence, even though they may not be aware of it.
Through the story, they learn why they feel incomplete and must face their demons and deepest fears in order to evolve as a person and become whole.
Incomplete - establish the hero's 'want' and their 'need'
The protagonist is unfulfilled in their normal life. There will be two things missing – one thing that they think they want (like money, fame, a Porsche – you get the idea) and another thing which they haven’t thought of, but is the real thing that will give them fulfillment. (compassion, self-confidence, etc).
Unsettled - an outside force appears (e.g. invitation or threat)
The protagonist’s world becomes unsettled by an outside force. An invitation, threat, or attack, perhaps.
Romance Novel Story Outline
The classic romance story structure, including all the major story beats and complications.
Based on characters having personal character arcs and motivations that conflict with the romance aspect.
Introduce the protagonist (who feels incomplete)
Introduce the main character’s world. They may be successful in many areas of life, but clearly, there’s a gap when it comes to a loving relationship. Foreshadow the conflict that will create challenges for the romance to come. Establish the hero’s non-romance based goal.
The protagonist meets love interest but there is conflict
When the two main characters first meet it is extremely likely that they will hate each other on sight. Show how they are from different worlds, with strongly contrasting views on life.
Characters are forced to spend time together
Due to external factors, the characters are forced to spend time together, and even to cooperate to achieve a goal. They are still at odds, but the sparks are kindling some fire… A friend may even comment on it, but the couple-to-be both hotly deny there is an attraction.
Hero's Journey Novel Plot Outline
The Hero's Journey, as proposed by Joseph Campbell, trimmed to the bone and applicable across all genres - not just sword-wielding fantasies.
The Ordinary World
To begin with, you set the scene and introduce the main character. This is the place to establish what’s missing from the main character’s life, and give hints about the story to come.
Call to Adventure
An external force challenges the main character. This is usually an invitation or a threat.
The protagonist often expresses reluctance to answer the Call to Action. They may be afraid or feel poorly equipped for such a challenge. Sometimes the reluctance is expressed by a supporting character, not the hero.
Meeting with the Mentor
The mentor is a character of authority to the protagonist. They provide advice and useful gifts, such as weapons or talismans. The mentor often reflects the tone of the story - a tragedy will have a one who is toxic or destructive (or one who is already dead), a children's fairytale will have a benevolent all-knowing one, a dystopia may have an unreliable one. The mentor is usually a recurring character.
Mystery / Crime Thriller Plot Outline
A fairly detailed structure that explains how to develop the sleuth's inner character journey alongside solving the crime and uncovering deeper conspiracies.
Present the crime
Mysteries and crime thrillers often begin with a prologue in which the inciting crime takes place. The first crime is very likely to be a murder or kidnapping. This is from a POV that is not the main protagonist, it may be from the point of view of the victim, the killer, or an omniscient narrator.
Introduce the sleuth
Next, we meet the sleuth, who is the protagonist. This person is often a professional detective, but not always. Sometimes they are a normal person thrust into a situation that gives them no choice but to take action – usually because someone they love is missing or threatened.
Universal Novel Plot Outline
Based on the hero's journey, but rejigged to make the terminology more generic and easy to apply across genres.
The Status Quo
Introduce the main character’s world and establish their want and their need. The character clearly has things missing from their lives and they are unsatisfied with their current existence.
The Complication
Something happens to shake the character’s world and offers them an opportunity, or creates a threat.
In pursuit of the goal, the character crosses some kind of barrier (could be physical but doesn’t have to be), which means it is not possible to return to their old life.
A New World
The character is now in a new and unfamiliar world, trying to navigate unknown rules and challenges.
External Obstacles
The character must face a series of conflicts, each of increasing difficulty and stakes. Some they will win, some they will lose.
Internal Obstacles (temptation)
The most compelling stories will pit main characters against their inner demons, forcing them to overcome them in order to become a better person.
Dark Moment
In order for the high of the climax to have the greatest effect, you should precede it by taking your character as low as they can go. Despite all the progress they’ve made against external and internal obstacles, something should happen at the end of the second act which makes everything fall apart and makes them certain that all is lost.
The Final Conflict
This is the final battle where they throw everything they’ve learned and everything they’ve become, against the great enemy - and in the vast majority of cases, they will be victorious.
The Return Home
Bring your readers back down to earth after the climax, show the hero's new normal and tie up any loose ends.
Detective Noir Novel Plot Outline
Drawn from the detective noir / hard-boiled genres, a dark mystery structure with dark undertones and plenty of betrayal.
The protagonist of a detective noir is often an anti-hero. An outcast, often someone who held a heroic position in the past, such as a police officer or soldier, but who has fallen from grace. A sense of alienation should be established and maintained throughout the story.
The siren walks in
A client will appear, seeking help with a case – usually a murder or missing person. They may appear vulnerable or wanting to help, but they will have a deep, dark secret that is bound to get the protagonist into hot water.
Although the femme fatale trope is common, there is no requirement for the siren to be female, or sexy, and in fact, mixing it up may make your story more refreshing.
Initial investigation
The protagonist begins their investigations, searching for clues. This will often be done at night, and in the shadows. Throughout the investigation, there should be a healthy amount of red herrings.
Note - click here to read about the difference between hard-boiled and noir.
And you can read more about the elements of detective noir here.
Screenplay Plot Outline
Based on Hollywood Blockbusters.
Stage I: The Setup
Create the world and transport readers there. Introduce your hero in their everyday life and create empathy with them. Hint at the hero’s inner conflict (their ‘need’).
Turning Point #1: The Opportunity (10%)
10% into the story something new and different must happen to the hero. The Opportunity begins the journey and presents outer motivation.
Stage II: The new situation
They find themselves in a new situation. The newness of the situation may be internal (a new emotional state or attitude) or external (change in circumstances / location). The hero tries to navigate this new, unknown territory and begins to formulate a plan for achieving their outer motivation.
Turning Point #2: The Change of Plans (25%)
The outer motivation transforms into a specific, visible goal with a clearly defined endpoint.
Stage III: Progress
The hero makes progress towards their outer motivation. They may receive training and / or mentoring. There are conflicts and setbacks, but overall they seem to getting closer to achieving their goal.
Short Story Plot Outline
A seven-point system for writing a short story.
A character
In a short story you can often get away with characters being larger than life, or having distinctive qualities that are more exuberant, because the reader won’t be experiencing the character for so long that these characteristics begin to become tiresome or irritating.
Is in a situation
Very quickly you need to introduce the character’s world and their place in it. What is interesting about this character and their life? Make sure the reader feels excited and intrigued.
With a problem
At the heart of all good fiction is conflict. What problem does your character have to solve? Try to get to the problem as quickly as possible (within the first few paragraphs) so the reader is hooked and needs to know how the problem is going to be resolved.
They try to solve the problem
The character should begin to make efforts to solve their problem.
But fail, making it worse
But these efforts have the opposite effect, and the originally small problem begins to grow into something really serious.
Write a Bestselling Novel!
Subscribe for exclusive writing resources and special offers - Starting with The Ultimate Character Questionnaire PDF!
Used to Tech
Helping people with tech
Free Editable Book Templates in Word
Want to have your content ready for printing ? If yes then you have landed on a right page. We are providing you here with free and editable book templates in Word. We have prepared these book designs in Word with great care, keeping everything perfectly set-up for print requirements.
Perfect book design templates for Word
These perfect book templates for Word are built with proper styling and easy-to-use layout . You should not even worry about the formatting as everything has already been set in these awesome book layout designs.
You can simply write your book from scratch or copy your existing material into any of these Word book templates, you are then good to go! You’ll find here some of the best fiction and non-fiction book templates for free.
Best free printable book templates
In our printable book templates, margins, paper-size, bleed, gutter and table of contents are styled with proper typesetting. You would be amazed by using these clean and professional book writing templates in Microsoft Word.
Our Word book manuscript templates are perfect for every self-publisher. You can use these book designs for CreateSpace, Kindle Direct Publishing, Ingramspark or any other self-publishing company of your choice.
Also, download professional-looking resume templates for free, from the following link: Amazing resume designs in Microsoft Word .
Using these free book templates…
Go to any book template for Word below. Read the description there or at-least see the template features section. You can then simply download your book template in Microsoft Word format.
Need help for using these manuscript templates? No worries, write to us through inbox or in the comments box, we will definitely help you in preparing your book for printing.
You can also contact us with any queries regarding self-publishing a book. We can prepare an on-demand book template for Word, without any price .
Download editable book templates in Word
Self publishing book templates
You can also find many blank book templates on CreateSpace at the following link: CreateSpace book templates for Word .
Hope you find our book templates useful for your next book 🙂
79 thoughts on “Free Editable Book Templates in Word”
thanks for such nice word templates
These are so lovely. If I do publish a book, I will be certain to provide the attribution and link to your website! Thank you for your beautiful designs and generosity of time and talent.
Thank you very much for your appreciating words! Yes, please do accredit us in your final work so that we keep creating such amazing templates without any cost, thanks 🙂
If/when I complete the book, I will send you a link! Thank you. Rhonda
Did you finish?
I like these templates (Looking forward to more in the future)
Thanks for liking our templates! For sure, we’ll be uploading more in the future.
This is awesome….
Thank you for your templates. Very kind and generous.
This is awesome Thank you so much for your templates. I will include your url in my work.
Thanks and yes please you can share our templates as much as you can!
Wow what a good deed Barakallah
Thank you for liking our templates, Jazak-Allah 🙂
Thank you so much for making all these book templates for people to use. I’ve been to a few other sites that provide book templates but their templates pale in comparison; your site is the best by far! I really like the fact that the templates already have sample content inside so that all I need to do is replace them wherever needed; makes it so simple!
Thanks again and all the best to you.
Thank you very much for liking our templates, Tom 🙂
Thank you very much! It really helps!
the best. Thank you! You help a lot.
Thanks for your appreciating words, keep sharing our awesome templates, please 🙂
Thanks for amazing templates. Do you have a suggestion for a template to write engineering text books?
Hi, Thanks for liking our templates. Textbooks usually have large paper size such as the “Letter” paper or an 8″ x 10″ paper. We are still in the process of uploading more and more templates these days. For writing your textbook, try to use any template with a large paper. You can specifically try this template: https://usedtotech.com/books/modern-and-editable-white-paper-template-in-ms-word-2019/
dear sir/ madam , I am requiring a template to write a fiction pocket book 7″x 4.5″ but I cannot find . can you help please? my book will be only about 220-250 pages hence the smaller format required.
Hi, the size you mentioned seems to be a landscape book. We don’t have any template for this size right now. But if you can wait for the next few days then we’ll try to make this book size for you, thank you.
Thank you for the beautiful and easy to use book templates.
Thanks for liking our templates 🙂
Your book templates are amazing! I will share your link on my website. You are a God send! Thank you!
Thanks, Cassie! Yes, please, you can share our free resources as much as you can, thanks again 🙂
I am a first time writer – I’m hoping to some day publish my late father’s memoirs.
I have downloaded one of your book templates and unfortunately, the following has appeared (Product Activation Failed) – this is also affecting all MS Office programmes I have on my computer.
Please can you tell me how to resolve this quickly and without unnecessary expense.
Kind regards, Susan Woolf
Hi, You need to first activate your Ms Office program. Templates are perfectly okay, just activate your office software to use them. Thank you.
Thank you very much for your generosity!
Your templates are much ahead in comparison with similar things in the other sites and easy to download and use.
Thank you once again!
Thank you, sir 🙂 Feel free to use our templates in any of your projects!
Which template would be the best for my specific needs? I want o write a short biography type of book about our journey to dog therapy certification. I want to have some pages with print and some with just my own photos.
Are they all free?
Can they result with both hard copies and digital version?
Do you also provide any tips regarding how to publish and sell for instance on Amazon?
Please check your inbox, thank you.
I totally agree with all the thanks and positive comments posted here for your thoughtful work and professional templates. Only recently have I switched to writing my first book in Word and struggling (and fighting!) with the complications and inconsistencies in a well-known book-writing program. Your website and your templates are top-shelf. Should I use one of your templates, as others have said, I will certainly include you in the credits.
Yes, for sure! You can use any of the templates you want. All our templates are completely free and thanks for your appreciating words.
Hi! I really like your templates. I’m wondering however why your novel templates don’t have indents for each new line and have a space between paragraphs? Isn’t this the standard for writing a novel?
Thank you for liking the templates. We normally include auto spacing (through paragraph spacing). For the indents, you’re right, we’ll take care of it in the future templates. However, you can add indent by simply adding it to the appropriate style used. Thanks for your suggestion by the way.
You are so wonderful for what you have provided here. Seriously, it’s a blessing. Thank you so so much!!!!!
Thank you so much! We are glad to help you.
Thank you very much. Has been very useful to me.
Glad our templates are useful for you, thank you.
Greetings:-) It is so awesome to find such a finished product as your templates. I’m looking for a poetry book template. Do you have anything or can you make a suggestion of which template I should use?
Your website and templates are top-notch. Should I use one of your templates, I will certainly include you in the credits.
Hello, thank you for your great words. We’ll be adding more book templates in the near future (including the poetry book design). However, you can still find few 5×8 templates on our book templates page that are quite perfect for formatting a simple poetry book. Try them and let us also know in case of any confusion, thank you.
Hi, Can you create a template to a specific design requirement? I have the look that I want, but it as designed in adobe and I want a Word template?
Hello, please send us the PDF of the template you need in Word. We’ll try to design the same template in Word as soon as we can, thank you.
Cool stuff! Really useful templates! Thanks!
Thanks a ton, these are lovely collections of templates…Thanks for sharing…
Thank you, Tarique!
Will the 6×9 templates activate with Microsoft Word for Mac version 16.46 (210221202)? Thank you. Annzbook
Yes, all our templates are fully compatible with Mac version of Microsoft Word. Thanks
I am using the same thing, but the formatting changes and so does the font when I copy and paste it in Mac version on Microsoft Word.
Sorry about that! Could you please let me know exactly which template you’re referring to? If you’re copying/pasting your content in the template then please make sure you use the destination styles. When pasting content, Ms Word copies the source formatting as well, this may be the reason why the formatting changes. Thank you.
This will really help me a lot, Thanks Awesome Designer…..
And this nice feedback of yours is definitely helpful in motivating us, thank you.
Very useful and amazing template. keep up the good work
Thanks, Inayat!
Hi everyone! I want a book template for my book of Mathematics. 8.5 x 11 size.
We don’t have any specific template for Maths’ writing (specially for equations’ writing), however you can download many other templates for free here, thank you.
This is awesome. wanted to write my book, been out searching for templates that would help simplify it, then i saw this. I’m grateful. Thanks.
Thank you, Miracle!
You have a beautiful heart. Thank you for making it easy for everyone to publish a book. Lots of Hugs
Really happy to help you, thank you.
Muhammad, can you please clarify if these templates are free for commercial use too like publishing to Amazon? I found some text mentioning that this template is for personal use only. That’s why I am asking. Thanks!
Yes, for sure, all our templates are completely free even for commercial usage. However, if you’re publishing your book using any of our templates then please accredit us by mentioning our website in your final work. For details, please read the “Important Notes” doc, included with download zip. Thank you.
I am looking for a template for my poetry book 8.5 by 5.5 if possible, all my poetry is centered so not sure about trying to put it into one of your templates can you help me?
The largest paper size we have available right now is 8.5 x 11. However, what you’re looking for is a landscape template. You can try our 7.5 x 10 template and if you want you can change its orientation as well but please note that if you change its orientation then formatting must also be fixed manually, thank you.
I really appreciate your effort for providing these amazing and easy to use templates. I want a template for a poetry book. Can you please guide me in this regard.
Best Wishes.
Thanks so much for your appreciating words! Unfortunately, we do not have any specific template for poetry writing yet but all our templates are customizable so you can modify them as per your needs. One particular template would be 5.25 x 8 template which you can use for your poetry writings, however, you’ll have to tweak a few formatting changes in it to make it look more perfect for poetries. You can find this template on our book templates page, thank you.
Thank you very much for these awesome templates… Barokallah…
Syukron katsiro…
Thank you for liking these templates, Nadya!
Excellent efforts
Thanks so much!
awesome was not even aware that MS word can do so much good looking work. thanks for the generous free download
You’re so much welcome, Ananda!
I have a Mac book pro and I just downloaded a few book templates. Now that I have them downloaded and on my laptop, how to I edit the old copy out and add my own content?
I’m not normally this green, but when I try to change the original content, my MacBook just beeps at me. Help Please! and Thank YOU!
Hi, Thank you for downloading our templates! If your old content was created using Ms Word (Mac version) then you can simply copy/paste your content into our templates, following the destination formatting styles (i.e., using the styles available in our template). Thank you.
Hi, I wanted to know your price.
All our templates are free! Thank you.
Leave a comment Cancel reply
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
Try Microsoft Designer, a new AI-powered graphic design app for creating stunning designs in a flash.
Share this page
Work design magic with Word templates
Weave a little wow into your next document when you work with a customizable design template for word. from professional documents to schoolwork, there's a word template that'll take your next project to the next level., resumes and cover letters.
Showcase your best work with professional and easily customizable templates designed to help you land your next gig.
Share best wishes, say thanks, or send holiday greetings with custom cards for any occasion. Find a template and make it yours with no design experience needed.
Get the word out for your next event, show, project with easily customizable flyer templates. Find inspired designs to match your aesthetic or brand.
Market your next event, meeting, or product using brochure templates you can customize in a flash. You can also use templates to make menus, share your research, advertise your next class, and more—the options are endless.
Find professional templates for formatting and writing important letters, from custom letterheads to recommendation and reference letter requests.
Certificates
From gift certificates to employee of the month awards, find easily customizable certificate templates designed to highlight achievements.
Start with the best Word templates
A hassle-free way to create custom, beautiful Word documents
Create useful and inviting templates for resumes, cover letters, cards, flyers, brochures, letters, certificates, and more with no design experience needed. Here's how:
1. Find your perfect Word template
2. Customize your creation
3. Show it off
Let's create something in word, frequently asked questions, what can i use word document templates for.
You can use Word document templates to design resumes and cover letters , create business invoices, customize annual calendars, and more. There are also templates that you can use throughout your business's internal operations. Use Word document templates to create a business plan, design and share your org chart, and make printable letter head.
How do I create or customize templates for Word?
Where do i find word templates, popular categories.
Related Topics
- How to Write a Book
- Writing a Book for the First Time
- How to Write an Autobiography
- How Long Does it Take to Write a Book?
- Do You Underline Book Titles?
- Snowflake Method
- Book Title Generator
- How to Write Nonfiction Book
- How to Write a Children's Book
- How to Write a Memoir
- Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Book
- How to Write a Book Title
- How to Write a Book Introduction
- How to Write a Dedication in a Book
- How to Write a Book Synopsis
- Types of Writers
- How to Become a Writer
- Scrivener Templates
- Character Development Templates
- Screenplay Format Templates
- Book Writing Templates
- Author Overview
- Document Manager Overview
- Screenplay Writer Overview
- Technical Writer Career Path
- Technical Writer Interview Questions
- Technical Writer Salary
- Google Technical Writer Interview Questions
- How to Become a Technical Writer
- UX Writer Career Path
- Google UX Writer
- UX Writer vs Copywriter
- UX Writer Resume Examples
- UX Writer Interview Questions
- UX Writer Skills
- How to Become a UX Writer
- UX Writer Salary
- Google UX Writer Overview
- Google UX Writer Interview Questions
- Technical Writing Certifications
- Grant Writing Certifications
- UX Writing Certifications
- Proposal Writing Certifications
- Content Design Certifications
- Knowledge Management Certifications
- Medical Writing Certifications
- Grant Writing Classes
- Business Writing Courses
- Technical Writing Courses
- Content Design Overview
- Documentation Overview
- User Documentation
- Process Documentation
- Technical Documentation
- Software Documentation
- Knowledge Base Documentation
- Product Documentation
- Process Documentation Overview
- Process Documentation Templates
- Product Documentation Overview
- Software Documentation Overview
- Technical Documentation Overview
- User Documentation Overview
- Knowledge Management Overview
- Knowledge Base Overview
- Publishing on Amazon
- Amazon Authoring Page
- Self-Publishing on Amazon
- How to Publish
- How to Publish Your Own Book
- Document Management Software Overview
- Engineering Document Management Software
- Healthcare Document Management Software
- Financial Services Document Management Software
- Technical Documentation Software
- Knowledge Management Tools
- Knowledge Management Software
- HR Document Management Software
- Enterprise Document Management Software
- Knowledge Base Software
- Process Documentation Software
- Documentation Software
- Internal Knowledge Base Software
- Grammarly Premium Free Trial
- Grammarly for Word
- Scrivener Review
- How to Use Scrivener
- Ulysses vs Scrivener
- API Writing Overview
- Business Writing Examples
- Business Writing Skills
- Types of Business Writing
- Dialogue Writing Overview
- Grant Writing Overview
- Medical Writing Overview
- How to Write a Novel
- How to Write a Thriller Novel
- How to Write a Fantasy Novel
- How to Start a Novel
- How Many Chapters in a Novel?
- Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Novel
- Novel Ideas
- How to Plan a Novel
- How to Outline a Novel
- How to Write a Romance Novel
- Novel Structure
- How to Write a Mystery Novel
- Novel vs Book
- Round Character
- Flat Character
- How to Create a Character Profile
- Nanowrimo Overview
- How to Write 50,000 Words for Nanowrimo
- Camp Nanowrimo
- Nanowrimo YWP
- Nanowrimo Mistakes to Avoid
- Proposal Writing Overview
- Screenplay Overview
- How to Write a Screenplay
- Screenplay vs Script
- How to Structure a Screenplay
- How to Write a Screenplay Outline
- How to Format a Screenplay
- How to Write a Fight Scene
- How to Write Action Scenes
- How to Write a Monologue
- Short Story Writing Overview
- Technical Writing Overview
- UX Writing Overview
- Reddit Writing Prompts
- Romance Writing Prompts
- Flash Fiction Story Prompts
- Dialogue and Screenplay Writing Prompts
- Poetry Writing Prompts
- Tumblr Writing Prompts
- Creative Writing Prompts for Kids
- Creative Writing Prompts for Adults
- Fantasy Writing Prompts
- Horror Writing Prompts
- ProWriting Aid
- Literature and Latte
- Hemingway App
- Final Draft
- Writing Apps
- Grammarly Premium
- Wattpad Inbox
- Microsoft OneNote
- Google Keep App
9 Best Book Writing Templates [+ Free Download]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Writing a book can be a daunting task and there is never any shame in getting some help. You should constantly be learning how to become a better writer.
Utilizing the many resources that are available to you will make the process easier and more efficient. There is no telling how long it will take to write your book, so some book writing templates can help speed the process up.
A book writing template acts as a guide that writers can rely on. It helps you create the blueprint for your book. They are useful tools whether you are learning how to write a book, or are already experienced in the craft.
Book writing templates are most useful for new writers who are still wrapping their head around the whole idea of writing a book. A template will give them the structure so all they have to do is let the creativity flow.
Especially for those learning how to write a novel length piece of 50,000 words or more, a book writing template will help you. It will allow you to stay organized and focused while you see your project through to completion.
The Benefits of Book Writing Templates
In addition to helping you do the writing itself, book writing software with templates have many advantages. They are there to help your book be the best it can in all areas.
Some of these templates are built into their own software, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take them and do what you want with them.
Using these templates in conjunction with Squibler may be beneficial if you are wanting to stay really organized and efficient. It is a fantastic book writing software that is designed for book writers specifically.
Between Squibler and these brilliantly designed templates, you’ll be learning how to become a better writer in no time. The templates themselves have many benefits:
Professional Design
While the content itself is the main purpose of your book, aesthetics still need to come into play. From the layout to the font, you want it to look good. Knowing how to write a book isn’t only about storytelling.
There are book writing templates that will help you with these things as well.
Book Writing Templates are Easy to Use
When trying to write a good book , you don’t want anything to overcomplicate the process. Book writing templates are there to make things easier.
A template will be easy to understand and implement.
Better Publishing Experience
When it comes time to publish your book, having the right book writing template will make for a better experience. You will already have your book laid out the way it should be.
And, if you have chosen a template with design elements as well, you won’t have to worry about the way it looks. This makes for a seamless and stress-free publishing process.
Book Writing Templates Save You Time
Writing a book directly from scratch is overwhelming and not always necessary. Book writing templates will give you a head start on the structure of your book. This will save you valuable time.
Even as you begin the writing itself, having the template there to guide you will save you from getting lost in your own story. Once one section is finished you can move onto the next.
You will never have to sit there and wonder where you should go or what should happen.
Characteristics of the Best Book Writing Templates
While book writing templates will vary in what they have to offer, many of the core characteristics will remain the same. These attributes are ones you can look out for when selecting the best book writing template for yourself.
The Best Book Writing Templates are Comprehensive
The best book writing templates are often made by professionals. This means they know what they are doing. They are well versed in the world of writing and they know what will help you.
This means they should be detailed and thorough. Nothing should be missing from the process you are trying to create. For example, a novel outlining template should have sections for all basic aspects of writing a novel:
- Brainstorming
- Note taking
- Character sketches
- Setting sketches
- Chapter sections
- Scene sections
- Worldbuilding
Different types of books will have different requirements, but the template should include all of them.
The Best Book Writing Templates are Customizable
A good quality novel outlining template created by a professional will have a good structure that is effective. However, this doesn’t mean their method is set in stone.
A good template will allow you to customize it with ease while still maintaining its own basic structure.
For example, you might want to add more chapters than the number that is being recommended. Or, perhaps you choose to rearrange some aspects of the given novel structure. Making changes is okay – the templates are created as guides only.
The Best Book Writing Templates are Not Complex
While some book writing templates are expansive and cover lots of ground, they shouldn’t be complicated. A good template will be straightforward and easy to follow.
You should be able to navigate your way through it and know what you’re looking at. For example, the layout should have a proper flow – things should be in order. In a novel writing template, note, research, and brainstorming should all sit next to each other, while chapters and scenes are kept together.
Learning how to write a book is complicated enough. Your book or novel outlining template should be simple at its core.
The 9 Best Book Writing Templates
Many writers swear by using a template and won’t start a project without one. Because of this, many options have been created. It can be hard to find the right one.
Start by identifying what type of book you are writing, and go from there. First, find a template that is relevant, then look for one that matches your likes and preferences.
While there are hundreds of templates available, these are some of the best and most common ones. If you are new to templates, it may take going through a few to find your favorite.
Most of the templates listed below can be used with Microsoft Word, Scrivener, Adobe InDesign, or Apple Pages.
For avid Scrivener users, we do have a more comprehensive list of Scrivener templates that you might find useful as well.
The Three Act Story Plotting Template
This template focuses on the most basic level of story structure there: the beginning, the middle, and the end. This is known as the three-act story structure.
The three act template will walk you through all the elements of each act.
The Beginning:
- The opening scene
- The inciting incident
- Call to action
The Middle:
- Rising action
- Turning point
- Denouncement, or resolution
All of these stages will be laid out for you. Once you have finished brainstorming your story, you need simply to write through every element. This will form an excellent baseline to create an engaging and effective novel.
For more details and some questions to prompt each section, check out Evernote’s version of the three-act story plotting template here.
The Story Beats Template
This template was born from the world of script writing. It breaks the story down into “beats.” These continue to move the story along as each “beat” or milestone is completed.
This template is also available in more detail from Evernote.
The Spark Template
This book writing template was designed for novels and nonfiction books alike. It can be used with Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, and Adobe InDesign.
The Spark template is created to help you format your book for publishing, with less of a focus on the content itself.
This template offers support for both print and e-book publishing. You can find it available for purchase by clicking here.
The Pulp Template
This is another template that was created mainly to help you format your book for publishing. It offers a sleek and stylish design that is perfect for fiction as well as literary nonfiction.
You can buy it by clicking here.
The Britannia Template
This template is designed specifically for nonfiction writing. Another template to assist you in formatting your finished copy, it is easy to both understand and use.
It is compatible with Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, and Adobe InDesign. To preview and purchase the template, click here.
The No-Nonsense Novel Template
This is another book writing template that is useful for beginners and first-timers. It is an extension of the basic novel writing template that comes in Scrivener by default.
the template isn’t complex however it does offer some guidance in terms of structure and outlining. It contains sections for things like characters, settings, research, chapters, and scenes. In addition to these, it gives you a folder with a nine-point outline.
This basic but helpful template is designed for Scrivner and can be downloaded here.
The 30-Chapter Novel Template
This book writing template is a fantastic choice for first-time novel writers. While not every single novel is going to be 30 chapters, that number is a good average.
This template has a section for each of its 30 chapters already laid out for you.
Not only are they already created, but there are questions and thoughts to guide you through each chapter. These prompts are designed to keep your story on pace and keep events happening where they should.
All the chapters set up for you with their corresponding prompts. This is helpful for first-time novelists who may struggle with structure. It can also help in brainstorming for your outline if you choose to create one.
The World Building Leviathan Template
This book writing template is designed with fantasy in mind. Writing a fantasy novel requires extensive world building. A fantasy typically takes place in a realm or domain that is created entirely by the author.
This means that things such as physical laws, governments, and social classes need to be figured out. You also need to decide if you are writing a story about humans or other species. All of this is called world-building.
Building a world from scratch can be a terrifying and overwhelming thing to grasp. This is where the leviathan method comes in.
The leviathan method is simply a step-by-step look at your world. It asks you questions that create each piece of your new universe.
It is a comprehensive creation process, with a total of 52 steps. The steps and what they look like can be seen below:
As you can see, there are also sections for a “story bible,” characters, research, and more information on the world itself. A more complete world building template does not exist. This is where you want to be creating your fantasy.
Learning how to write a novel in the fantasy genre is an especially arduous task with all the different elements. This detailed and comprehensive template will take some of the pressure off.
It requires much time and effort, but it’s a template that will give you a whole new world by the end of it. If you think you have what it takes to go through the entire leviathan method, you can download the template for Scrivener here .
For a simpler and more straightforward fantasy template, you can check this one out:
This template still walks you through a fantasy novel. But, it focuses more on creating a novel that has a good structure, with fantasy specific elements.
The Personal Template
You may decide that none of the existing templates are going to work for you. It can happen – everyone is different. If this is the case, you may consider creating your own template.
Studying the professional templates already available will give you an idea of what to include for it to be successful. You can consider things like outlines, acts, parts, and varying structures.
You can create a personal combination of all the elements and suit it to your project specifically.
It won’t always be an easy task, but it may prove to be worth it in the end. You will be able to follow a guide that was curated especially for your book. If done correctly, this can help you create work that is truly fantastic.
You are never truly done learning how to write a novel. But, as you gain experience, you may be able to create successful templates of your own for others to use.
For a simple, generic guide to curating your own template, this example can be helpful:
This is an outline for a novel with no specific genre or style. It has some basic prompt for writing general fiction. You can easily add to this one and make it your own based on your book.
Factors to Consider When Choosing the Best Book Writing Template
Each template is different and you will need to decide which is right for you and your book. These are some factors to consider when making the decision.
Easy Navigation
Even in a large and extensive template, navigation should be easy and fast. There should be no delay or confusion when it comes to flipping from one chapter or section to another.
User-Friendly
A good template will be responsive and versatile.
It should be compatible with multiple devices and fit on multiple screen types and sizes. This ensures the maximum amount of accessibility among users.
It Should Have a Theme
The template you use should fit the theme of your book.
Don’t try to use a nonfiction template for your novel. Using a world-building fantasy template probably won’t work when trying to write a romance either.
More general templates can be good if you don’t know exactly where your story is going just yet.
For example, you know you want to write a nonfiction book but you haven’t chosen a topic yet. This general template will be helpful in sorting out the details:
You can easily add to this template to make it more specific for your book, once you figure it out.
Assess the Features and Abilities
Depending on the template’s intended usage, the built-in features will differ. Make sure you understand the available features of your chosen template. Not every feature will work for every book.
A Template Which Supports the Right Tone
You want the template you choose to use the correct language. You want to tell your story in the proper voice. Find a template that works with the style of your book.
There is a difference in the way fiction and nonfiction are written. Find a template that agrees with what you are doing.
How to Use Book Writing Templates
Many templates are versatile and serve many purposes. However, they are generally used for either planning and outlining, or actually writing the book. Below are some tips for planning and writing your book with a template.
For the Planning of the Book
As a writer, planning is always of the utmost importance. You want to achieve a good result, and those don’t come from thin air.
In addition to book writing templates, there are some other things you can do to collect and organize your thoughts. These methods are useful and effective when used in conjunction with your chosen template.
The Snowflake Method
The snowflake method is a specific process that is used to tell a story. There are steps to take and certain things you need to do to make it work.
This method is well-suited to writers who like to work in chronological order. If you like to start at the beginning and write straight through to the end, this method is for you. If you are interested, you can check out the detailed instructions we created for writing with the snowflake method here.
Track Your Story With Time
It is, of course, important to be aware of the plot of the story you are writing.
In addition to this, however, it is helpful to also consider the passage of time throughout your story. When planning the events of your book, note the time frame. How many days, months, years have passed?
Did this event happen in the morning or evening? This is a simple method that can help you keep track of where your characters are at all times. It will also help ensure you don’t get timelines mixed up and overlapped.
Chapter Outline
This is a method of writing that goes well with the 30 chapter novel template mentioned above.
The idea here is to simply outline each chapter before beginning to actually write.
To do this, go through the plot you have created and break it down into individual chapters. Once you have done that, create an outline for each chapter. This can include potential scenes, events, important revelations, character developments, etc.
Of course, things can be changed along the way. This is just one way of getting an overview of your story as a whole.
Using Book Writing Templates to Create Your Storyline
While the use of an outline is widely debated, there is no denying the need for a good quality storyline. Outline or no outline , this requires extensive knowledge of your characters and the world around them.
Well-written and relatable characters will give meaning to your story and make it memorable for the readers. There are a few things you can do to ensure you keep track of your characters as well as develop them correctly.
Create a Master List
This may or may not be necessary depending on your cast of characters. Some books contain a small handful of characters, in which case a master list might be moot.
However, any story with a large number of characters – whether big or small – is at risk of getting them confused.
This is why it might be a good idea to create a master list and keep it somewhere accessible.
All you need to do is create a list of your characters and note a few identifiable features. Name, brief backstory, and role in the story should suffice. Keep this on hand in case you need to remember who someone is or what they are supposed to do.
Biographies
In addition to a master list, it may be worth creating short biographies for each main player in your story. Details of their past and their current life situation. This will help you keep everything straight in your mind, which will translate to consistency on the page.
Readers will pick up on holes and inconsistencies in your character’s stories in no time if you allow them to be there.
Character Development Sheet
A character development sheet is something that should be done for your protagonist as well as all the other main characters.
All this entails is a list of every attribute or characteristic the character possesses. Even small things that may never appear in the story can be important in you knowing who the character is at the core.
This knowledge, even if not mentioned in the book, can be helpful in figuring out how a character would react or what they would do in a situation. This will help you create the most believable and authentic story possible.
Your readers will love a character that so closely resembles a real person.
Do Your Best Work With Book Writing Templates
If you are struggling to write your book or just want to get done faster, you can never go wrong with a book writing template. They are there as a guide and are by no means set in stone. In addition to helping you create your book, they really want to help you learn how to become a better writer.
The template you find might be a perfect fit for your book. You may find yourself making zero changes.
Or, there might be a template that you love, but it needs tweaking to fit your project. This is fine too.
While these templates are some of the best, the options really are endless. So, open up your favorite book writing software, grab your template, and get to work!
Related Posts
Published in Templates
Join 5000+ Technical Writers
Get our #1 industry rated weekly technical writing reads newsletter.
Kindlepreneur
Book Marketing for Self-Publishing Authors
Home / Book Writing / How to Write a Book Using Microsoft Word
How to Write a Book Using Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word has been a go-to tool for authors for nearly forty years. Not only is it the industry standard for editors and agents, but it can also be used to format your book (although I wouldn't advise it).
And since most people already have Word on their computers, it's often the first stop on the book-writing journey. So read on as we explore how to write a book using Microsoft Word.
- Pros and cons of using Word.
- Basics for writing using Word
- Advanced features for using Word
- Whether Word is the best book writing tool
The Tool Built for Writing Books
As you’ll see in this article, Word is adequate for writing books. But for indie authors, it’s certainly not the best tool. Even after you write your book in Word, you’ll need to format it before you sell any copies. And formatting requires either a separate tool or a professional (and expensive) formatter.
This is why we created Atticus as a better alternative to Word and other basic tools like it. Atticus is a word-processor, formatter, simple design tool, and a goal-tracker all at once. It’s a powerful but easy-to-use tool that can allow you to see how your finished book will look as you write it! These are just a few of the features Atticus offers. Plus, we’re working on a ton of new features like collaboration and editing that will be out soon.
There’s no subscription. Just a one-time price that includes all future updates.
If you want to see Atticus in action, check out this article . And if you want to see how to write a book using Word, keep on reading!
Pros and Cons of Writing With Word
There are a lot of word processors out there designed for book-writing. With all these options, how does Word measure up? Well, there are some definite pros and cons that will help you decide.
- Often included with your computer.
- Plenty of options for a tailored writing experience.
- Provides an auto-save function you can use.
- Has a good grammar and spelling tool included.
- Track Changes is used by most editors.
- Expensive if you have to buy it.
- Can be distracting with all the options.
- Not ideal for ebook or print book formatting.
- Long documents can get cumbersome.
Video: How to Write a Book in Word
For a nice summary of this article, along with a few of my own personal thoughts on the subject, be sure to check out this video on how to write a book in Microsoft Word.
Want more videos like this? Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel for weekly videos!
The Basics of Book Writing in Word
MS Word has a ton of features. This is good because it gives you options, allowing you to choose how best to build your writing experience . But there's such a thing as too many options, and it's easy to get bogged down in them.
Luckily, you don't need to familiarize yourself with many Word features to get started. In fact, you can get by just fine with the basics.
For those who crave a simple, uncluttered writing process, the basics will be more than enough.
Font Size and Style
When you open a new Word document, you'll see a default font style and size on the Home tab. Usually, this is Calibri or Times New Roman for the style, and 11 for the font size. Feel free to change these. Times New Roman and 12-point font are the widely accepted standard manuscript format.
If you are querying a literary agent or sending the document to an editor, they may have their submission guidelines, so remember to check.
If you're going to self-publish (and you totally should), then simply choose a font size and style that you like. You'll likely change it during formatting, anyway.
Chapter Headings
You'll want a way to navigate easily through your document when the word count gets high. To do this, use the Styles option on the Home toolbar in Word.
You can highlight your chapter heading or number, which will bring up a toolbar with the Styles option in it. Or you can simply place your cursor in or next to your heading and then select the Styles option from the toolbar near the top of your screen.
I'd suggest using the Header 1 option for chapter headings . This way, you can use Header 2 for subheadings or scene breaks.
You can also pick “Create a Style” and make your own headings, using a color and font of your choice if you don't like the defaults. But since you'll likely end up changing the chapter styles later anyway, it's not necessary.
Once you start using Headings, you'll want to activate the Navigation Pane so you can click around your book easily. When you're working on a long document, this is a massive time-saver.
To do this, click on the View tab from the top toolbar. Just left of center, you'll see an option that says “Navigation Pane Show.” Simply click the box. If you don't have any headings yet, they'll automatically populate there once you do.
If you don't want to have the Navigation Pane up while you write, simply click it off and click it back on whenever you want to use it!
Find and Replace
Using the Find or Find and Replace feature in Microsoft Word can make your life easier when editing or trying to remember what color a certain character's eyes were. (If you’re not using character profiles , that is.)
On the Home toolbar, you'll see the Editing feature next to the Styles feature. Click on this to use the Find or Find and Replace tool, depending on what you need.
If you're writing to meet daily goals (which you totally should!), then it's important to know your word count. Luckily, Word makes this easy by automatically displaying the word count at the bottom left corner of the window. (It displays the page number, as well.)
If you want to know how many words are in a certain section, you can highlight that section, and the program will automatically count them and display them in the bottom left corner. Easy!
That's it for the basics! Using those four basic tools, you'll be able to write your book in Word. But what if you're a plotter or you want to get a jump on formatting? Or maybe you just want to know about some other features you can use. Well, read on for some advanced tips!
(If you're writing a book for something like National Novel Writing Month , I'd stick with the basics above. NaNoWriMo is all about getting the words down. You can worry about prettying them up later!)
Advanced Word Book Writing
MS Word is a word processor. It's a powerful one, but it's still mainly a word processor. Now, that doesn't mean you can't do other things with it, like format for submission to a publishing house. You can.
But if you're mainly concerned with formatting your manuscript for submission to traditional publishing channels, check out our in-depth article on manuscript formatting . In it, we cover things like title page creation, margins, and headers and footers.
If you want to know a bit more about Microsoft Word features that can help you write your book, read on!
When ending a chapter, it's a good idea to use the Page Break feature instead of hitting enter a bunch of times to get to the next page.
To do this, click on the Insert tab on the top toolbar. On the very left-hand side of the bar, you'll see the Page Break option at the bottom. Just make sure your cursor is beyond the last character at the end of the chapter!
Using a Template
There are plenty of templates you can use with your Microsoft Word document. When you first open the word processor, you'll see some Word templates offered next to the basic Blank Document option. You'll also see a More Templates option so you can search for a specific type of Word template.
Most of these aren't great for books, although you can likely find one or two with most (if not all) of the standard manuscript formatting in place. But if you're making a booklet or you know there's a book template available online, feel free to use them.
Just be aware that your Word document will probably still require you to use a book formatting software if you want a professional-looking book for self-publishing.
The Layout Tab
The default page size in Word is 8.5 by 11 inches. Most books are much smaller than this. So if you want to change your document to reflect the smaller page size, you can do so in the Layout Tab.
This is also the place to change your margins with the Margins tab located in the Page Setup section. You'll also see options to change the paragraph indents and spacing if you want.
Editing Your Word Document
Word has a built-in spelling and grammar checker under the Review tab. It's a good idea to do at least one pass with this. You can also access the Editor at the right side of the Home tab. It's also worth doing another pass with a proofreading tool like ProWritingAid , Grammarly, or one of the many other options available.
The Review tab has a lot of useful stuff for editing. You can use the Read Aloud feature to help you find awkward sentences or minor mistakes you didn't see on other editing passes. After sending your polished manuscript off to an editor (every writer should hire an editor!) you'll likely use the Review tab to accept or decline changes made to the document.
Should You Use Word for Book Writing?
If you're planning on self-publishing your book, Word is an adequate option. But if you want to make things (a lot) easier, we recommend using a writing tool that's designed for writing books.
As mentioned above, we recommend Atticus . It is an all-in-one writing and formatting software made by yours truly with help from some truly awesome developers. With Atticus, you don't have to worry about setting margins or page size — or even font type. This is all stuff that you can do with a few clicks of the mouse when you're ready to export your finished product.
It includes a bunch of templates that will automatically format your book with the click of a button. And you can export it as a PDF file, a DOCX document for use in Word, or the industry-standard EPUB file for selling your book through online retailers.
Essentially, it's like Word but without all the unneeded options — and a bunch of other options that you’ll actually use! It's easy to use and makes everything from writing and editing to formatting and exporting a breeze.
But we know Atticus might not be ideal for everyone. You can check out our article on the best book writing software here for more options.
If you're writing a blog post or a short story for online publication, Microsoft Word is a pretty great option. But things start to get a little unwieldy when you're working on a long document. Plus, you'll need to use a book formatting software for a professionally formatted book.
But if Word is what you're comfortable with and you just want to get the words on the page, why wait!? Use the basics above and get to writing today!
Dave Chesson
When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.
Related Posts
How to start a story: your first line, page, and chapter, how to come up with a book idea: 16 tips [and why you needn’t worry], nonfiction topics to write about: 30+ ideas to get you started, sell more books on amazon, amazon kindle rankings e-book.
Learn how to rank your Kindle book #1 on Amazon with our collection of time-tested tips and tricks.
Join the community
Join 111,585 other authors who receive weekly emails from us to help them make more money selling books.
Create a booklet using a Word template
Whether you want to create a book project for school or a booklet for an event, consider using a booklet template available in the publishing templates collection . You can customize the booklet templates to fit your needs. For best results, customize the template before you start your writing project. That way there’s less clean-up work to do if tables or other objects in your document don’t fit quite right.
Create a booklet using a template
Go to File > New .
Type booklet in the search box and select the search icon.
When you find the template you want to use, select it and choose Create .
Click File > Save a copy to save your booklet.
To print your booklet, go to File > Print . Booklet templates are designed to make sure the page sequence and orientation will be correct if you print them on both sides of the paper, flipped along the short edge.
If you have a double sided printer, just print the document. If you have a single sided printer:
Go to File > Print .
Change the setting to Manual Print on Both Sides .
Print one side.
When prompted, remove the printed pages and put them back into the input tray.
Important: Note the side and orientation of the printed pages, and flip it accordingly. If in doubt, print just 4 pages as a test. So if you get it wrong, you only waste one sheet of paper.
Go to File > New from Template .
In the top right corner of the window, type booklet where you see Search All Templates . You'll find several options from templates.office.com.
When you find the template you want to use, double-click it, or select it and click Create .
The template is downloaded to Word, and you are ready to begin working on your booklet.
Click File > Save As to save your booklet.
Note: If you want to print your booklet, click File > Print . Booklet templates are designed to make sure the page sequence and orientation will be correct if you print them on both sides of the paper, flipped along the short edge.
Booklet: Page numbering tips
Need more help?
Want more options.
Explore subscription benefits, browse training courses, learn how to secure your device, and more.
Microsoft 365 subscription benefits
Microsoft 365 training
Microsoft security
Accessibility center
Communities help you ask and answer questions, give feedback, and hear from experts with rich knowledge.
Ask the Microsoft Community
Microsoft Tech Community
Windows Insiders
Microsoft 365 Insiders
Was this information helpful?
Thank you for your feedback.
- Digital Spring Cleaning Guide
- Tech Gifts for Mom
Microsoft's Best Templates for Writers
Jump-start your writing for novels, poetry, or business proposals
Romilly Lockyer / Getty Images
Find useful drafting, organization, marketing, and communication tools in the gallery of Microsoft’s free templates for personal, creative, academic, and professional writing projects.
Using a template can quickly get you started so that you can focus on writing. Microsoft has hundreds of templates that may interest you, but now you search through the Office program interface itself rather than through an online template site.
Story or Novel Manuscript Template for Microsoft Word
This Story or Novel Manuscript template for Microsoft Word provides a quick way to jump right into the writing process.
While it is a generic form, and you should check each publisher's manuscript requirements before submission, this template gives you enough formatting to hit the ground running with your ideas.
Open Microsoft Word and select Office or File in the menu bar, followed by New From Template . Then use the Search field to search for this template by keyword .
Blog Post Template or Printable for Microsoft Word
Did you know you can write a blog in Microsoft Word ?
It's even easier using this Blog Post template for Microsoft Word. When you use it, a new document opens that looks mostly blank, but it includes new menus for linking and posting to your Blogger, WordPress, or similar online blogging account.
This template is available by opening Word and selecting File > New From Template . Then enter blog in the Search field.
Email Newsletter Template for Microsoft Publisher
Writers who are used to Word can connect with their blog followers or anyone else on their list of email contacts with a newsletter. The Email Newsletter template for Microsoft Publisher gets you started with a professional layout.
You can send information on book promotions, news releases, upcoming events, inspiration for other writers, and anything else that you find relevant.
This design is just one of many. Look for other email-ready newsletter designs as you click through this link.
Open Publisher , select New From Template and search by keyword.
Writing Project Timeline Planning Template for Microsoft Excel
Combine your many projects in one visual, easy-to-track document with this Writing Project Timeline Planning template for Microsoft Excel . This type of file is known as a Gantt chart .
Many writers have multiple projects that are in various stages or with different deadlines. This template accommodates all your projects and is a one-stop tool for communicating your projects to your family, team, or group. It allows you to spend less time tracking down details or wondering what should be prioritized next.
Open Excel , select New From Template and search by keyword.
Book Release Event Post Card Template for Microsoft Word
The Book Release Event Post Card Template for Microsoft Word is a versatile marketing tool for a lot of events authors find themselves involved in, from book release parties to book signings and other promotional activities.
These postcards can be customized with an image of your book cover, author photo, self-publishing logo, or another relevant image.
Search for this template in Word by selecting File , then searching by keyword under New From Template .
Photo Bookmarks Template for Microsoft Publisher
While promotional products that are professionally designed are a good investment, this customizable Photo Bookmarks template for Microsoft Publisher could get you by in a pinch for an upcoming event.
You can also find many other bookmark designs.
Open Publisher , select New From Template and search by keyword.
Book Stack Presentation Template for Microsoft PowerPoint
This Book Stack Presentation template for Microsoft PowerPoint features several different slide layouts in one downloadable file.
You have control over colors and fonts with this template, and it saves a lot of time. Using a template like this is a great way to make your next presentation your own.
Open PowerPoint , select File > New From Template and then search for the template by keyword.
Animated Flipping Book Template for Microsoft PowerPoint
For a dynamic presentation that takes visual elements to the next level, check out the Animated Flipping Book template for Microsoft PowerPoint.
The animation is simple, but it provides a fun beginning to some types of presentations. To add your text, select Insert > Text Box to create a space for text that overlays the blank book page.
In PowerPoint, select File > New From Template , and then search for the template by keyword.
Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day
- Microsoft's Best Free DIY Christmas Templates for 2023
- A Complete Guide to Microsoft 365 (Formerly Microsoft Office)
- Microsoft's Best Valentine's Day Templates and Printables
- The 10 Best Writing Apps of 2023
- Microsoft's Best Easter Templates and Printables
- How to Make a Flyer with Microsoft Word
- The Best Graduation Invitation Templates of 2023
- What Is Microsoft PowerPoint and How Do I Use It?
- 10 Best Places for Free PowerPoint Templates
- Best Free Family Feud PowerPoint Templates
- The 13 Best Apps for Microsoft Surface in 2023
- How to Find Microsoft Word Templates Online
- The 10 Best Word Processing Apps for iPad in 2023
- How to Make a Brochure in Microsoft Word
- OpenOffice Writer Review
- How to Use Building Blocks and Quick Parts in Microsoft Officer
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Book Word Templates
Book MS Word - Free, Download
World Climate Workbook
Modern Poetry Book Template
Novel Writing Progress Tracker
Agency Professional Cover Page Template
Workbook Cover Page Template
Business Proposal Cover Page Template
Annual Report Cover Page Template
Ceative Portfolio Cover Page Template
Free Corporate Portfolio Cover Page Template
Sports Cover Page Template
Tech Professional Cover Page Template
Report Cover Page Template
Business Plan Cover Page Template
Technology Cover Page Template
Free Interior Cover Page Template
Marketing Cover Page Template
Portfolio Cover Page Template
Proposal Cover Page Template
Textbook Inventory Template
Textbook Page Template
Free Textbook Layout Template
Math Textbook Template
Valentine's Day Activity Workbook Template
Romantic Valentine's Day Workbook Template
Wide Ruled Notebook Paper Template
Love Bug Valentine's Day Workbook Template
Free Digital Notebook Paper Template
Lined Notebook Paper Template
Love Language Workbook Template
Valentine's Day Recipe Book Template
Productivity tips
How to write effective AI art prompts
AI art prompting is much more of an art than a science, but I've put together a starting point for you. I'll start with the structure of a good AI art prompt, and then I'll give you some starting words and expressions you can use to make images go from "ok…?" to "wow."
The structure of an AI art prompt
Part 1: Image content
Part 2: Art form, style, and artist references
Part 3: Additional details
Advanced AI prompt tools and strategies
Where to find AI art prompt ideas
Automate your image generation
Follow along: Want to turn your reading session into a crash course? Take a look at our list of AI art generators and pick your favorite. Each AI model works with prompts differently (and each attempt will be different, too), so you'll see variations in your results.
I've seen a lot of unique AI image prompts over the past few months, but all of them share a set of common characteristics. Here's the general structure, in order of writing:
[image content/subject, description of action, state, and mood], [art form, style, and artist references], [additional settings, such as lighting, colors, and framing]
As you add more elements to your prompt, be sure to separate them with commas. This will help the AI model interpret your prompt, and it will make it easier for you to remember what you've asked for.
How long should an AI art prompt be?
There aren't hard limits on how long or short a prompt should be: Midjourney works well with 60-word prompts, while Stable Diffusion does best if you stay below 380 characters. And AI image generators can get confused if you give them too much to work with. But play around with it—you never know what you'll find.
What style of language should you use in an AI art prompt?
Vivid details and concrete language produce more predictable results. Poetic or abstract wording can produce surprising results. Mix and match depending on your objectives.
As you become more experienced, you can play with the structure, length, and style of your image prompts, but first, let's drill down into each of the main components.
Start with the image content
Start by stating the subject or content of the image. This part is self-explanatory, and entering it into an AI image generation app will produce predictable results. Do you want a picture of a city at sunset? A green forest at dawn?
In addition to the content, you can also describe:
Actions that the subject is doing (e.g., looking up, playing, or running)
How they're doing these actions (e.g., joyfully, fearfully, or boldly)
The mood of the image (e.g., ominous morning rain, dangerous sunset mountains, nostalgic coffee table)
The more details you provide, the better your chances of getting a more interesting result. But it depends a lot on the model you're using, since each one interprets the input in a different way due to its training and configuration.
Include the art form, style, and artist references
Next up is guiding the AI model toward the overarching aesthetic. Is it a watercolor painting? A sculpture? A lo-fi image? When you add an art form to the subject of the image, you can already see a major shift in the end result. Here are a few common art forms to explore.
Photography
Photography will be a recurrent prompt you'll use, especially if you're going for realistic pictures. There's a lot you can control here: you can state the framing, lighting conditions, and even the type of camera you're "using," down to the camera/lens brands and specifications.
You can explore all sorts of angles here:
Techniques (e.g., oil painting or watercolor)
Art movements (e.g., impressionism or Fauvism)
Artist names (e.g., Cézanne or Kahlo)
For unique results, try mixing techniques, movements, and artists together. (And if you're publishing the images later, consider crediting the artists you used for inspiration.)
Illustration
Other illustration types to try:
Pencil drawing
Charcoal sketch
Digital art
Film stills
There are plenty of other art forms you can explore. Some examples:
Textile art
Installation art
Ceramic art
Lithography
Mix, match, and be amazed.
Add more details to your prompt
Do you like to tweak everything to the last detail? After adding the subject and art form, there are plenty of extras you can add to your prompt to further influence the end result.
Framing refers to how the subject or content is positioned in the image, and you can use it to influence image composition.
It can be challenging to control the framing depending on how you write the first part of your prompt. For example, if you're having trouble with close-ups, try stating the subject first and describing the background after . Here's an example.
First, I tried using this prompt: Person standing inside a forest fire, strong determined attitude, close-up shot, realistic. Midjourney didn't care much about "close-up shot":
Then, I moved a few pieces around in the prompt: " Person with strong determined attitude, forest fire background , close-up shot, realistic." Now that the prompt says the forest fire is in the background, it's getting closer to what I wanted:
The expressions used for film directing and camerawork apply here, so you can use "wide shot," "point-of-view," or "dutch angle," among others.
Want more control over image composition? Try AI outpainting to expand an image beyond its limits and then crop it in the exact way you want it.
Especially in photography, lighting is critical and can change the look and feel of an image. Consider tweaking your lighting prompts using "soft light," "hard light," or even "dramatic lighting." You can also mention times of day, such as "morning," "sunset," or "golden hour."
Color scheme
While controlling lighting already introduces a level of color control, you can also play with color schemes to influence the color of objects, light, or the entire image look and feel.
Level of detail and realism
Prompts like "4k" or "8k" give the AI model the instruction to increase the level of detail in the image. (Keep in mind that it doesn't increase the actual resolution of the image output.)
You can also use the "Unreal Engine" prompt to get the familiar feel of images rendered using that game engine. And if your photos aren't looking believable enough, make sure to add "realistic" or "ultrarealistic" to your prompt.
Midjourney parameters
Midjourney (which you use via Discord) accepts a few extra parameters at the end of the prompt. Type a double hyphen or an em dash followed by the parameter name and the value. Here are a few useful ones:
--chaos changes how varied the results will be, with 0 being the least varied and 100 the maximum. For example, --chaos 80 would be highly varied.
--no handles negative prompts, meaning you can write what you don't want to see in the image. For example, --no buildings will prevent the model from drawing buildings.
--ar changes the aspect ratio of the image. For example, --ar 16:9 would render the image in the 16:9 aspect ratio.
Here's the full list , but keep in mind that these are specific to Midjourney. If you're using DALL·E 2 , DreamStudio, or another tool, there will be a different set of parameters (and they'll be presented differently too).
Advanced tools and strategies for AI art prompts
Now that we've gone through the basics, here are a few tools and suggestions to help you reach Legendary Imaginator status:
Reverse engineer real images to find new prompts. CLIP Interrogator is an AI model hosted at Hugging Face that takes an image and gives you a text prompt based on its content. You can then use that result to build more detailed prompts and enter them into text-to-image models.
Image-to-image. Text-to-image is just one option. You can also provide an image as inspiration and further tune it with text or model controls. Try it with Runway .
AI outpainting. You can upload an image to an AI outpainting model, and it will expand it beyond the limits of the frame, creating a larger image. This is useful to get the exact framing you want or to create a larger image from a smaller detail. It works with non-AI-generated images too. Try it with neural.love .
Fine-tune generation settings. Some models, like Stable Diffusion , let you adjust advanced generation settings. For example, by increasing or decreasing the number of steps, you can change how processed the final image should be. More steps usually lead to more detail.
Train your own AI image model. Tools like Leap AI let you train your own image model, so it can better match a unique look and feel you're attempting to create, reducing the variance in outputs that you get from "public" image generation models.
Edit images with AI. You can select parts of images and change them using a text prompt. Try it out in Canva or in Photoshop .
Use ChatGPT to generate better text prompts. Yes, you can use AI to prompt AI. When you ask an AI chatbot to write prompts for you, you may be able to unlock new aesthetics, compositions, or subject combinations that you didn't think were possible.
When writing your first prompts, it's challenging to visualize the exact results you're looking for. More than that, it may take multiple tries until you get something usable. That's tough if you're not using a free AI art generator and there's a cost to the experimentation—credits fly out fast when you're having fun.
There are also lots of places to browse a collection of images and corresponding prompts. Here are some of my favorites:
neural.love 's public library (scroll down and click on the images to see the prompts)
Websites like Lexica for Stable Diffusion prompts.
Midjourney's Discord channels
You'll get great hints on how each model interprets prompts, and you'll draw inspiration as you read original descriptions and fresh detail combos.
AI art prompt examples
And just to make things easier on you, here are all the AI art prompts I mentioned in this article:
A child playing on a sunny happy beach, their laughter as they build a simple sandcastle, emulate Nikon D6 high shutter speed action shot, soft yellow lighting.
Impressionist oil painting of a cute robot.
Illustration of dinosaurs drawn by a child, the illustrations are cute and heartwarming
Isolated convenience store in the middle of the desert at sunset, car parked outside, lo-fi, nostalgic.
Buildings on fire, old film still
Person with strong determined attitude, forest fire background, close-up shot, realistic.
Lonely evil bananas on a table, hard light chiaroscuro, realistic.
A futuristic hopeful busy city, purple and green color scheme.
A distant galaxy filled with tiny colorful stars, a blue, Earth-like planet in the foreground, realistic, colorful, 8k, trending on artstation.
Automate your art generation
Once you lock in on your prompting strategy, you can automate parts of your image generation workflows with Zapier. Here are a few workflows to give you some ideas, but you can connect apps like DALL·E , Leap AI , and Hugging Face to all the other apps you use at work.
Create images with DALL-E for new Airtable records
Post new images generated in Leap AI to Slack channel messages
Generate images based on Google Form responses and save them in Google Sheets
Zapier is a no-code automation tool that lets you connect your apps into automated workflows, so that every person and every business can move forward at growth speed. Learn more about how it works .
Writing the best AI image prompts
AI image generation is a lot of fun, and it's getting better—and more accessible—at each turn. Make sure you think about the ethics of using AI-generated images , and explore every possibility.
It can take a few tries to get right. But as long as you have an experimentation mindset and keep iterating, you'll be able to progressively reach better and better results with your AI art prompts.
Now, please excuse me while I go back to trying to put the Eiffel Tower on Mars .
Related reading:
The best AI productivity tools
AI at Zapier: 12 apps that will revolutionize the way you work
Stable Diffusion vs. DALL·E 2: Which image generator is better?
Get productivity tips delivered straight to your inbox
We’ll email you 1-3 times per week—and never share your information.
Miguel Rebelo
Miguel Rebelo is a freelance writer based in London, UK. He loves technology, video games, and huge forests. Track him down at mirebelo.com.
- Artificial intelligence (AI)
Related articles
5 ways to manage a busy season when you're struggling with mental health
5 ways to manage a busy season when you're...
I let AI write my texts for a week—here's how it went
I let AI write my texts for a week—here's...
Email etiquette: How to ask people for things and actually get a response
Email etiquette: How to ask people for...
What is upskilling?: How to do it and why it matters
What is upskilling?: How to do it and why it...
Improve your productivity automatically. Use Zapier to get your apps working together.
- International edition
- Australia edition
‘Damn, that fool can write’: how Martin Amis made everyone up their game
He exploded into the tweedy world of literature, a young, pouting and outrageously brash crusader for prose. Our writer remembers her encounters with the novelist, whose smarts and chutzpah confounded his peers
‘Y ou’ll be reading me every now and then at least until about 2080, weather permitting. And when you go, maybe my afterlife, too, will come to an end, my afterlife of words.” So wrote Martin Amis in his heavily autobiographical final novel Inside Story in 2020. With a body of work spanning 50 years, he leaves 15 novels, two short-story collections, one memoir and seven book-length works of journalism and history. Did posterity matter to him? Hell, yes. “There is only one value judgment in literature: time,” he insisted.
Back in 2009, I called Amis – as editors all over the world would have been calling or emailing leading writers on Saturday night – to ask if he might write a tribute to the American novelist John Updike, who had just died. Time was tight and we were aiming high, but as with every major (and not so major) event at that time, Amis was the writer everyone was after. And on Updike, the last postwar American literary giant? It had to be him. Happily, he felt a duty to contribute to what Gore Vidal called “book chat”.
“Call me back in 10 minutes,” he said in his unmistakable transatlantic drawl (he hadn’t yet made America his permanent home). Had he said he would do it? Would he file in time for tomorrow’s front page? I wasn’t sure, but duly called him back 10 minutes later, hiding in a cupboard in the bowels of the Guardian, where we went to make private calls.
“Ready?” he said. And – I may have imagined this bit – lighting a cigarette, he proceeded to dictate a whole piece, replete with semi-colons, quotation and his hallmark neologisms (not for Amis the correspondent’s punctuation-less cablese). He spoke and I typed. “There aren’t supposed to be extremes of uniqueness – either you are or you’re not – but he was exceptionally sui generis ,” he drawled .
We repeated the exercise barely three months later when another of his great heroes and friends, JG Ballard, died . This time we made it to over 1,000 words. “Very few Ballardians (who are almost all male) were foolish enough to emulate him. He was sui generis ,” Amis enunciated with verbal italics. “What was influential, though, was the marvellous creaminess of his prose, and the weird and sudden expansions of his imagery,” he continued. “Marvellous creaminess”, “weird and sudden expansions” – how did he do that?
OK, so he had written at length about both Updike and Ballard before. And he was routinely invoked as a successor to both. But still. Of all the writers I’d worked with during many years as a literary editor, Amis was the only one I knew who could pull that off. The sheer smarts and chutzpah of composing a piece off the cuff, without even going to the bother of turning on the computer, was quintessential Amis.
He will for ever be remembered as part of the “Class of 83” , the inaugural Granta Best of Young British novelists list that also included Ian McEwan, Julian Barnes, Salman Rushdie and Kazuo Ishiguro. “He has had a baleful influence on a whole generation,” bemoaned AS Byatt of Amis in 1993, as one of the Granta judges tasked with finding successors a decade later. Not because he was a bad writer but because so many had been foolish enough to try to emulate him (to echo Amis on Ballard).
If, as is often said, this generation of writers were the closest the books world gets to having rock stars, then Amis was Mick Jagger . Those 70s photographs (The Rachel Papers years) of him pouting extravagantly at the camera, cigarette dangling – you can almost smell the smoke and ambition – announced a changing of the guard. His pose, like his prose, poised somewhere between provocation and seduction. Where the literary world had been grey and tweedy, presided over by ageing grandees (Amis Sr, William Golding, Anthony Burgess, Iris Murdoch), now it was young and outrageously brash, and Amis was the frontman.
At an event in 2020 with Salman Rushdie , Rushdie asked him if, back in those heady days, he felt part of a gang. “That’s the way ‘movements’ start,” Amis replied. “Ambitious young drunks, late at night, saying, ‘We’re not going to do that any more. We’re going to do this instead.’” And with this “gang” – which also included his great friend, the late journalist Christopher Hitchens , and Ian McEwan – the young drunks went on to became “the old devils”, to borrow a Kingsley Amis title, that pretty much comprised the literary establishment for years.
“There was a feeling,” he said of this time, “that there were places to go that the English novel didn’t go, and was being too fastidious about.” And he spent the next few decades making sure he was the first to go there. Who but Amis could have had such a firm grasp on the collar of what John Self, the narrator of Money , called “the panting present” to have written a novel of that title at the beginning of the 80s, that decade of Thatcherite greed? And then envisage ecological collapse in London Fields at the end of it? Which writer would have dared to take on the Holocaust (Time’s Arrow in 1991, and The Zone of Interest in 2014) and Stalin’s Great Terror (Koba the Dread in 2002), with, as Tim Adams put it in the Observer, “his full ironist’s swagger” ? Or to have imagined the last 24 hours of 9/11 terrorist Mohamed Atta in The Second Plane in 2008?
In his crusade for fine writing and his declaration of war on cliche, Amis made everyone up their game. Over the years, critics have fallen over themselves trying to outsmart Mart: lobbing hyperbole and volleying adverbs (Amis was a huge tennis fan). “So just how good is Martin Amis ?” “Why do we love to hate Amis?” they would come out, strutting, pistols cocked. But Amis was already in the bar.
For a time, he seemed happy to fill the role of novelist as public intellectual. He riffed elegantly on everything from the porn industry to the Royal family. “He is always putting it up to you somehow, making the reader feel brilliant too. Or a bit stupid,” wrote Anne Enright of his collection of criticism The Rub of Time in 2017. “This is the best fun going when everyone is drunk, as they seemed to be in the 1980s, and literary London was like one long dinner party in which everyone knew where you went to school.”
after newsletter promotion
Inevitably, the poster-boy turned into a target, and at one point Amis the dazzling young stylist looked in danger of being overshadowed by Amis the grumpy old controversialist, with ill-judged comments on Islamism and euthanasia. But after what he called an “eisteddfod of hostility” from the British press and his move to New York, he largely reserved his opinions for his writing.
He was planning a collection of short stories on the subject of slavery in the US – “boy will I cop it,” he said in a recent Guardian interview – as well as returning to the Third Reich for a third time with a “modest novella”. And yet, despite many years as Britain’s foremost literary celebrity and contrarian, Amis somehow managed never to win the Booker (he was only shortlisted for Time’s Arrow) nor to be cancelled.
Of his instinct to shock, he observed: “Every novel worth reading is funny and serious. Anyone who’s any good is going to be funny. It’s the nature of life. Life is funny.” And it is clear from the irrepressible punchiness of his prose that he had a blast writing. “It seems to me a hilariously enjoyable way of spending one’s time,” he said. And so, at his daring comic best, he was great fun to read.
The insolence, the silliness, the seriousness, the grotesqueness, the erudition and audacity were all swept up in those inimitable sentences and corralled into order by his cleverness with form. As Enright summed up in her review: “Damn, that fool can write.” And, like an imposing building slightly worn with time, Amis changed the landscape of literature so dramatically that it is hard to remember what it looked like before. And for all the macho-ness of his writing, his influence can be seen in writers of the generation that followed, for instance his friend Zadie Smith.
“He was a talismanic figure for my generation of novelists, and an inspiration to me personally,” says another friend, Kazuo Ishiguro. “He was famous, notorious even, for his biting satire and swaggering prose, but there was always a surprising tenderness not far beneath that surface. His characters were always yearning for love and connection. I believe ultimately his work will age well, growing over the years.” We will be reading him for decades, weather permitting.
But to go back to 2009 and Amis’s closing words on Updike: “His style was one of compulsive and unstoppable vividness and musicality. Several times a day you turn to him, as you will now to his ghost, and say to yourself, ‘How would Updike have done it?’ This is a very cold day for literature.”
And so it is today. Younger writers will ask: “How would Amis have done it?” He was exceptionally sui generis .
- Martin Amis
Most viewed
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
Book Templates Here are the top free book templates: Get A Nonfiction Book Outline for Your Manuscript! Here are the steps to write a book in Microsoft Word: To access the standard book template in Word, follow these steps: How many Microsoft Word pages equal a book page? Determine what your book's word count goal should be
100 Day Book is now OPEN! If you want to go from aspiring writer to published author, 100 Day Book is the best writing program to do it. See how it can help you write your best book. Learn more and sign up here. If you want to write a book, you'll need book writing software that's up to the task.
1. Story Premise Worksheet This worksheet from Evernote is a simple way to outline the main characters, plot themes, events, and conflicts within your story. By teasing them out of your mind and onto a worksheet like this, you'll be able to plot the broad story arc. Remember to keep your descriptions specific and concise.
01:13 Create a Book or Booklet First, go ahead and open Word. It's recommended that you adjust these setting before writing the content of your book to prevent formatting issues late on. Once you're in Word, head over to the "Layout" tab. In the "Page Setup" group, click the small arrow at the bottom-right.
FREE TOOLKIT The Top 10 Book Writing Templates Use these to develop your characters, outline your plot, and write your book. Facebook Or if you'd like to build your story directly in a writing app, we recommend using the free Reedsy Book Editor.
Simple classic novel writing template for Word 3rd July 2020 by Muhammad Kawish Are you an author who loves writing fiction or non-fiction novels? We are making it more easy for you! You can use this brand-new novel writing template in Microsoft Word. This is a simple free template of book in a more classic typesetting.
12 Best Novel Outline Templates to Structure Your Story TABLE OF CONTENTS Benefits of Using a Novel Outline Template Which Novel Outline Template is the Right One for You? 1. Squibler - Romancing the Beat Template 2.
8 Novel Outline Templates (By Genre) - Novel Factory 8 Novel Outline Templates That Help You Write Your Story Go straight to the templates... You've settled on the idea you believe has potential for a great novel. You've done your research. You've spent a great deal of time developing your characters.
Go to Layout and select the Page Setup dialog launch icon at the bottom-right corner. On the Margins tab, change the setting for Multiple pages to Book fold. The orientation automatically changes to Landscape. Tip: If you have a long document, you might want to split it into multiple booklets, which you can then bind into one book.
Template If you are writing a novel, then you should use a template that is right for the job.
Templates for every kind of writing. Make your pages pop. For any method or mode of writing, there's a customizable template for you to put your words into. Everything from academic and research papers to work assignments to personal writing and journaling can benefit from starting your writing with a template.
Novel Outline Template. A novel outline template is a document that acts as the guideline for a novel writer. The document assists the writer to come up with essential details about the characters, plot, structure, scenes, etc. The length of the novel outline will vary from one writer to another. Writing a novel can be a challenging task ...
Go to any book template for Word below. Read the description there or at-least see the template features section. You can then simply download your book template in Microsoft Word format. Need help for using these manuscript templates?
1. Find your perfect Word template Search documents by type or topic, or take a look around by browsing the catalog. Select the template that fits you best, whether it's a resume, cover letter, card, brochure, letter, certificate, or something else. 2. Customize your creation Use Microsoft Word to make your design unique.
There are book writing templates that will help you with these things as well. Book Writing Templates are Easy to Use. When trying to write a good book, you don't want anything to overcomplicate the process. Book writing templates are there to make things easier. A template will be easy to understand and implement. Better Publishing Experience
Once you start using Headings, you'll want to activate the Navigation Pane so you can click around your book easily. When you're working on a long document, this is a massive time-saver. To do this, click on the View tab from the top toolbar. Just left of center, you'll see an option that says "Navigation Pane Show.".
Create a booklet using a template. Go to File > New. Type booklet in the search box and select the search icon. When you find the template you want to use, select it and choose Create. Click File > Save a copy to save your booklet. To print your booklet, go to File > Print. Booklet templates are designed to make sure the page sequence and ...
This Story or Novel Manuscript template for Microsoft Word provides a quick way to jump right into the writing process. While it is a generic form, and you should check each publisher's manuscript requirements before submission, this template gives you enough formatting to hit the ground running with your ideas.
Book Word Templates. Book MS Word - Free, Download. Filter by: ... Novel Writing Progress Tracker. Editable book cover Modern Printable book cover. Modern Poetry Book Template. Design psd Portfolio Author. Agency Professional Cover Page Template. Design psd Brochure Cover page.
Here's the general structure, in order of writing: [image content/subject, description of action, state, and mood], [art form, style, and artist references], [additional settings, such as lighting, colors, and framing] As you add more elements to your prompt, be sure to separate them with commas. This will help the AI model interpret your ...
And when you go, maybe my afterlife, too, will come to an end, my afterlife of words." So wrote Martin Amis in his heavily autobiographical final novel Inside Story in 2020. With a body of work ...