Outline templates
Pendraic ships 66 outline templates across six categories. Pick one when you create a project; the wizard seeds an Engine row with the template's beat scaffold. You can switch templates later from the editor via the Change-template affordance.
Click any template below to see its full beat list, paired structure preset, and recommended genres.
Categories collapsed by default. Click any heading to expand.
General · 20 templates
expand
Versatile frameworks that fit most book-length fiction. Save the Cat, Three-Act, Hero's Journey, Snowflake, Seven-Point, plus thirteen more variations.
Three-Act Structure
Setup → confrontation → resolution. The classic broad-purpose novel framework.
8 beats · standard preset
Five-Act Structure
Exposition → rising action → climax → falling action → resolution. More segmented dramatic arc.
5 beats · standard preset
Seven-Point Story Structure
Hook → plot turns → pinch points → midpoint → resolution. Strong for plotting backward from the ending.
7 beats · standard preset
Eight-Sequence Structure
Story broken into eight film-like sequences. Useful for pacing and momentum.
8 beats · heavy preset
Save the Cat! Beat Sheet
Opening image → catalyst → debate → midpoint → all is lost → finale. Very popular for commercial fiction.
15 beats · heavy preset
Snowflake Method
Start with a one-sentence premise; expand outward into summary, characters, scenes, and full outline.
5 beats · discovery preset
Twenty-Four Chapter Structure
A highly segmented chapter-by-chapter pacing model for commercial novels.
8 beats · heavy preset
Twenty-Seven Chapter Method
Three acts × nine blocks of three chapters each. Popular with romance and fantasy writers.
9 beats · heavy preset
Fichtean Curve
Series of escalating crises leading to climax. Lean, intense, conflict-heavy.
7 beats · standard preset
Freytag's Pyramid
Exposition → rising action → climax → falling action → denouement. Classic dramatic arc.
5 beats · standard preset
In Medias Res Structure
Begin in the middle of action; reveal context later. Good for immediate engagement.
6 beats · standard preset
Frame Narrative
A story within a story. Useful for layered narration or retrospective storytelling.
5 beats · standard preset
Braided Narrative
Multiple strands or timelines weaving together into a unified payoff.
6 beats · heavy preset
Parallel Narrative
Two or more storylines run side by side, reflecting or contrasting.
6 beats · heavy preset
Nonlinear Structure
Events presented out of chronological order. Best when revelation timing matters.
5 beats · heavy preset
Episodic Structure
A sequence of connected but semi-self-contained events or arcs.
5 beats · discovery preset
Quest Structure
A protagonist pursues a concrete goal through escalating obstacles and discoveries.
7 beats · standard preset
Transformation Arc
Built primarily around inner change rather than external plot complexity.
5 beats · standard preset
Tragedy Structure
A downfall arc driven by fatal flaw, impossible conflict, or irreversible choices.
6 beats · standard preset
Rebirth Structure
A character trapped in decline or numbness is restored to life, love, or purpose.
6 beats · standard preset
Plot arcs · 6 templates
expand
Story-shape arcs from Vonnegut's classifications and beyond. Use these when you want explicit emotional architecture rather than a beat-by-beat plot.
Rags to Riches
A steady rise from obscurity, hardship, or lack into success or fulfillment.
5 beats · standard preset
Riches to Rags
A fall from power, wealth, status, or security into loss.
5 beats · standard preset
Man in a Hole
Protagonist falls into trouble, then climbs back out.
5 beats · simple preset
Icarus Arc
A rise followed by a catastrophic fall, usually caused by overreach.
5 beats · standard preset
Cinderella Arc
A rise, fall, and rise again. Very satisfying for emotional storytelling.
5 beats · standard preset
Oedipus Arc
A fall, rise, and devastating fall again.
5 beats · standard preset
Romance · 11 templates
expand
Genre conventions and tropes: slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers, fake dating, marriage of convenience. Each carries the implicit reader contract.
Romancing the Beat
Romance-specific beat sheet: setup, meet cute, no way, adhesion, midpoint, breakup, grand gesture, HEA/HFN.
9 beats · standard preset
Romance Three-Act
Traditional three-act arc centered on emotional union and relationship progression.
6 beats · standard preset
Rom-Com Structure
Meet-cute, escalating chemistry, missteps, vulnerability, breakup beat, joyful reunion.
6 beats · standard preset
Slow-Burn Romance
Attraction develops gradually over a long sequence of emotional and situational beats.
7 beats · heavy preset
Enemies-to-Lovers Arc
Conflict and opposition gradually transform into attraction and intimacy.
7 beats · standard preset
Friends-to-Lovers Arc
Familiarity and trust deepen into romantic recognition.
6 beats · standard preset
Fake Dating Structure
A forced or strategic relationship becomes emotionally real.
6 beats · standard preset
Marriage of Convenience Structure
External arrangement first; genuine attachment grows under pressure.
6 beats · standard preset
Second-Chance Romance
Past relationship wounds revisited and either healed or reopened.
6 beats · standard preset
Forbidden Romance
Love grows under rules, distance, danger, or social barriers.
6 beats · standard preset
Romantic Suspense Structure
Relationship arc and danger plot escalate together.
7 beats · heavy preset
Mystery / thriller · 15 templates
expand
Investigation, suspense, and procedural shapes: whodunit, locked room, conspiracy thriller, cat-and-mouse, heist, plus genre-specific patterns like cozy mystery and police procedural.
Classic Whodunit
A crime, a closed circle of suspects, clues, red herrings, reveal.
8 beats · standard preset
Detective Case Structure
Investigation-driven progression through interviews, clues, reversals, and deduction.
8 beats · standard preset
Amateur Sleuth Mystery
A nonprofessional investigator gets pulled into solving the case.
7 beats · standard preset
Police Procedural Structure
Institutional investigation with evidence chains, bureaucracy, interviews, and escalating stakes.
8 beats · heavy preset
Cozy Mystery Structure
Lower gore, strong setting/community, clever puzzle, satisfying reveal.
7 beats · standard preset
Noir Mystery Structure
Moral ambiguity, corruption, danger, compromised protagonist, often bitter cost.
7 beats · heavy preset
Locked Room Mystery
An apparently impossible crime becomes the central puzzle.
7 beats · standard preset
Howcatchem (Inverted)
Audience knows the culprit early; suspense comes from how they're caught.
7 beats · standard preset
Inverted Detective Story
Reveal the culprit up front, then focus on unraveling motive, method, or proof.
6 beats · standard preset
Conspiracy Thriller Structure
A hidden truth expands into a much larger threat than first imagined.
8 beats · heavy preset
Cat-and-Mouse Thriller
Protagonist and antagonist actively hunt, evade, and outmaneuver each other.
7 beats · standard preset
Domestic Suspense Structure
Intimate relationships, secrets, manipulation, unreliable appearances.
7 beats · standard preset
Psychological Thriller Structure
Perception, identity, obsession, memory, and instability drive the suspense.
7 beats · standard preset
Legal Thriller Structure
Courtroom, evidence, ethical pressure, and strategic revelation.
8 beats · heavy preset
Heist Structure
Assemble team, plan the job, execute, complications, betrayal or twist, fallout.
8 beats · heavy preset
Fantasy / adventure · 8 templates
expand
Quest, chosen one, portal fantasy, training arc, war campaign, survival. The big-canvas frameworks heavy outliners reach for.
Hero's Journey
Ordinary world → call → trials → transformation → return. Mythic and character-driven.
12 beats · heavy preset
Story Circle (Harmon)
A simplified Hero's Journey: need, go, search, find, take, return, change. Clean and modern.
7 beats · standard preset
Epic Fantasy Quest
Large-scale mission with allies, travel, trials, world stakes, and transformation.
10 beats · heavy preset
Chosen One Structure
A protagonist with unique destiny or ability is forced into a larger conflict.
9 beats · heavy preset
Portal Fantasy Structure
A character enters another world, learns its rules, and changes through the journey.
7 beats · standard preset
Training / Tournament Arc
Growth, rivals, trials, escalating mastery, and public confrontation.
9 beats · heavy preset
War Campaign Structure
A story shaped around strategy, alliances, losses, and major conflict turns.
9 beats · heavy preset
Survival Structure
Immediate physical stakes dominate; plot advances through endurance and adaptation.
8 beats · standard preset
Literary · 6 templates
expand
Structures for character-driven and non-plot-forward fiction: character study, slice-of-life, coming-of-age, family saga, fall from grace, redemption.
Character Study Structure
Loose external plot, strong internal observation and emotional progression.
6 beats · discovery preset
Slice-of-Life Structure
Smaller-scale events reveal character, relationships, or theme over time.
5 beats · discovery preset
Coming-of-Age Structure
A young protagonist gains painful or meaningful maturity.
7 beats · standard preset
Fall from Grace Structure
Character corrosion, moral compromise, or identity collapse drives the arc.
6 beats · standard preset
Redemption Arc
A flawed or damaged protagonist seeks repair, atonement, or earned restoration.
7 beats · standard preset
Family Saga Structure
Multi-generational or family-centered storytelling with legacy and relational stakes.
6 beats · heavy preset
Pendraic's wizard filters templates by the genre you pick. Don't obsess over the choice; beat-level structure can be appended to or replaced from inside the editor at any time, and a project that lands without a template is just as valid (you can author beats freely from the Beat Map).