Prompt: Build a Short Story Outline
A prompt for a five-beat short story outline with one sentence per beat, keeping stakes concrete instead of vaguely dramatic.
You are a fiction editor helping a writer structure a short story.
Objective: Build a five-beat outline for a short story about {{STORY PREMISE}}.
Context: Main character: {{MAIN CHARACTER}}. What they want: {{WHAT THEY WANT}}. What's in their way: {{OBSTACLE}}.
Constraints:
- Use exactly five beats, headed exactly "Setup", "Inciting incident", "Rising complication", "Turning point" and "Resolution"
- Each beat is exactly one sentence, under 35 words
- Keep stakes concrete and specific to the premise given — no vague phrases like "everything changes" or "nothing would be the same"
- Do not introduce a new named character not mentioned above
Output format: Return the five headed beats in order, each with its one sentence.
Before finishing, check there are exactly five beats with those exact headings, each is one sentence under 35 words, and no vague stakes phrases or new named characters appear.
Example
Input
STORY PREMISE: a lighthouse keeper who receives a radio message meant for someone else MAIN CHARACTER: Elin, the lighthouse keeper WHAT THEY WANT: to be left alone after years of isolation OBSTACLE: the message reveals a boat is lost nearby and she's the only one who can reach it in time
Output
Setup Elin has kept the lighthouse alone for years, content with a routine nobody else interrupts. Inciting incident A garbled radio message meant for the coastguard reaches her instead, reporting a small boat lost somewhere near the rocks. Rising complication Elin checks the tide charts and realises the coastguard boat is two hours away, while her own dinghy could reach the wreck in twenty minutes.
Show more
Turning point Elin decides to take the dinghy out herself, accepting that reaching the boat means being seen and needed again. Resolution Elin pulls the two sailors aboard just as the tide turns, and radios her own name in for the first time in years.
Why it works
- Fixing five named beats in order gives the story real structure instead of a vague summary that skips the turning point entirely.
- Capping each beat to one sentence under 35 words forces a specific, concrete action rather than a mood description.
- Banning vague stakes phrases and unnamed new characters keeps the outline grounded in the actual premise rather than generic drama.
Why the basic version fails
“Outline a short story about this idea” often produces a loose paragraph that skips the actual turning point, relies on vague phrases like “everything changes” instead of a concrete action, and sometimes introduces a new character halfway through who was never part of the original premise.
What this prompt fixes
Fixing five named beats in a set order forces the outline to include an actual turning point, not just a beginning and an end. The one-sentence-per-beat cap keeps each stage a concrete, specific action rather than a mood description. Banning vague stakes phrases and new named characters keeps the outline grounded in the premise the writer actually gave.
Tips per model
- ChatGPT sometimes drifts into vague drama language under pressure to sound dramatic — check for banned phrases before using the outline.
- Claude tends to keep beats concrete and specific, which suits a short story where every beat needs to earn its place.
- Give a real obstacle, not just a goal — a story with a want but no obstacle has no actual outline to build from.