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[Coop and Dino singing]

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Every once in a while in life, it’s a good idea to stop and smell the roses. [Girl smells bunch of roses]

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To slow down and take it easy.

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The same thing goes for writing.

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Except instead of smelling the roses, you’re smelling an outline. [Man smells a piece of paper]

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Er…we meant, "writing" an outline. Don't smell it.

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An outline is a basic plan for what you're going to write. It’s like a map of your

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story from beginning to end. [Finger pints to start point on a map]

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You may not end up following it exactly, but it’s a good idea to know where you’re

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going before you leave the house. [Man with a map and taxi arrives]

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So when we're writing narratives, it's a good idea to use an outline based on Freytag's Pyramid.

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Like most stories, ours are likely going to end up following that same general structure, [Freytag's pyramid structure]

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so why not make sure you're hitting each mark before you get writing?

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One outlining strategy that’s kind of fun is taking a blank sheet of paper and writing

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out each part of Freytag's Pyramid from the top of the page to the bottom: exposition, [Freytag's pyramid on a smartphone screen]

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inciting incident, so on and so forth.

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…What? We said it was kind of fun. Keep your expectations low.

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Then you can think about your own story, and make little notes of what'll be happening

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at each point on the pyramid.

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It might not look like a pyramid, but that’s okay. It’s a lot cheaper to build, and doesn't [Egyptian pyramid and egyptian coffin]

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have any creepy mummies inside of it… An outline based around Freytag's Pyramid

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can even give you some insight into how your story works.

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You might have a super strong climax and want to build the rest of your story around it. [Girl points and laughs at another girl]

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Or you might think you know everything that’s going to happen, but you write it out and

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realize you’re missing an inciting incident.

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You can use what comes before and after to help figure it all out.

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Because a story without an inciting incident doesn’t go anywhere at all. [Girls in school hallway]

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And neither will you if you get grounded for getting a D on this assignment.

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A good outline will help you organize your ideas and give you a reliable map for the [Dino teaching about outline of writing]

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writing adventure ahead.

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Which is good, because that spares you the inevitable argument about whether or not to [Taxi drives up hill]

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stop and ask for directions.

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