Ideas for Your Outliner Command Center 💡
Below is a list of metadata I’ve used in my own projects.
⚠️ This not an complete list.
👉 It’s also not a prescription for tracking elements in your novel.
Instead, consider these metrics as experiments! 🧪
POV Character: Whose head are we in? Don’t mess this up.
Scene Type: Is your character doing something (Action) or thinking about what they just did (Reaction)?
Story Event: What actually happens? If nothing changes, cut the scene.
Plot Beat: (i.e Opening Image, Theme Stated, Catalyst, etc… )
Plot Point: (Hero’s Journey, Three-Act Structure, or any other plot structure you prefer…)
Polarity: Does it end better (+/-) or worse (-/+) than it started? Or is it a trick? (Ironic)
Turning Point: The exact moment everything goes sideways.
Beginning Hook: The reason your reader doesn’t just close the book.
Middle Build: A series of unfortunate events that make things worse.
Ending Payoff: The “oh, snap” moment that closes the loop.
Progressive Complication: How can you make your hero’s life progressively more miserable?
Crisis: The impossible choice. Best bad option or sacrifice an irreconcilable good?
Climax: The character’s answer to the crisis. No take-backs.
Resolution: The immediate aftermath. Here’s the new reality. Deal with it.
Obligatory Scene / Convention: What readers paid to read. Don’t cheap out.
Global Value / Core Conflict: Who’s winning the war? Good or Evil? Life or Death?
Invisible Layer: The juicy stuff nobody says out loud. Subtext.
Percentage (%): Is your midpoint actually in the middle? Math is hard, but not this hard.
Setting: Where and when. Don’t make your characters float in a void.
Editing / Revision Status: “Vomit Draft,” “Needs CPR,” or “Basically Shakespeare.” Be honest.
Due Date: A self-imposed source of existential dread.
Collaborators: Who gets the blame when this scene fails?
Value Shift: What changed? If the answer is “nothing,” you failed. Try again.
🚨 REMEMBER 🚨 You do not need all of these.
That way lies madness.
Pick the smallest set of fields that helps you diagnose story weaknesses. A solid starting setup might look something like this:
Labels
POV Character
Custom Metadata
Setting
Plot Beat
Subplot Threads
These metrics help spot weaknesses in:
Character Arcs 🧙🏻♂️
Settings 🌎
Structural Beats at all levels (scene, chapter, and part) 🔨
Now, I know you’re probably going to ignore this advice and add them all anyway, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Go ahead. Just REMEMBER to ADD or REMOVE COLUMNS in your outliner to match your current focus.
🚨You should not have everything open at once.
💻 And please, please delete any metrics you aren’t using.
Why? Because if you don’t you’re needlessly cluttering your workspace. Don’t complicate your life for no other reason than appearance of productivity.