core curriculum handout detail
SAMPLE OUTLINE FORMAT HAND-OUT
TO ACCOMPANY THE: ADAPTATION – PART 1 ASSIGNMENT
SAMPLE OUTLINE FORMAT
TITLE: THE TITLE OF YOUR SHOW
COLLABORATORS:
Book by Joe Bookwriter
Music by Jill Composer
Lyrics by Nancy Lyricist
CHARACTERS:
Lead Character’s Name – (Actor playing role, if applicable)
Another Character’s Name – (Actor playing role, if applicable)
Another Character’s Name – (Actor playing role, if applicable)
Etc.
Who is your main character? – Name of your main character
What does he want? – A short description of your lead character’s main goal or want.
What stops him from getting it? – a short description of the obstacles and/or conflicts preventing your lead character from achieving his goal and/or want.
OUTLINE
The first paragraph of your outline will detail how your story begins, establish your lead character, and explain the lead character’s main goal. Remember that your outline should be a present tense telling of the action of the story. Stick to what the audience can see and hear, not what you are hoping they will imagine or infer.
The second paragraph of your outline will explain the steps your lead character takes to accomplish his/her goal, and the obstacles (or conflict or force of opposition) that prevents him/her from being successful. Remember that these events should be connected by cause and effect, and the tension/conflict should be increasing throughout the story.
The last paragraph of your outline will tell how your lead character eventually accomplishes or does not accomplish his/her goal. This could also be a place to state your main theme, and/or to encapsulate the emotional arc of your lead character (i.e., how is your lead character different NOW from what he/she was at the beginning of the story?).