What Makes a Good Book Writing Template
Before the list, a quick filter. A good template does three things:
It gives you a place to put every element of your book, so nothing gets lost
It mirrors the structure readers expect from your genre
It stays out of your way when you're in the middle of drafting
Templates that force you into a rigid format get abandoned by chapter four. The best ones are flexible enough to bend around your story while keeping the bones intact. If you're still figuring out your story's shape, our guide on how to outline a novel walks through the outlining step that comes right before you pick a template.
1. Three-act structure template
The three-act structure is the backbone of most Western storytelling.
Act 1 sets up the world and introduces the conflict
Act 2 raises the stakes and complicates everything
Act 3 resolves it
Simple on paper, but the template makes it practical by breaking each act into specific beats:
Inciting incident
First plot point
Midpoint
Crisis
Climax
I used a version of this for my science fiction novel. The template forced me to identify my midpoint reversal before I started drafting, which saved me from writing 150 pages only to realize my story had no real turning point. If you're writing any kind of fiction with a clear narrative arc, start here.
2. Novel chapter outline template
This template breaks your book into individual chapters, each with fields for the chapter's purpose, the POV character, the setting, key events, and how the chapter ends. It works best when you already know your general story direction but need to map it chapter by chapter.
The chapter count depends on your genre. Most novels run between 20 and 35 chapters, though that varies. Our breakdown of how many chapters are in a typical novel covers genre norms. A chapter outline template lets you plan each one before committing thousands of words to it.
This is the template I recommend for writers who prefer to plan rather than discovery-write. You can find chapter outlines on Milanote, Notion, and most writing platforms.
3. Character development sheet
A character sheet isn't a book template, but I'm including it because no novel template works without strong characters to fill it. A character development sheet tracks the basics (name, age, physical description) plus the deeper layers: motivations, fears, internal contradictions, speech patterns, and how the character changes by the end.
When I wrote my sci-fi book, I based one character on my brother and another on a college roommate. Having those real-world anchors helped, but the sheet kept me honest about consistency. By chapter twelve, I could check whether a character's reaction matched what I'd established about their psychology in chapter two.
You can grab a free downloadable version from our character development sheet template page, which includes a fillable framework for all these fields.
4. Non-fiction book proposal template
If you're writing non-fiction, the template you need first isn't for the book itself. It's for the proposal. A non-fiction book proposal includes your book concept, target audience, competitive analysis (similar books and how yours differs), a chapter-by-chapter outline, and one or two sample chapters.
I wrote proposals for my books on startup growth, content marketing, and sales automation. Each proposal forced me to articulate why the book needed to exist before I wrote a single chapter. That clarity made the drafting process much faster.
Jane Friedman's website has the most thorough free proposal template I've found. It mirrors what literary agents expect to receive.
5. Snowflake Method template
Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake Method starts small and expands outward. You write a one-sentence summary of your book. Then a one-paragraph summary. Then a one-page synopsis. Then individual character summaries. Then a four-page synopsis. By the time you start drafting, you've already mapped the whole story at multiple levels of detail.
This approach works well for writers who feel overwhelmed by the blank page. Each step is small enough to complete in one sitting. The template guides you through all ten stages, from that initial sentence to a full scene list.
The method pairs well with understanding what a plot point is and how to place them at the right moments in your expanding outline.
6. Save the Cat beat sheet (adapted for novels)
Blake Snyder created the Save the Cat beat sheet for screenplays, but novelists have adapted it heavily. The template maps 15 specific beats across your story:
Opening Image
Theme Stated
Catalyst
Debate
Break Into Two
B Story
Midpoint
Bad Guys Close In
All Is Lost
Dark Night of the Soul
Break Into Three
Finale
Final Image
What makes this template useful is its specificity. Where the three-act structure tells you "something important happens in the middle," Save the Cat tells you what kind of thing should happen and why. The Midpoint is a false victory or false defeat. All Is Lost is the moment where the hero has lost everything. That precision helps you diagnose where your story is dragging.
Jessica Brody's book Save the Cat! Writes a Novel includes the adapted template. Free versions exist on multiple writing blogs.
7. Manuscript formatting template
This one is mechanical, but it matters. A manuscript formatting template sets up your document with industry-standard formatting:
Times New Roman or Courier
12-point font
Double-spaced lines
One-inch margins
Header with your name and title
Page numbers
Chapter breaks on new pages
Getting the format right before you draft means you can see accurate page counts and word counts per chapter as you write. It also means you're not scrambling to reformat when an agent requests the first 50 pages.
Both Shunn's manuscript format guide and Reedsy Studio offer free pre-formatted templates for Word and Google Docs.
8. World-building template
Fantasy and science fiction writers know this problem: you build a world with its own rules, history, geography, and cultures, and then somewhere around chapter twenty, you contradict yourself. A world-building template keeps track of it all. Sections include geography and maps, political systems, magic or technology rules, cultural norms, languages, and a timeline.
When I was building the world for my sci-fi novel, I kept a separate document outlining the rules for how the technology worked. Every time a character used a piece of tech in a scene, I checked it against the template. That consistency is what makes fictional worlds feel real to readers.
Notion and World Anvil both offer detailed world-building templates. If you're writing in a genre that demands invented worlds, using Scrivener's template system can also help organize your world-building notes alongside your manuscript.
9. Series bible template
If you're writing a series, you need a document that tracks everything across books:
Character ages and physical descriptions
Relationship statuses
Unresolved plot threads
World-building established in earlier volumes
Timeline continuity
That's a series bible.
The template includes sections for each book's summary, character evolution tracking, a master timeline, and a list of open questions or planted seeds that need payoff in future volumes. Even if you're only planning a trilogy, the series bible keeps you from giving a character brown eyes in book one and blue eyes in book three.
If you're building complex characters that need to stay consistent across volumes, a character profile template can serve as the individual character sheets within your larger series bible.
How to Choose the Right Template
Match the template to your project, not the other way around. If you're writing a standalone novel, the three-act structure or Save the Cat beat sheet will give you the strongest foundation. For non-fiction, start with the book proposal template even if you're self-publishing, because the exercise of defining your audience and competitive landscape shapes the entire book.
If you already have a draft and you're trying to fix structural problems, the chapter outline template helps you map what you've written and spot where the story goes sideways. For genre fiction with invented settings, combine a story-structure template with a world-building template. And if you're writing a series, the series bible becomes essential by book two.
Most of these templates work in Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or dedicated writing tools. Several are available as free downloads from the platforms mentioned above.
The point of a template is to give you a framework so the creative work happens inside a structure that holds together. I've used versions of most of these across five books, and the ones I keep coming back to are the ones that let me focus on the writing instead of worrying about whether the pieces fit.
Pick one. Customize it. Start writing.
Related Resources
FAQ
Here are answers to the most common questions about book writing templates.
Can I use a book writing template in Google Docs?
Yes. Most templates are available as Google Docs or can be imported from Word. Google Docs handles the formatting, commenting, and sharing tools you need for the drafting and revision stages.
Do professional authors use templates?
Many do. The three-act structure and beat sheets are templates, and authors like Brandon Sanderson and James Patterson have publicly spoken about using outlines that follow these templates. The label matters less than the habit of planning before drafting.
What's the difference between a template and an outline?
A template is a blank framework. An outline is what you create when you fill in that framework with your specific story, characters, and plot points. The template stays the same across projects; the outline is unique to each book.
Are free book writing templates as good as paid ones?
For most writers, yes. The free templates from Reedsy, Notion, and writing blogs cover the same structural ground as paid versions. Paid templates sometimes include additional guidance, video walkthroughs, or integration with specific writing software, but the structural content is the same.
How do I customize a template for my genre?
Start with the template closest to your genre's conventions, then adjust as needed. Romance novels need a meet-cute beat and a happily-ever-after ending. Thrillers need escalating tension and a ticking clock. Mystery novels need clue placement tracking. Add these genre-specific fields to whatever base template you're using.
Should I use a different template for fiction and non-fiction?
Yes. Fiction templates are built around narrative structure: acts, beats, character arcs. Non-fiction templates focus on argument structure: thesis, evidence, and chapter organization by topic. Using a fiction template for a non-fiction book or vice versa creates more problems than it solves.