The Snowflake Method, Step by Step

The Snowflake Method is Randy Ingermanson's ten-step way to design a novel before you write it: start with a one-sentence summary, expand it to a paragraph, then keep expanding the story and the characters in turn until you have a list of every scene, and then write the first draft. Ingermanson, a novelist with a PhD in physics who also worked as a software architect, has published it free on his website since 2003.

He named it after the snowflake fractal, which starts as a single triangle and grows by adding detail at every step. In his words: "you start small, then build stuff up until it looks like a story" (Ingermanson, The Snowflake Method).

Where Does the Snowflake Method Come From?

The method's first line has not changed in more than twenty years: "Good fiction doesn't just happen, it is designed." It appears word for word in the 2003 version of the article on his old site, then called "The Snowflake Process for Writing" and marked "copyright Randall Ingermanson, 2003" (2003 version, archived).

Ingermanson says he used a nonfiction version of it first: "I wrote my PhD thesis in physics back in 1986 using a nonfiction version of the Snowflake Method" (interview, Creative Writing Now). In 2014 he turned it into a book, How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method, told as a story about Goldilocks writing her first novel. By then the article had been viewed "more than 4 million times" (book announcement, 2014, archived).

What Are the 10 Steps of the Snowflake Method?

Ingermanson numbers his steps and does not name them. The short names below are descriptive; the quotes and times are his, from the article.

1. One sentence (an hour). "Take an hour and write a one-sentence summary of your novel." His hints: "Shorter is better. Try for fewer than 15 words," and "No character names, please!" He calls the sentence a "ten-second selling tool."
2. One paragraph (an hour). Expand the sentence into a paragraph "describing the story setup, major disasters, and ending of the novel", about five sentences. He likes "three disasters plus an ending," and the second and third disasters "should be caused by the protagonist's attempts to 'fix things'."
3. A page for each character (an hour each). For each major character: the name, a one-sentence storyline, their motivation ("what does he/she want abstractly?"), their goal ("what does he/she want concretely?"), their conflict, their epiphany ("what will he/she learn, how will he/she change?"), and a one-paragraph storyline.
4. A one-page skeleton (several hours). "Expand each sentence of your summary paragraph into a full paragraph. All but the last paragraph should end in a disaster."
5. Character synopses (a day or two). A page for each major character and half a page for the other important ones, telling the story "from the point of view of each character."
6. A four-page synopsis (a week). Each paragraph from step 4 becomes a page.
7. Character charts (a week). Everything about each character, and "most importantly, how will this character change by the end of the novel?" By this point the design "may take a full month of solid effort."
8. A scene list. "Make a spreadsheet detailing the scenes that emerge from your four-page plot outline": one line per scene, a column for the point-of-view character and a wide one for what happens. His run "over 100 lines long," and a good one "can take a week."
9. A narrative description (optional). Each scene expanded into a few paragraphs. His note on it now: "(Optional. I don't do this step anymore.)"
10. The first draft. "Just sit down and start pounding out the real first draft of the novel."

His case for the up-front work is time: "There is no reason to spend 500 hours writing a wandering first draft of your novel when you can write a solid one in 150," plus about 100 hours of design.

Is the Snowflake Method Only for Plotters?

No. Ingermanson suggests it to writers who have already drafted: a seat-of-the-pants writer staring at a finished draft that needs rewriting can work through the steps to see what the story is. Reporting on his conference session in October 2011, the ACFW e-zine summed up his position: the method "works for pantsers, plotters, and plotsers," who can use the parts that suit them (ACFW report).

He is also clear that the plan is not fixed. "It's always okay at any stage of the design process to go back and revise earlier stages," and halfway through a first draft he usually stops to fix "all the broken parts" of his design documents. If you are still deciding how much to plan at all, outlining or discovery writing weighs the two approaches.

How Do the Three Disasters Fit the Three-Act Structure?

Ingermanson maps them directly. The first disaster ends Act 1, the second is the middle of Act 2, and the third ends Act 2 and forces Act 3. Each disaster takes about a quarter of the book, and the ending takes the last quarter. In his interview he describes the same shape as a four-act structure, with the disasters at roughly 25%, 50% and 75%.

That puts them where Syd Field's plot points fall, so the Snowflake's paragraph can sit on top of a three-act outline without changing it.

How Do You Use the Snowflake Method in Deckle?

Deckle is a novel-writing app, and its Outliner board and Codex hold every step of the design in the same project as the draft.

1. Step 1. Open the Outliner on the Draft, choose Add › Scene, name the card, and write your sentence in its synopsis.
2. Step 2. Add five Folder cards: the setup, three disasters and the ending, each with its sentence as the synopsis. The scenes for each part go inside them later.
3. Steps 3, 5 and 7. In the Codex, add a Character entry for each major character. The built-in Character template has sections for Motivation & Goals, Flaw / Inner Conflict, The Lie They Believe, Arc and Backstory, along with Appearance and Personality. The epiphany goes under Arc. A story bible covers what else is worth keeping there.
4. Steps 4 and 6. Grow each folder's synopsis as the paragraph grows into a page.
5. Step 8. Open each folder and add its scenes as cards, each with what happens in the synopsis. Switch the Outliner to its list, and every scene becomes a row with its synopsis, status, label and word count. For the point of view, make a label for each POV character (the pencil beside Status in the Inspector's Properties opens Edit labels & statuses) and set one on each row. For anything else, such as pages planned, the + at the end of the list's header adds a column of your own.
6. Step 10. Open the first scene's card and start writing. The Outliner is also where you move scenes around when the draft changes the plan.

Common Mistakes

• Treating the step names as Ingermanson's. He only numbers the steps. Any names, including the ones here, are someone else's shorthand.
• Treating step 9 as required. He says himself that he no longer does it.
• Making 15 words a hard limit. His wording is "Try for fewer than 15 words."
• Letting every disaster come from outside. Only the first should. The second and third come from the hero trying to fix things, which is what makes the story about the hero.
• Waiting for the design to be perfect. "It doesn't have to be perfect. The purpose of each step in the design process is to advance you to the next step."

Sources

Retrieved 17 October 2026.

• Randy Ingermanson, The Snowflake Method for Designing a Novel, Advanced Fiction Writing (archived copy, October 2026).
• Randall Ingermanson, The Snowflake Process for Writing (2003, archived).
• Randy Ingermanson, My New Book: How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method, Advanced Fiction Writing blog (21 July 2014, archived).
• Creative Writing Now, Interview with Randy Ingermanson, Creator of The Snowflake Method.
• ACFW Afictionado, Continuing Education 2: The Snowflake Method (October 2011 conference report).