on Jane Friedman site:
For some, the most intimidating part of writing a novel happens well before pen ever hits paper: Planning, or plotting, as those in the business like to say. The trick is finding a plotting, or outlining, style that works for you. In my experience, one of the most effective ways to plot a novel is to Puzzle-Piece your story together from details you already know.
This article will walk you through assembling the puzzle you already have the means to solve, starting with Genre, then moving to Setting, Themes, Characters, and ultimately a Sequence of Events, or outline.
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog 