So You Want to Write a Book...

Are you struggling to get your ideas down on paper? Do you find yourself staring at a blank page, unsure of where to start or how to organise your thoughts? Building an outline can be the key to unlocking your creative potential and producing well-written content. Its an essential skill in the writing process, and can help streamline your creative process. By creating a road-map for your ideas, outlining ensures that your work remains focused, coherent, and engaging from start to finish. It also helps to organise your thoughts, ensure that all main points are covered, and makes it easier to write without getting lost along the way.

Outlining may seem like a tedious task, but it’s an essential step in the writing process. By taking the time to outline your ideas, you can:

  • Clarify your thoughts and organise your ideas.
  • Create a road-map for your project, ensuring that you stay on track and don’t get lost along the way.
  • Focus on the actual writing without constantly pausing to figure out what comes next.
  • Ensure that all main points are covered and help to avoid gaps or inconsistencies in your final piece.
  • Save time by avoiding unnecessary revisions and rewrites.
  • Improve the overall structure and coherence of your writing.

“The first step in writing anything is always an outline… An outline is just a way of organising your thoughts before you put them down on paper or into a computer file.” – Randy Ingermanson, Writing Fiction for Dummies

The Importance of Outlining

Outlining is crucial because it helps you organise your thoughts, maintain focus, and avoid getting sidetracked while writing. It also makes the editing process more manageable by providing a clear structure for your work. Additionally, outlines can be invaluable when pitching ideas to publishers or editors, as they provide a concise overview of your project’s content and direction.

  1. Outlining Techniques:
    • Mind Mapping: Start by creating a mind map with all your ideas. This visual representation helps you organise your thoughts and identify connections between different concepts. Once you have captured all your ideas, you can begin to group them into logical categories or chapters.
    • The Outline: After creating your mind map, it’s time to write an outline that summarises the main points of each section in your project. This outline should be detailed enough to guide your writing but flexible enough to accommodate any new ideas or insights that emerge during the writing process. Remember, outlines are living documents that can evolve as you work on your project.
  2. Tailoring Your Outline:
    • Blog Posts and Informal Articles: For shorter pieces like blog posts or informal magazine articles, focus on capturing your main points in a simple outline format. This could be a list of headings with brief descriptions for each section. Keep it concise but comprehensive to ensure you cover all the necessary topics without getting bogged down in unnecessary detail.
    • Longer Projects: For longer projects like essays, novels, or non-fiction books, your outline will need to be more detailed and structured. This might include a chapter-by-chapter breakdown with subheadings for each section. As you write, refer back to this outline regularly to ensure that you’re staying on track and maintaining the overall structure of your project.
  3. Tips for Effective Outlining:
    • Batch Your Writing Process: If you’re working on multiple short pieces or have several projects in progress, try batching different stages of the writing process together. For example, create 10 outlines at once and then move onto drafting those outlines before returning to outline your next set of ideas.
    • Write a More Detailed Outline: If you don’t usually outline or find that your current outlining method isn’t effective enough, try writing a more detailed outline for your next project. This will provide a clearer road-map and help you stay focused during the writing process.
    • Edit Efficiently: Allocate sufficient time to editing, especially when working on longer projects. The more prepared you are through outlining, the easier it will be to identify and address any issues in your first draft.
  4. Factoring Outlining into Your Writing Schedule:
    Outlining can help make your writing process more efficient by providing a clear structure for your work. Allocate time for outlining at the beginning of each project, and factor in additional time for editing as needed based on the length and complexity of your project. By doing so, you’ll be better equipped to manage interruptions or setbacks during the writing process while still producing high-quality content.

A framework to build your outline

A framework for building an outline is a structured approach to organising the key elements of your story or nonfiction book. It helps you plan and develop your content in a logical order, ensuring that your ideas flow smoothly from one point to another. A well-built framework provides flexibility to experiment with different ideas before committing to writing the entire draft. Here’s an example of how to create a basic outline:

  1. Identify the main idea or thesis (for nonfiction) or central conflict (for fiction).
  2. Answer the 5 W’s (Who, What, When, Where, Why): Get clear on the essential elements of your story or book topic.
  3. Choose an existing template, there are various templates available to suit different writing styles and genres. You can use a simple linear list, an index card method, or more complex outlining tools like Scrivener. Or create one based on the following structure:
    • Idea (one sentence)
    • Protagonist (hero/heroine) of your story (one sentence)
    • Setting of your story (one sentence)
    • Break down your idea into smaller chunks: Divide your idea into five segments with one sentence for each segment.
  4. Break down your content into sections (chapters for books) and subsections if needed.
  5. Fill in the details: Add key points, supporting ideas, plot twists, character arcs, or any other relevant elements to your outline.
  6. Review and revise: Check that your framework covers all essential aspects of your story or book topic and fills any gaps or holes you might have missed.
  7. Start writing: With a solid framework in place, you can now confidently begin drafting your work knowing the structure will hold up throughout the entire project.

These guidelines are meant to be general suggestions rather than rigid rules. The key is to find an approach that works for you and helps you effectively plan and write your content.

A formula for building an outline

  1. Identify the main idea of your story or project, and write it down in one sentence. This will serve as a guiding principle throughout the outlining process.
  2. Determine the protagonist (hero or heroine) of your story and their role within the narrative. Write this down in one sentence.
  3. Identify the setting for your story, which could be real-world locations, fictional worlds, or a mix of both. Write this down as well.
  4. Break down the main idea into five segments with one-sentence descriptions each to explore different aspects of the overall concept.
  5. Continue breaking down these segments further if needed, adding more detail and subpoints for each segment until you have a comprehensive outline that covers all key elements of your story or project.
  6. Review and revise the outline as necessary, ensuring it is cohesive and follows a logical structure. This will help guide your writing process and make revisions easier in later stages.

Remember, outlines are living documents that can evolve as you work on your project. As you write and new ideas emerge, feel free to update or revise your outline accordingly.

Guidelines for building an outline

  1. Start with a broad idea: Begin by identifying the main topic or theme of your writing project, and break it down into smaller sections or chapters if you’re working on a book-length piece. Summarise your book’s big picture idea in one sentence.
  2. Brainstorm the 5 Ws (Who, What, Where, When, Why): Do a brain dump to brainstorm the main components of your book’s idea.
  3. Keep it simple: Don’t worry too much about detail at this stage; just focus on getting down the main ideas.
  4. Break down your content into sections or chapters: Divide your narrative into manageable parts based on its structure (e.g., beginning, middle, end). Assign a title to each section that reflects its content. List the major turning points, conflicts, resolutions, and character developments throughout your story or project. This will help you create a satisfying arc.
  5. Establish character profiles: Outline the main characters’ backgrounds, motivations, desires, fears, and growth throughout the narrative. This will help you understand their actions and choices in each scene.
  6. Be specific but flexible: Include enough detail to guide you through the writing process, but remain open to changes as ideas develop during drafting. An outline is a living document that can, and should, evolve with your work.
  7. Focus on key points: For each section or chapter, list the main ideas and supporting details needed to convey your message or tell your story effectively. This may include plot points, character arcs, or research findings.
  8. Organise chronologically (for narratives) or thematically (for non-fiction): If you’re writing a narrative, arrange your outline in the order of events. For non-fiction, group related ideas together to create sections that flow logically and coherently.
  9. Expand upon the key events with additional details and subplots: Flesh out individual scenes by describing their setting, mood, and specific actions of characters. Include any relevant subplots or side stories that contribute to the overall narrative.
  10. Use clear and concise language: Write your outline using simple, easy-to-understand terms so it remains accessible throughout the project. Avoid jargon or overly complex phrasing.
  11. Review and revise: The finalised outline should provide a clear road-map for your story or project, with each segment building upon the previous ones and leading towards a satisfying conclusion. Make adjustments if needed to ensure it is cohesive and follows a logical structure.
  12. Keep it manageable: Don’t overwhelm yourself by creating an overly detailed or lengthy outline that becomes cumbersome to work from. Aim for a balance between guidance and flexibility.

Common mistakes to avoid when building an outline

  1. Skipping the outline process: Creating an outline is essential for a smooth writing experience, as it helps you visualise your story’s structure and prevents you from getting lost in unnecessary details or tangents.
  2. Overcomplicating the outline: Keep your outline simple and easy to understand, focusing on main points and ideas without getting too detailed or complex.
  3. Not being flexible: Don’t be rigid with your book outline, but instead be flexible with your outline as you may need to adjust it during the writing process. It should be a guide rather than a strict set of rules. The best outlines are those that can be adapted and tweaked on-the-go.
  4. Over-planning: Instead of leaving some things open-ended or unscripted, don’t over-plan every detail. Leave room for creativity and spontaneity in the writing process.
  5. Not considering character arcs: Don’t forget to include character development and growth in your outline. A good story should have a clear arc for each main character.
  6. Focusing too much on plot twists: While surprises can be great, don’t prioritise them over other important elements like character development or thematic resonance.
  7. Neglecting pacing and structure: Balance action with slower-paced scenes to maintain reader interest throughout the story. Consider using a three-act structure for fiction or an organised flow for nonfiction.
  8. Not leaving room for discovery: Don’t try to plan out every single detail of your story before you start writing. Leave some things open-ended and allow yourself the freedom to discover new ideas as you write.
  9. Forgetting about subplots: An effective outline should include not only the main plot but also any subplots or side stories, as well as details on how characters will develop throughout the story. This helps create a more engaging narrative that keeps readers interested from beginning to end.
  10. Forgetting about revision: Remember that your outline is not set in stone, so review and revise it as needed during the writing process to keep it relevant and useful.

These ideas can help you avoid common pitfalls when building an outline, such as over-planning or neglecting important elements like character development.

Key takeaways on how to build an outline

  1. Start with a clear idea: Before building your outline, define what your story or piece of writing is about in one sentence. This will help you focus on what’s most important and guide the rest of your outline.
  2. Identify the protagonist: Determine who the central character is in your narrative and describe their role in a single sentence. This helps to establish the main perspective from which the story or article will be told.
  3. Break down complex ideas into smaller chunks: Use a hierarchical approach to break down your idea into smaller segments (e.g., 5-10 key points) and then further refine each segment into more detailed bullet points. This helps to create a structured outline that ensures all key points are covered in an organised manner.
  4. Keep it simple and flexible: Don’t worry too much about the order being exact; you can always change it later. An outline is meant to be a road-map, not a rigid plan.
  5. Use an iterative approach: Write your ideas down in stages (e.g., 10 ideas at once, then write 5 outlines) and refine each stage as needed.
  6. Make it detailed enough for you: Whether you’re writing fiction or non-fiction, create an outline that provides a clear road-map of what to cover. This can be high-level (a list of chapters) or very detailed (subsections with bullet points).

Conclusion

“An outline is not meant to be followed slavishly but rather used as a tool to help guide the writing process and keep it focused… It should provide enough structure so that you don’t get lost in the creative maze of story development.” – Jack M. Bickham, The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes (And How To Avoid Them)

Building an effective outline is essential for producing well-written content, and can greatly improve the quality and efficiency of your writing projects. Whether you’re working on a short blog post, an essay, or a book-length project, taking the time to create a well-structured outline will help guide your ideas, maintain focus, and ensure a smooth editing process. By following these tips, you can create a road-map for your project, clarify your thoughts, and save time in the long run. Remember to start with a mind map, break down your topic into smaller chunks, use keywords and phrases, and create an outline structure that works best for you.

By following these tips and examples, you’ll be well on your way to creating effective outlines that will help you produce high-quality content. Happy writing!