#outlining tips

Hello fellow writers!

I feel I've been fairly active here recently and seem to have met quite a few new folks, so I wanted to reach out for some advice. Please feel free to leave a comment or reblog, whichever is easiest for you!

Currently, I'm having an issue with keeping track of my book's plot progression. I've tried many different ways of outlining and/or taking notes, and even leaving comments in the sidebar of my doc. But nothing seems to be sticking and I'm still feeling very forgetful about things I've already written or need to keep in mind for later in terms of plot and character development.

I know this is a universal issue that writers have, and I guess I'm just wondering what you guys do to make it easier for yourselves to stay on track. This is absolutely still a first draft, so I'm not looking for perfection, I just want to make sure I'm including everything I need (no matter how small or how elaborate) to hopefully make the redrafting and/or editing process a little smoother for myself later!

on outlining: the blank page.

by popular demand from the dog stealing my pillow

outlining is, depending on who you ask, a vital step in the writing process. of course, it all depends on whether or not you are a plotter at all. if you’re a pantser, or somewhere in between, outlining might be a little difficult to get anywhere with. in this multi-part series, i’ll talk about a few different methods i have used as well as some pointers.

first, let’s begin with some general outlining tips to get you started!

THE BLANK PAGE: cultivating your idea.

might seem a little daunting at first. but this is where your story begins. write down any ideas that you might have for your wip. maybe that just means the concept, the premise, or a singular scene that you really want to happen. it doesn’t matter--write it down!

how many povs do you want? first or third person? omniscient or limited? alternating povs or something else? consider why you want this specific type of pov and how these characters can contribute to the story.

think about story structure. how do you want to divide the story up? of course, you don’t actually have to stick to it, but this might help you get started.

what tropes do you want to include? found family, there was only one bed, enemies to lovers, etc. 

maybe make a few graphics, or scroll through youtube for those 1 hr long playlists that just give you vibes. it might help immerse you a little bit more in your idea. make sure you save these things for later--if you get stuck, these could dig you out of a hole.

ramble to friends!! having someone to talk to and bounce ideas off of could get your idea to grow even further.

remember that anything you do at this point is subject to change. you’re loosely setting up how you want to tell the story, as well as figuring out how it’s going to be written. if you find out later down the line that you want to do something else, nothing is stopping you from changing it! 

depending on what sort of writer you are (plotter, pantser, or somewhere in between), the beginning steps of an outline may differ. when i’m putting together my more cohesive outlines, i write a lot more in the first step. when i’m just writing to chase after inspiration, wherever it might take me, i usually just write down a few thoughts that i know have to happen. it all depends on what’s comfortable with you!

what’s next: loose outlining for pansters.

I have been trying to make myself outline my wips for years now- with little success- until now. If you are someone who has trouble outlining, or someone who wants to give it a try, here are some do’s and don’ts that have helped me!

This is by no means a cure-all guide, it’s just what has helped me. So take what you need and leave the rest. :)

DO’s

DO keep it simple. An outline isn’t supposed to be anything other than the bare-bones of the sequence of your novel. Try to keep it limited and use notes for any details you must remember. This will keep it neat and provide lots of room to expand when you begin writing.

DO write what you know and fill in the blanks! (This is probably the tip that saved me the most from myself) Your outline doesn’t have to be perfect- especially when you’re first starting. Write the events you know will happen and place them in their approximate spots, then fill in any holes in your outline. (This is also great to weed out any plot-holes your story may have)

DO know your story structure. Work with the big things first. Determine your ending, resolution, climax, inciting incident, and beginning. Knowing the larger whole of your story will help you when you’re finding the route from point A to point B.

DO divide up your outline. Separating your planing into more digestible sections is essential to keeping organized. When I divvy up my outline, scenes are much easier to find. You could divide it up by: scenes, time changes, chapters, or any other unit. 

DO color code! I was hesitant to use color coding in my outline, but I’ve found that it is saves a lot of time when looking for scenes, and having an idea of the flow of my story. It helps to break up the “bad” with the “good” scenes and maintain a good story flow. (Ex. I have a color for any “bad” scenes, a color for scenes involving my love interest, a color for my MC’s inner thoughts/feelings, this list goes on...) 

DON’TS

DON’T sweat the small stuff. Your outline doesn't need all the details- thats what drafting is for. Keep it short and sweet with the most important and crucial bits only. It isn't called an "outline" for nothing. This is the lines of your story! Leave the shading and coloring for your draft!

DON'T stress about your story sequence. You don’t need to know everything in perfect succession- in fact that’s why you need an outline in the first place. Don’t stress about having plot/timeline holes, continue on your outline with what you do know and skip spaces. Whatever is missing will come to you eventually. (This also gives you more time to think through things and figure out what will fit!)

DON'T give up! Outlining is a long and hard process, but isn't without reward! Having an outline for your story is a good way to help prevent against inconsistencies, plot holes, and time gaps in your writing!

I hope this is helpful to any plotters developing an outlining style/process!

People have methods to outlining? 😳

Idk if this is a method but if it is it’s the most basic 😂

I start off by labeling the chapter, but since I’m not titling chapters I leave myself a note about what the main focus of that chapter is (ex. Chapter One - After X and Y meet, they fall of a cliff)

Since I’m writing in multiple first person POV (and my dumbass usually forgets what time of the day it is), before actually outlining what the chapter entails I leave myself a note in bright red highlight telling me whose POV the chapter will be told from and what time/point of the day it is (ex. **This chapter is told through X’s POV // **This is the beginning of DAY ONE or This is the evening of DAY TWO)

After both these things are taken care of, I just start outlining! The simplest way to describe it is I immediately jot down whatever I had previously planned just to get it out my head then I add additional notes along the way. Sometimes ideas fall into place and I incorporate them. For example, the last time I outlined I was outlining chapter three and I’d left off at a point where I didn’t know where to go from there, but ideas eventually came rushing so I sifted through them and jotted them down. Here’s a sneak peak of me just writing down notes:

As you can see, it’s not the most detailed, but it leaves enough room for me to improvise or add/change things if I want to.

Adding onto that ^, I don’t treat outlines as something that I HAVE to abide by; it’s just a template so I have a general idea of the direction i want to go in. As I delve deeper into the writing process, things can and inevitably will change. 

Lastly, after I’m done noting everything I expect to occur within a given chapter, I close the chapter with a note to myself saying “The chapter ends here, so cue Chapter Two”. This is followed by additional notes that didn’t make it to the main notes because it pertains to background information; it’s sort of like the “P.S.” part of my outlining. For example, I have a character in this WIP who suspects something fishy is going on with my MCs, so she opts to investigate them. However, she’s not relevant to the story at this point (however I still need to keep track of what she’s doing) so i leave notes as to her actions for her later appearance when she actual comes into the storyline.

Here’s an example:

Ashalle leaves the personality-less guard behind and goes with the cute mechanic lady to the observatory where they talk about the mural there.

While the scene I'm actually writing goes a little more like:

Dlan (not Ashalle) explores with the no-longer-peronality-less and actually very smol and sweet guard who burned breakfast, instead of the mechanic because the mechanic had an emotional meltdown and fucking vanished, and they find a theater where Dlan suddenly realizes she was an actress (???? Wtf Dlan are you for real???) and tells the guard a bunch of random lies about her backstory and then the mural they were supposed to find fucking hits them over the head because goddammit that was the whole point of this scene you fools.

You don’t have to always think of a plot, if I’m honest! Sometimes, it can be incredibly helpful to just dive into your story with only a vague idea where you’re going, let it develop naturally, and then look back at the end product and ideas you’ve presented and organize them after the fact. (This is often my personal method of writing, and I find if fairly effective. Even if I do get stuck here and there, the story itself is more interesting and I’m more interested in writing it, given that even I’m not sure where it’s going!)

There’s a lot of different ways to organize your plot! There’s this post from another blog which makes note of the fifteen major plot points a story usually has, which can help you out! And while I know for a fact I made a post about different ways to organize plot before, tumblr refuses to let me find it so I’m going to link you to a few different websites with a number of techniques here, here, and my own personal method here!