Tips on Outlining?

Hey!

So I'm writing a mystery novel and I realized that I'm going to need a lot of outlining to make sure it doesn't crumble in tiny pieces of disappointment.

Do you have any tips on outlining?

Hey there!

In all honestly, I never outlined my stories until about five months ago. I had this allergic reaction to even trying, like I thought it would kill my story. And then I tried, and...I wrote more coherently on that novel than I've written on anything else (that I actually enjoy) in my life.

So outlining, while it's hard at first, is a skill that I really believe has major potential to help writers. End cheesy speech. Start cheesy links.

One of the outlining methods I used was the Snowflake Method. Now, by no means did I use the whole thing! I skipped a couple of steps, reworded a couple, and totally ignored the "suggested times" the guy gives you for how long you should be writing something. Basically, though, my end product was the same: I knew my characters, I knew my protagonists' and my antagonists' character arcs, and I knew my plot inside and out.

Of course, I had a handy helper when I used the Snowflake Method, because I have a writing program called Scrivener, which is by no means a necessity. It has an outliner format for your files, so my "spreadsheet" outlining was done entirely in the program where I did all my writing. (There's a thirty-day free trial if you don't have it but want to check it out, and I know there are a bunch of free writing programs out there, too, that help with plot - so maybe check out some of those?)

Tips that don't pertain to following specific methods:

Let your outline be open to revision. This is not your set-in-stone work, and it shouldn't be treated like it; it's simply a loose guideline for what will go on within the work. Let things change as you change and discover more that you want to explore about the characters and world.

Don't force the ending to fit your original idea. I know this seems like a no-brainer that ties into my previous point, but you're probably going to start with a specific ending in mind, right? And you're going to want the novel to end that way, right? The problem is that along the way, your characters and plot are apt to change in ways that make your original ending nigh impossible.

In all honesty, most of my tips on outlining boil down to if things change, let them change. Changes have interesting effects on what goes on in a novel, so hey, why not ride the wave instead of swimming against it?

Thanks so much for taking time to write me some tips! I'll definitely look into these!

I also used to be super against outlining because I was afraid it would take away from the spontaneity of my writing and it would make writing less fun. Well in my most recent project, about a third of the way through I had this huge plot crisis and I had no idea where I was going with the story so I stopped everything and plotted the rest of the novel, and now I love plotting.

I did a version of Rydia's Plot Your Way. I started with the main story line (the love story) and grabbed several pieces of paper. I work best with pen and paper but you could also easily do this on a computer. I made a dot for the starting point and wrote down what that is. Then I drew a long line and put the end point and where I wanted MC to end up. I added in the major plot points along the way that would get her there - like she had to meet the love interest, she had to have this identity crisis of sorts, she had to realize she was in love with the guy, etc. Then in between those big plot points I figured out which smaller events were going to have to happen in order for her to arrive at those bigger plot points.

Once I was satisfied with her line I did the same for my secondary characters and my sub-plots. When my MC met a new character or a new sub-plot started, I created a line out of the main line to show this new character's plot line. (This was color-coordinated and beautiful). Sometimes the sub-plot/secondary character's lines will merge with the main line and sometimes they'll be off doing their own thing. I'm a very visual person and using lines helped me see how all of the story lines fit together and worked. When you've mapped out all of the lines, you can figure out where your chapter breaks or scene breaks will make the most logical sense.

I'm using a method like this now for the re-write of an older novel project combined with some free writing about who my characters are and where I want their stories to go.

Experiment with what works best for you and what is the most helpful to you. There is no right or wrong way to plot or outline. For me, it helpful to be very visual and to keep things vague enough that I know what's happening, but there is still plenty of room for surprises as I'm writing.

Thanks so much for the advice. I'm really enjoying the website that Larenine has given to me but thank you nonetheless for taking time to help me.

The big thing to keep in mind about outlining is that what works for one person may not work for another. I've heard the Snowflake Method praised many a times, and I've seen it have good results. Whenever I try to use it I get that deer in the headlights feeling and end up just not working on my story at all. lol

As of right now all the outlining I do is pretty simple. I create character ref sheets (like the ones you fill out for roleplays), I write out the general way I want the plot to go (noting when things line up with subplots), and that's pretty much it. I will probably be more thorough in the future, but right now that's all I can handle. (plus a lot of what I'm writing right now are just shorts, so outlining for them is a little easier due to the fact that there isn't as much stuff)

So I guess what I'm trying to say is always be open to new ways. One way might work good now, but you'll never know if there's a better way (for you) unless you try. Everyone on YWS is really friendly and usually they have great advice, but in the end what matters is which one works for you.

Good luck with your outlining!

I didn't do much of an outlining, to be honest. What I did do was imagine the starting and ending of my novel. Then, put in some general scenes or plotlines within it, and from there, I just wrote. I was more to thinking the current scene rather than thinking the future one. I always knew I could edit stuffs later on, so instead of focusing more on outlining, I tried to finish the novel first.

That being said, outlining is important for some writers. It would do to avoid possible plot holes, and also writer's block, because you know what you're going to write next? Anyway, like the previous poster said, just try using the way you're most comfortable with!

I haven't seen this method pitched yet, so here's what I (roughly) do:

It's similar to Carlito's method, but instead of one long line, I take index cards. I proceed to have the start point, then the approximate end point (it can and does change, depending on how the rest of the story plots out), then I start writing down scenes.

I am a writer who tends to go "what's the next cool thing I want to write about?" and base my story around a whole bunch of heart stopping tension points... that don't really ever have a place, just a general "I want it to happen." For every single one of those scenes, I put them on index cards and place them in some rough order.

Once I have stuff on a general timeline made up of all these scenes I really, really want to write, I start filling in how I'm going to get there. Say my climax involves discovering who the villain has to be— what evidence will it take for my MC to make that realization? Do I have any scenes in my want to write list that help the climax come along? Can I think of other awesome scenes I really want to write that'll help this come along?

The general concept is, I string myself along this line from cliff to cliff, going from one interesting scene to another. Sometimes I have to throw out scenes because they no longer make sense, but I end up with something so much better that it's worthwhile in the long run.

Usually, throwing out the scenes results because I was thinking of what I wanted to do instead of what my characters wanted to do. So as I've changed as a writer, my outlining has resulted in more "what do I find cool and what is plausible within the confines of the character", which means I've been throwing out fewer scenes.

I also toss in overreaching themes. Finding love tends to be a huge one, and it's not really important for outlining more as something I like to centre some scenes around, just as a reminder why I'm writing. I want to show people finding little scraps of positivity even in darkness, so I try to throw in some good, somewhere, just to give readers a break.