Young Writers Society

I'm trying to make a plot oultine formy new plot. For my first novel, I winged it completely and it came out a complete mess. I couldn't find a way to tend to the many plot holes and to wrap up all the plot and sub-plots into a single ending. Then the plot just ran out of steam. I lost interest. Anyways, I decided to start with an outline this time for my new story, but for some reason I can't do it. How exactly do you outline a plot? Is a flowchart of scenes and events? Summaries of each chapter? Thanks for your help.

I think outlining is all about what works for you. Though, I'm not the outlining type. For sure, you use the formulaic outlining chart like this:

[pre]I. MAIN IDEA
A. Subsidiary idea or supporting idea to I
B. Subsidiary idea or supporting idea to I
1. Subsidiary idea to B
2. Subsidiary idea to B
a) Subsidiary idea to 2
b) Subsidiary idea to 2

II. MAIN IDEA
A. Subsidiary or supporting idea to II
B. Subsidiary idea to II
C. Subsidiary idea to II

III. MAIN IDEA[/pre]

Or you can do cluster charts/bubble maps which are each big event is in a bubble or cluster, with less important information leading off of it.

Or you can do this --

Cal wrote:Chapter Five

Fencing
Jack comes in
Flower shop Archie/Jack/Henry
Adele's - Archie gives flowers and spend time together
Regan's first day at work (crabby)

That is from my outline for Guttersnipe Chapter Five.

Constructing An Outline? by Snoink

Example of Outline by Phorcys

How to Write A Chapter by Snoink (This one is more the not outlining way to go, which is how I usually write)

I'd try different ways until I found one that worked for me. The way I "outline" is I write down a specific goal I want to happen in the chapter or where I want it to end up and then the things I want to happen off of that.

Good luck,
Cal.

Cal had lovely advice! There is also a user group called The Elements of Plot, I believe? We have a section on outlines there, and the user group its self is really awesome while y ou are in the middle of plotting.

Hope that helps! I'll have to go find some linkys to post, as well.

There isn't much I can add to what has already been said.

Basically you can outline however you like, just so long as it makes sense to you.

But if you have no idea how to begin, then it's probably a good idea to first write down how you want the story to start, and how you want it to end. Then you can start thinking about you want things to progress from A to B.

I don't outline
For most things, I just "wing it" like you said... and it's worked out fine for me. Usually if I have a concept I think is interesting, I'll just start writing and see what happens. Like in my story Snow (you read it) I had absolutely no idea what it would be about until I typed it! The ending was as much a surprise to me as everyone else.

Anyway, so I don't think outlines are necessary. I've tried and they just get in the way, I find

~Azila

I've spent about 2 months outlining and refining my fantasy story, and I'm sure its gonna be a hell of a lot better that way than if I 'wing it'. I did try this winging business a while back, but I found my first draft was so large it was impossible to edit it completely afterwards.

To change an outline? That is easy.

I guess that ultimately, it comes down to whatever suits you. If you are a winger, go for it and be prepared. If you are incredibly gifted and can outline without too much effort, lucky you! For me, it's really difficult, but I'm sure it will be more rewarding.

Ooops, a little more than 2 cents...

DL

When I do outline (that is, when I'm writing a comicbook script or a long story I've got already figured out and just want to have clear in my head) I do something really simple... Which is just grabbing a piece of paper and writing really small things for each paragraph/section. For example:

- Stranger walks into town. Visits grave.
- 1869: Foster kills a hostage. Jonah gets upset. ("I'm a mean cat")
- Flashback to when they were kids. They run around, playing. Two-Gun Howie comes wounded to their house. They take him in.

You don't have to outline every single subplot, thematic idea, and dialogue. You just got to have something that will help you keep in mind what you're trying to do, and what order you want to do it in. This is helpful specially when writing scripts of some kind, but also when writing stories and novels.

i don't outline. i keep a notebook that is basically my "idea notebook" and i write down all my characters and important things about them. Then I write little thoughts that come to me - i.e. "she has a pet hamster," "she loves the color blue." I make sure I know the character before I even THINK about writing a plot. then, once the characters are real and relatable, i work out my plot. i don't make an outline, i just kind of write a summary, and as something occurs to me i'll add it to the summary. i rarely have a completely flawless plot until the second draft - my first draft i leave room for new ideas to spring up where they want to.

i'm not sure if that helped or not lol. i'm a pretty disorganized writer. but good luck!