Tips for Outlining

There are several posts from James D. Macdonald, who posts as "Uncle Jim" on outlining

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=82509#post82509

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=82606#post82606

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=82992#post82992

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=83683#post83683

And here's a post from badducky, who publishes as J. M. McDermott

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79297

I could never outline unless I already had a good lot of ideas in mind, so that's the first thing I'd suggest.

Then when I did do an outline (I don't use them anymore), I jotted down all the scenes I wanted to take place in the story. Then I put them in order. (You can do this on notecards or the computer, it doesn't matter.)

Then I looked to see where there were holes or weak points in the story where I didn't have anything happening, and I mulled over what should go in those spots. I came up with more events that tied in to the story (i. e., wasn't just filler) and put them in there to patch up the holes.

Then, once all the scenes were complete and in order, I made up my outline by naming each scene (like a short title--it doesn't matter how creative it is since nobody will ever see it) and using a sentence or two to summarize what happens in every one.

I ended up with an outline consisting of scene titles and brief summaries. These fell into place in chapters as I saw fit when I began writing.

That's how I found it most useful to do it. Like I said, I don't do this anymore, and I did it only a few times, so there are perhaps better ways out there. Doesn't hurt to try though.

I find that outlines work best if they read like the pub narrative version of the finished novel, and are built around the reversals, e.g: "Eric's this hard viking guy, but one day he wakes up with no arms or legs......., however....., but... Worse,....!"

Medievalist - thanks for the links to JD Macdonald's posts. I didn't outline my first novel. I knew the people and plot so well I didn't really need it down on paper. This time I'm outlining and I like his ideas on positional play and picture outlining.

Outlining is difficult to do, because most of the time you are just struggling to develop your plot. But if you have a pretty good idea of where you want to go, an outline can be very helpful.

I recommend the following free outline software for Windows:

Keynote

It is no longer being developed, but the last version (1.6.5) is stable and mature.

(Gee, this is post #50 for me. It took three years!)

When I developed an outline for the mystery I'm writing, I took a stack of scrap paper and wrote just one to five words of the important action on each scrap. I spread them out on a large table and put them in order. Even with just a few words on each ("Body discovered" or "Intro coroner", etc), I could really get into the story, and it helped me find the holes in the action or places that need filling with background info. I also found questions that needed answering. As the story developed, I found I could group several cards and they eventually worked into perfect scenes. Using these scrap papers were easy to shift around if the sequence wasn't to my liking.

When I was satisfied with the outline as they were laid out, I gathered up the papers in order and transferred the information into the computer. On the computer I fleshed out this bare-bones outline with more information. Done!

Good luck with your novel!

I've always had trouble doing outlines, but I've also known I needed to them so I've been on the lookout for new ideas. The one I'm working with now evolved out of one described in a book called Write Faster, Write Better.

Basically, I made a list of chapters in a Word document and assigned them a word count goal. Once I hit the overall total of the book, I had the number of chapters I needed. Since I tend to run short, this gave me an idea of where things need to happen.

Then I assigned bullet points to each chapter. The bullets were very simply written; maybe five to seven words max. No details. Just things like "Monster finds them" or "Establish backstory for MC."

Thanks also for those links, Medievalist. I too think I need to try outlining more and appreciate the help!