Effective Outlining: Creating An Outline

Step 1

Start with the big picture by crafting the premise/underlying idea of the story.
Expand on this premise, asking:

  • Who is the main protagonist and how will they change from the beginning to end?
  • What is the situation and central conflict?
  • What are the character’s objectives and wants/needs?
  • What are the stakes—what will happen if the character fails or doesn’t get what they want?

Write a one-paragraph summary of the novel

Step 2

Determine the setting. Setting should relate to the story, either because it directly effects the story or characters or because it sets the right tone/mood.

Research the details and plan how they will interact with the story

  • What elements will impact the story?
  • What elements will set the tone/mood

Determine secondary scenes.

  • Determines which scenes will play out in what settings
  • There should be a good reason for each placement

Step 3

Write character profiles

  • Include backstory, current situation, and endpoint
  • Determine what the character needs to learn by the end of the story
  • Plot the steps the characters will need to take to resolve internal issues
  • Determine what external forces will push the character to develop

Develop secondary characters

  • Develop limited backstory
  • Develop how they influence or support the main characters
  • Determine their mini-arc in relation to the main storyline

Step 4

Construct the plot

  • Construct a timeline of events broken into the 3-Act structure
  • Act 1: Meet Cute, Refusal/Rejection
  • Act 2: Giving in, Testing the relationship, Midpoint crisis, Reconciliation, Falling in love, Breaking up
  • Act 3: The sacrifice, the HEA/HFN

Break the timeline events into chapters

  • Each chapter MUST have a timeline event
  • Don’t cram too many events into each chapter

Step 5

Develop individual scenes with a chapter-by-chapter outline

  • Organize major events into appropriate chapters
  • List one major event/scene for every chapter
  • Each chapter should have its own theme and major/minor plot point

Add limited details about what will happen in each scene

  • Something must happen in each chapter: action or character development
  • Each plot point should move the story forward and be relevant
  • There needs to be constant progression in the storyline and the characters

Add as much details as necessary to guide the writing

  • Develop setting, character traits, backstory, and more
  • Focus on the big picture elements first

Published by

DelSheree

DelSheree Gladden was one of those shy, quiet kids who spent more time reading than talking. Literally. She didn't speak a single word for the first three months of preschool. Her fascination with reading led to many hours spent in the library and bookstores, and eventually to writing. She wrote her first novel when she was sixteen years old, but spent ten years rewriting it before having it published. Native to New Mexico, DelSheree and her family spent several years in Colorado for college and work before moving back home to be near family. When not writing novels, you can find DelSheree reading, painting, sewing, and working with other authors. DelSheree has several bestselling young adult series and has hit the USA Today Bestseller list twice as part of box sets. DelSheree also has contemporary romance, cozy mystery, and paranormal new adult series. Her writing is as varied as her reading interests.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.