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by Paul Hollis (TopShelf Columnist)
Twitter @HollowManSeries | TheHollowManSeries.com
To outline or not to outline. That is the
question. Is it better to create a plan or just
cliff-dive into the rough seas of novel
writing? Some writers will tell us they never
start a novel until they have ten scenes
plotted on a timeline with character sketches
for the primary characters. Others will say
they never intend to start a new novel at all.
The story just happens.
No matter how they do or do not plan, a
novice cannot duplicate a pro’s success by
copying his planning techniques. Study
established authors to understand what they
write and why, not how they planned to write
it. You must create your own plan that works
within your personal writing environment.
At the highest level, a plan will guide
authors and remind them of important story
elements. The moments can be metaphorical,
suggest types of real situations to create, or
contain actual story description and dialogue.
How extensive should an outline be? The
answer depends on the author.
Let’s begin this discussion by looking at
some of the advantages of planning:
• During planning writers become inspired
and creativity wakes up. When a novel is
planned, many different ideas and creative
juices start flowing.
• Equate planning to thinking about. When
planning something like a birthday party or
a family trip, one is thinking about it,
getting excited, organizing, sorting out
details, preparing.
• A plan can shorten the time an author
spends actually writing a novel because
what’s coming next is already known.
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PLANNING YOUR BOOK
summarizes each of the main characters
by listing their name, personal features,
storyline appearances, goals, conflicts, etc.
These continue to expand into full blown
character sheets.
If a writer is somewhat resistant to
general outlining processes, the signpost
methodology may be better suited for
their needs. The writer fills in place
holders which briefly note the types of
scenes needed including the characters,
setting, and a general idea of what
happens in each scene but not
necessarily all of the details. The writer
lays the groundwork for the basics up
front then develops the nuances of each
scene in the drafting stage.
Lastly, some writers simply do not
want to or are unable to outline. Some
brains are just not wired to be
“structured”. Those who prefer to write
by the seat of their pants are lovingly
called pantsers. Although pantsers play
in the land of Nod where anything goes,
many trick themselves into creating a kind of
pseudo outline by writing what’s called a
zero or discovery draft. This is too
unstructured to be a true first draft even
though pantsers believe it is their best initial
attempt. However, many times it is
remarkably more extensive and detailed
than the above outlines. In fact, it can run to
100 or 200 pages. If a new writer follows
this loose methodology it should be written
quickly. It is permissible to skip entire
swathes of the actual story replaced by
rough idea notes of what should occur, such
as “something happens here” or “somehow
they get out of the building.”
An outline can come in practically any
shape and format as we’ve seen. It can be a
short step-by-step plan or a detailed piece of
work with extensive descriptions of all major
events and characters. Make your outline
selection based on whatever is appropriate for
your specific style, level of patience, detail
requirements, comfort, etc. Don’t go
overboard on planning, but do plan smart.
Vivid understanding and visualization of your
novel’s piece/parts are critical to your novel.
We’ve only touched on a few outlining
methodologies here. For more details of the
methodologies above and a thousand more,
simply Google “writing outlines” for more
information and ways to document a novel.
A NOVEL APPROACH
• It helps with research because an author
generally knows the details being sought.
• A plan helps with plot pacing.
• There is an opportunity to see problems in
future work before they potentially become
difficult to redirect.
• Finally a plan can help with writer’s block
because, once again, next steps are already
in place.
There is nothing more comforting than having
some kind a roadmap when the going gets
tough, especially for new authors. This is the
primary reason I encourage a plan but I don't
recommend an author do more detailed
planning than necessary – not if the author
doesn't find it useful.
Let’s look at a few outlining models and
how they help with planning.
A structured outline is the most common
methodology used by writers today. It is also
the most restrictive to the writing process,
leaving little room for changing original
character and plot design. You may still
painfully remember being taught its inner
workings in grammar school. Structured
outlines contain detailed written descriptions
of individual scenes as it progresses in a
linear fashion through a novel. It is the exact
reason so many writers hate outlining. Such
structured methodologies create a dump
truck full of details and suck the fun right
out of writing.
The three-act methodology is one of the
best approaches for writers who are more
concerned with structure than the specifics of
character or plot, although this method does
allow the opportunity to be very specific about
them. The structure relies on the basic
beginning, middle, and end format the reader
is most familiar with in storytelling. Based on
the structure of the theater, the first quarter of
the novel establishes setting, time period,
conflict, characters, goals, and quest. Act two
is the fifty percent in the middle where the
reader expects rising action and increasing
stakes. The third act in the final quarter of the
story where strands of the plot are drawn
together and matters are resolved.
The snowflake method offers the writer
some useful tools for brainstorming, allowing
them a bit more creativity within its structure.
The basic idea here is to begin with a one-
sentence summary of the book followed by a
paragraph-long summary. Each sentence in
the one-paragraph plot summary is expanded
into its own paragraph. Each of these
paragraphs in turn is expanded into individual
scenes. At the same time, the author
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