Outlining Your Novel_Map Your Way to Success Read online

  Outlining Your Novel:

  Map Your Way to Success

  K.M. Weiland

  PenForASword Publishing

  Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success

  Copyright © 2011

  K.M. Weiland

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher and copyright owner.

  Published by PenForASword Publishing

  Dedicated to my beloved Savior,

  who outlines my life much better

  than I do those of my characters.

  And to my mother,

  who reads every post,

  watches every video,

  and encourages me every day.

  K.M. Weiland lives in make-believe worlds, talks to imaginary friends, and survives primarily on chocolate truffles and espresso. She is the author of the historical western A Man Called Outlaw, the medieval epic Behold the Dawn, and the fantasy Dreamlander, as well as Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story. When she’s not making things up, she’s busy mentoring other authors through her blog http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com. She makes her home in western Nebraska. Visit her on her website (http://www.kmweiland.com), Facebook, or Twitter to participate in her Writing Question of the Day (#WQOTD). You can email her at [email protected].

  Table of Contents

  Introduction

  Chapter One: Should You Outline?

  Misconceptions About Outlining

  Misconception #1: Outlines Require Formal Formatting

  Misconception #2: Outlines Limit Creativity

  Misconception #3: Outlines Rob the Joy of Discovery

  Misconception #4: Outlines Take Too Much Time

  Benefits of Outlining

  Ensures Balance and Cohesion

  Prevents Dead-End Ideas

  Provides Foreshadowing

  Smoothes Pacing

  Indicates Preferable POVs

  Maintains Consistent Character Voice

  Offers Motivation and Assurance

  Asking the Authors: Becky Levine

  Chapter Two: Before You Begin Your Outline

  Choosing the Best Outlining Method for You

  Different Types of Outlines

  Mind Map

  Pictorial Outline

  Map

  Perfect Review

  Tools of Outlining

  Pen and Notebook

  yWriter Software

  Calendar

  Asking the Authors: Larry Brooks

  Chapter Three: Crafting Your Premise

  The “What If” Question

  The Premise Sentence

  Identifies Viable Ideas

  Solidifies Characters, Conflict, and Plot

  Distills the Book’s Essence

  Guides You to the Next Question

  Provides an Easy Answer to Questions About Your Story

  Prepares You for Selling Your Work

  Pre-Outline Questions

  How to Brainstorm

  Asking the Authors: Elizabeth Spann Craig

  Chapter Four: General Sketches, Pt. 1: Connecting the Dots

  The Scene List

  Summarize Your Scenes

  List Your Scenes

  Highlight the Problem Areas

  Connecting the Dots

  Free Write

  Listen to Your Body

  Ask Questions

  Asking the Authors: Roz Morris

  Chapter Five: General Sketches, Pt. 2: Key Story Factors

  Motive, Desire, and Goal

  Conflict

  Personality Clashes

  Unexpected Situations

  High Stakes

  Inner and Outer Battles

  Balance

  Theme

  Use Characters to Share Theme

  How to Discover Your Theme

  How to Strengthen Your Theme With Symbolism

  Asking the Authors: John Robinson

  Chapter Six: Character Sketches, Pt. 1: Exploring Backstory

  Using Your Inciting Event as a Launch Pad

  Maximize Your Inciting Event

  What Is an Inciting Event?

  What Isn’t an Inciting Event?

  Where Should the Inciting Event Occur?

  What Constitutes a Powerful Inciting Event?

  How to Write Backstory

  The General Statement

  Exploration of Influencing Characters

  Exploration of Education, Jobs, and Travel

  Exploration of Personal Epochs

  Using Backstory Correctly

  Asking the Authors: Jody Hedlund

  Chapter Seven: Character Sketches, Pt. 2: Character Interviews

  Character Interview

  Freehand Interview

  Enneagram

  Asking the Authors: Aggie Villanueva

  Chapter Eight: Discovering Your Setting

  Is Your Setting Inherent to Your Story?

  How Does Your Character View His Setting?

  Does Your Setting Affect the Mood?

  Are You Using Too Many Settings?

  World Building

  Asking the Authors: Lisa Grace

  Chapter Nine: The Extended Outline: Creating a Story

  What Kind of Story Are You Writing?

  Who Is Your Audience?

  What Point of View Will You Write From?

  Select the Correct Number of POVs

  Choose the POV of the Character With the Most at Stake

  Choose the POV of the Character With the Most Interesting Voice

  Play Around With Voice and Tense

  Structuring Your Story

  Beginning

  Middle

  Ending

  Three Fundamental Elements of Story

  Humor

  Action

  Relationships

  Strengthen Your Story With Proper Framing

  The Domino Effect: Make Every Scene Matter

  Reverse Outlining

  Asking the Authors: Dan L. Hays

  Chapter Ten: The Abbreviated Outline: Drawing Your Road Map

  Organizing and Analyzing Your Scenes

  Dividing Your Story Into Chapters and Scenes

  Keep Readers Reading

  Control Pacing

  Cut the Fat

  Asking the Authors: Carolyn Kaufman

  Chapter Eleven: Conclusion: Using Your Outline

  Endnotes

  Acknowledgements

  As always, I’m indebted to the many people who prompted, encouraged, critiqued, and assisted me throughout the writing of this book. In no particular order, those people are:

  My sister Amy: #1 fan, cheerleader extraordinaire, and sharer of chocolate.

  The most fantabulous beta readers on the planet: Adrie Ashford, Daniel Farnum, Lorna G. Poston, Braden Russell, Janalyn Voigt, and Linda Yezak.

  My everlastingly supportive, encouraging, and opinionated family: Ted, Linda, Derek, and Jared.

  My “author interviewees,” ten of the wisest and most generous authors I know, all of whom consented to share their experiences in the pages of this book: Larry Brooks, Elizabeth Spann Craig, Lisa Grace, Dan L. Hays, Jody Hedlund, Carolyn Kaufman, Becky Levine, Roz Morris, John Robinson, and Aggie Villanueva.

  Wordplayers everywhere: Huge shout out to the readers of my blog Wordplay, listeners of my podcast, and watchers of my vlog. You guys are why I do what I do. This book is for you!

  Introduction

  The art of fiction is a wide-o
pen sea of possibilities, in which the author is a wave-tossed ship along for the ride. And what a glorious ride it is! On the other hand, the craft of fiction puts that same ship under the expert guidance of a captain who knows how to decipher his map of those seas and then furl, trim, and jib his sails so his ship will carry him through the story on precisely the right course. Craft is all about organization, and that’s where the outline—the map—becomes so important.

  Through my writing blog and editing services, I’ve been fortunate to connect with and mentor thousands of writers. One of the topics I’m frequently asked about is outlining. How do I do it? Why do I do it? Is it worth the time and effort? My answer to the latter question is always an emphatic yes. Outlining has transformed my own writing process from hit-and-miss creativity to a reliable process of story craft. Outlining allows me to ride the waves of my story with utter confidence, channeling the art into the craft to produce solid stories. And the best part about outlining? It’s entirely learnable.

  In the following pages, you’ll find an in-depth exploration of the process I’ve designed for my own writing. We’ll take a look at the benefits of outlining and dispel some of the common misconceptions that make writers balk at the idea of outlining. We’ll discover what type of outline best suits your personality, lifestyle, and writing preferences. Then we’ll dive into the step-by-step process of building your outline (and, as a result, your story) from the premise up.

  Because the methodology of outlining is as much about the methodology of storytelling as it is organizing your notes, we’ll cover such important elements of the craft as character, setting, structure, conflict, and theme. You’ll learn how to define the kind of story you want to write and how to identify and write to your specific audience. You’ll also find bonus interviews with respected novelists and memoirists, who offer invaluable insights into their outlining experiences.

  What you discover in the pages ahead may strengthen and expand the outlining methods you’re already using, or it may transform your writing process altogether. My goal in compiling this book was to create a manual that would guide you through the basics of constructing an outline and inspire you to use this invaluable tool to take your stories to the next level.

  Happy writing!

  K.M. Weiland

  October 2011

  Chapter One

  Should You Outline?

  “In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

  —Dwight D. Eisenhower

  Generally speaking, writers fall into two different categories: outliners and non-outliners (or, as some writers prefer it, plotters and pantsers). I say “categories,” but “armies” might be a better word, since these two camps of the writing world can often be found waging passionate war for their chosen methodology. Perhaps you’ve encountered or even participated in a conversation like the following exchange:

  Ollie Outliner: I’m lost without my outline. Gotta have a road map, so I know where I’m going. It makes the journey so much easier. How can anyone write a coherent story without some idea of what’s supposed to happen? Think how much time you waste writing dead-end scenes and meandering subplots!

  Polly Pantser: Where do you get the patience—and the time—to spend weeks, or even months, outlining a story? I’d go crazy if I had to wait that long to start writing. Besides, I lose all the sense of adventure if I know how the story is going to turn out before I start writing it.

  Without question, both sides present good arguments. But how do you know which is telling the truth? Hold onto your britches—here comes the shocker.

  They both are.

  Writing—like all of art—offers few absolutes. If it did, it would quickly stultify into set patterns and tiny boxes of preconceived ideas and methods. This is nowhere more evident than in the writing process itself. It’s like a deck of cards, and every writer shuffles it a little differently. Just as our stories are (we hope) distinctive, so are our personalities and lifestyles—and, as a result, our working patterns. In pursuit of bettering our craft, we voraciously study the masters by reading every how-to book and author interview we can get our hands on. But what we sometimes don’t realize is, even if a particular method or routine works for one author, that singular success doesn’t make it a universal principle.

  In general, human beings like the protective solidity of “rules.” We like the assurance that if we write one page every day, five days a week, we’ll finish a book in a year and be published in two. But life doesn’t work that way. Writing a page a day may be the perfect routine for you and allow you to finish that book in a year. But the rigidity of such a schedule might also hold you back from your ultimate productivity. You might work much better if you allowed yourself more flexibility and less pressure.

  Each author must discover for himself what methods work best for him. Just because Margaret Atwood does X and Stephen King does Y is no reason to blindly follow suit. Read widely, learn all you can about what works for other authors, and experiment to discover which methods will offer you the best results.

  My own writing routine is a continually evolving process. What worked for me five years ago isn’t necessarily what works for me now, and what works for me now isn’t necessarily going to work for me in another five years. With every story I write, I learn a little bit more about myself and what approaches make me most productive. I’m constantly refining my work habits, always listening to my instincts, and paying attention when I feel I’m forcing myself to observe a stricture that just isn’t working.

  The individual writer is the only expert of his own proficiency. Never feel as if you have to force your writing habits to mirror someone else’s—no matter how successful that person may be in his own right. Find what works for you and stick with it. This is particularly true when it comes to the choice between outlining and writing by the seat of your pants. Whether you’re an Ollie or a Polly may depend largely on your personality. Simple fact: Some people just don’t work well with outlines. They find outlines cramp their creativity by preventing the story from evolving as they write, or they discover writing an outline scratches the creative itch to the extent they no longer have any interest in writing the book itself. But for every person who tries outlining and decides it’s not for him, someone else dives in and discovers a process that transforms his writing into an efficient and organized writing machine.

  I’m one of those people. I had always kept brief notes on story ideas and reminders of the direction the plot should go, but not until I began my sixth novel Behold the Dawn did I give outlining an honest-to-goodness go. I spent three intensive months sketching ideas and organizing scenes.

  And the result?

  Not only did I produce the best story I’d written up to that point, I also experienced the easiest, most exhilarating writing journey of my life. That story flowed as no previous story ever had, and I credit its ease almost entirely to the months I spent outlining.

  After that, you would think I’d have learned my lesson. Do yourself a favor, kiddo: OUTLINE!

  But, no, I still had to learn the hard way. I decided to jump into my next book, Dreamlander, without outlining. I’d spent a year researching a project that hadn’t turned out, and I was feeling mentally fatigued and in no mood to do anything but write. The last thing I wanted to do was outline. So I steered myself off-road into the writing wilderness, sans road map. The farther I drove, the bumpier the ground became and the more I began to realize that, before I knew it, I’d be as lost as a moped driver at a Humvee convention.

  I made it all of fifty pages before admitting this story was going nowhere fast. Despite characters I loved and a premise full of potential, the book was a rambling, wandering, bloated mess. After an appropriate period of pouting and oh-the-agony-ing about my plight as a writer, I finally gave in and started another outline.

  Two and a half months later, I emerged with a plan of action that organized those problematic firs
t fifty pages and offered me a clearly defined road to my destination of “The End.” Never say never—but, after that experience, I will never begin another story without outlining. Making major adjustments in a finished manuscript of 100,000-plus words is far more painful than in a few dozen pages of outline notes.

  Mostly, I outline because I’m lazy. I hate rewriting. I hate watching my burst of pride and relief at the end of a novel dissipate in the realization of a hole-riddled plot. I’d much rather know where I’m going from the beginning, rather than force my foreshadowing and plot twists into the text somewhere in my second draft. Because I’m already familiar with each pit stop along the road of my novel—thanks to my road map—it’s much easier for me to visualize the big picture and realize what each scene must do to play its part.

  Outlining is also a surefire antidote for writer’s block. When all I have to do to discover where I’m going is look at my map, I rarely waste valuable time and brain cells staring slack-jawed at the blinking cursor.

  Outlines take many forms—some of them little more than a few sentences scrawled on Post-it® Notes, some of them notebooks full of ramblings. No one says your outline has to be of any particular length. Most of my outlines fill up at least a notebook or two. A bulleted list of scenes may be all you’ll need, or you may end up with five notebooks of scribblings. What’s important is recognizing the outline as a valuable tool and then figuring out how to make it work for you.

  Misconceptions About Outlining

  Many authors decide outlining is “not for them” after hearing the surface arguments. Before you make that decision, let’s take a look at some of the common misconceptions about outlining.

  Misconception #1: Outlines Require Formal Formatting

  Much of the avoidance of outlining comes down to nightmarish memories of the outlines we had to learn in high school. You know the type: Roman numerals, graduated indents, and perfectly parsed grammar. Just looking at one is enough to kill your creativity:

  I. The Galactic Empire attempts to squelch the Rebel Alliance.