Importance of outlining the novel before writing it!

While researching and reading the experiences of other writers, I came across two terms: Plotter who plan everything before writing and Pantser who write a novel without any planning just with a flow.

At that time I was writing the first draft of my Wattpad novel as a Pantser. But soon I found out how important it was for me to plan my writing. So instead of shifting entirely towards plotter I just became Plantser, in between the plotter and pantser.

Not all writers outline their novel before writing, they believe in their flow. But I would recommend planning small simple things about writing.

Why outlining is important?

Well, without an outline, one may get distracted and the plot might lose the track. Losing the track will create some plotholes and that is one of the things you might want to avoid. So to avoid creating plotholes, distractions, and confusion and also to avoid the writer’s block, creating an outline is important.

Now, some writers create a highly detailed and technical outline. Some writers just create a simple outline which is sufficient and understandable to them. After all, the final result is the novel, so it doesn’t really matter how detailed you create your outline.

Give yourself sufficient time to create an outline but don’t get stuck for too long. You know the whole story of your novel (yeah you might change some part of the story along the process, but right now you are aware of the core story.) so it is easy to write an outline.

Use google docs or Evernote or any online editor to make sure you won’t lose any of your work and it accessible on any device(small but useful tip).

There are different ways to create an outline. I have my own simple way. How to outline your novel? — Rucha Pantoji

You will find these simple steps really helpful, but of course, you can use an entirely different way for outlining the novel.

The entire process of writing and publishing the novel might be overwhelming. As a writer, you must enjoy writing. To simplify the writing process, planning each and every step is important.

Consider these small tips before writing a novel. Maybe, it will make some of your work easy to achieve.

Happy Writing!