5 Reasons to Outline Your Next Book
“If you do enough planning before you start to write, there’s no way you can have writer’s block. I do a complete chapter by chapter outline.” — R. L. Stine
1. Prevent (or Avoid) Writer’s Block
I’ve come to rely on outlines. Their primary function for me is to keep a story moving, but I also use them to revitalize my excitement for a book. I outline pretty much the way Stine suggests above, staring with a synopsis and moving on to chapter summaries that bluntly hit each key action point.
I make my outline an early task in the development of any novel. So I’m still super pumped about the overall concept. And if I stray into dreaded ‘saggy middle’ territory, I have the short, snappy (often enthusiastic) chapter summaries to fall back on. It’s a little bit of text to keep me focused and get me back on track.
2. Make Your Writing Time Productive
Very few novelists I know are writing full-time with no other distractions or commitments. Whether you’re at home with kids, self-employed, working part-time, or commuting to a demanding job, your writing sessions will vary in both duration and frequency. If you only get a few hours per week to write, you can be sure of getting something done if you’ve got a guide to follow.
This is especially true for writers who are forced to take long breaks while working on the same novel. A good outline works like a “previously on” television recap so you can quickly get back up to speed and find your narrative voice again. If you haven’t worked on your book in a month, you don’t want to have to re-read the entire draft just to be able to resume writing.
3. Manage Your Scope and Hit Your Word Count
Are you starting a series? Is the plan to write a single novella? Flushing out the project from start to finish will help you identify how much material you really do (or don’t) have. If your novel should actually be a novella, a solid outline will bring that to light. Sometimes a trilogy really needs to be a pentalogy.
I, for one, don’t want to pour hours upon hours of work into a labour of love (read: project for which I’ll earn little money) when I don’t have a clear vision of where it’s going. I’d be disappointed in myself if I thought I had a novella on my hands only to realize too late that it should be a short story. Unfocused work leads to unpublished writing. Many writers are cool with that. But to me, unpublished work equals wasted time and effort.
4. Identify Plot Holes and Useless Characters
Whittling down chapters to two- or three-sentence summaries will force you to keep your eye on what’s important. Do you have a character that only matters in two of thirty chapters? Why is that person in the story? Is there an event that happens in chapter four that remains unresolved? Where was that plot point going? Did you leave a loose end or were you needlessly slowing the action?
5. Develop Marketing Ideas
While I’m writing, my marketing plan is concurrently coming together. Not every writer uses the same tools or workflow, but if you find yourself sidetracked by some interesting marketing ideas, you can make useful comments about your story — particularly if you’re polishing a query letter or blurb so that it’s ready to go the moment you’re satisfied with your manuscript.
I hope I’ve given some fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants writers a couple points to think about. There’s certainly no guarantee an outline will make your writing or story idea better. And many wonderful books come into the world with no detailed planning. Whatever you can do to set yourself up for a better writing experience is ultimately the way to go.
