Not to sound like an influencer, but I’ve had a couple of people ask me how I outline. And the answer is…complicated! Below I’ll discuss my relationship with outlining then dive into my ideal outlining process for my romance novels that I am honing now.
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Plotters vs Pantsers
There are terms in the writing community to denote what type of writer you are:
- Plotter – someone who plots out their entire story before they begin writing
- Pantser – someone who “flys by the seat of their pants” and basically wings it
- Plantser – someone who is somewhere in the middle. Perhaps they have a rough outline or some major beats to hit in their head.
Everyone falls on a slightly different place on this spectrum, and that will obviously affect how each person does (or does not) outline their story. I really like this visual by @cheyannealepka on Twitter to understand the spectrum:
My Experience With Outlines
- I completely pantsed my first novel. Like, not a single outline in sight. I also wasn’t writing seriously at the time, didn’t know if I’d ever finish a draft, and was only writing when inspiration struck. That book took years to write and revise into what it is today!
- I then plantsed my second novel. I had written the first half in the same manner as I did my first book, just writing when inspiration struck me and going with the flow. Then when I got more serious about my writing, I sat down and outlined the second half, which then took me far less time to write.
- Finally, I plotted my third book. The story had been spinning around my brain for a while, and I was able to sit down and bang out an entire outline with notes of what would happen in each chapter. I then wrote this book beginning during NaNoWriMo 2021 (which I “won” by writing 50k words during November, National Novel Writing Month) and completed my first draft within two months!
So, one could say I have experience which each of these styles. And while my level of seriousness about my writing, as well as my craft, had both increased by the time I sat down to write my third novel, I believe the having an outline was the main reason I was able to write so fast. I never would have been able to “win” NaNo without an outline!
My Outlining Process
Now that I see the magic of outlining and how well it works for me (it’s not for everyone, and that’s ok!), I will absolutely outline all of my novels going forward, and have already started some rough outlines for my next three books!
My outlining process starts in my head, then makes its way into the notes app on my phone, and then finally into a document on my computer.
In My Head
I typically have a character come into my head first (most often a heroine) and I mentally develop her personality and her problem (what is she trying to accomplish by the end of the book?). Then I think about who that character’s romantic interest will be, which also brings tropes into the mix (Will he be the grump to her sunshine? Or were they friends growing up? Is he a rival? etc.).
As I ruminate about my characters and what their story will look like, I naturally start to think of scenes that may occur at any point throughout the book. I might be struck by the perfect meet cute, or I might have a great idea for a first kiss scene. I’m not thinking in any particular order, just ruminating about the story as a whole and getting random bits of inspiration. These scenes sometimes come along with a line of two of perfect dialogue as well.
On My Phone
Once I start thinking of these more specific scenes and dialogue, I start jotting down notes about them in my phone. This generally looks like a bulleted list of things in no particular order, including things like physical descriptions of characters, personality traits/quirks, short lines of dialogue, short scene descriptions, ideas for obstacles and resolutions, etc.
I guarantee that these chicken scratch notes I keep on my phone would not make any sense to anyone else reading them, but when I look back at them, I know exactly what I’m talking about (most of the time)!
On My Computer
Once I’m ready to get serious about outlining, I move all of these bulleted notes over to one document on my computer, then open another document to be the official outline. This is where the magic happens – organizing everything from my notes into the outline!
There are two major things I include on my outlines:
- Character profiles (bulleted lists of each character’s age, physical description, traits, etc.)
- Plot outline (numbered list to loosely correspond with chapter numbers)
I like to have the character profiles at the top, because their personalities are always informing how they will act in scenes throughout the book. I also know that as I write, I will get to know my characters better and some things about them may change, so I want to keep track of that!
For my plot outline, I make a numbered list of 30 (which is a rough estimate of how many chapters I may end up having). I take the major scenes I’ve thought of (which is usually only a handful) and place them on my numbered list about where I think they’ll occur. For example, if I know a certain scene will be occurring at the mid-point, I’ll assign it to number thirteen. (Some people like to write their scenes on index cards and move them around…I prefer a list format in which I can easily move each point around!).
Then I add in any rough ideas I hadn’t fully fleshed out into scenes in my mind, but that I know what needs to happen (like if I know they’re going to have a fight, but I don’t know what it will be about yet, I’ll just put “fight” for one of the numbers).
Once I’ve put everything from my notes onto the numbered list, I can see where there are large blank spaces where I might need to add more plot, anywhere there could be plot holes, and also get a sense for my pacing! I’ll then continue ruminating and adjusting my outline accordingly.
The Beat Sheet Method
During this second period of rumination where I have a rough outline done and now need to flesh it out into a full story, I like to lean into some of my craft books to see what important plot points (or beats) I might be missing or need to expand upon.
Save The Cat! Writes A Novel provides a really comprehensive method for outlining a book called a “beat sheet,” which is divided into three acts and fifteen total beats that cover all major plot points your story should hit.
I also like the book Romancing The Beat (a great follow-up read to Save The Cat!). It looks at each beat more specifically through the lens of writing romance novels.
You can also certainly use a beat sheet from the beginning to create your outline. For me personally, I read so many romance novels that the structure is ingrained into my mind and informing my process from the get-go, but if you feel totally overwhelmed by the method I shared that I use above, a beat sheet would be a great alternative!
I have definitely found that having an outline helps me write much faster and more confidently. Instead of starting at my screen wondering “what am I going to write today?” I can simply reference my outline and say, “OK! Moving on to number eight.”
While I have become a fan of a detailed-ish outline, I also like to let my characters lead me where they want to. I’m not afraid to stray from my outline and add or subtract things as I go. I truly feel like I get to know my characters better as I write, so at some point I may decide that what I originally outlined doesn’t actually fit with who a character is and that’s OK!
I am so glad I have experienced being a pantser, plantser, and plotter, but I have a feeling I’ll be a plotter for life now.
If you’re a writer too, let me know which one you are in the comments 🙂
