Question 15
I’m struggling in my writing process. There are tons of references for plotting and other elements of story craft. But I can’t find much that provides guidance for HOW to outline. Can you offer any advice or any references you may have found? Thanks in advance!
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I think there can be trial and error with figuring out what type of outlining works best for you! For example, I like to plot in terms of chapters early on, so my outlines are typically organized by chapters–more often than not, they're glorified bulleted lists under headings of ch 1, ch 2, etc. In each chapter, I have a vague idea of 1-2 scenes that will be the subheadings, and those can either be actual events that I have in mind ("character A and character B have a conversation about ___") or a placeholder with what I want the scene to accomplish even if I'm not sure how to do it yet ("something happens here to make character A start to see character B differently" or “show character A having fun somehow”). As I write, the bullet points can get more fleshed out and moved around, but it's a helpful jumping off point.
For others, the chapters are way more fluid and it's more effective to outline by beats–a heading for things like the catalyst, the midpoint, the fun and games, etc–or even more broadly, by acts–Act I (first ~25% of book), Act II (next ~50%), Act III (last ~25%). If this sounds like more your style, outlining with a beat sheet may be helpful! I know writers who swear by the beat sheets from Save the Cat Writes a Novel, and this is a guide from the author’s website to the beats from STC and some downloadable beat sheet examples. If you're a romance writer, I also highly recommend Gwen Hayes' Romancing the Beat for a guide to beats specific to romance–if I ever find myself outlining by beats, these are my go-tos.
Overall, I’d also just emphasize not worrying too much about having a pretty, perfect outline that adheres flawlessly to story beats or other conventional methods of plotting. I see outlines as a place to dump out all your thoughts and ideas in a semi-organized fashion, allowing yourself to start writing without feeling like you have no clue where you’re going and then to have a place to return and refocus if you get lost along the drafting way.
