Here’s the thing, really: I didn’t study writing. I see quite often on the medias that I need to study, I need this perfect outline, I need to write a 100-page background story for each character. If I don’t do those things, my work will be, shall we say, stinky.
But I don’t believe that’s true.
From a young age, writing was how I could express, feel, and process my emotions. They might’ve turned into stories at one point, but I knew I was bursting with ideas and I wanted to share them. I simply had a passion that started it all.
I’ve learned a lot along the way. Especially when I got serious about publishing. Before, I’d write for fun. I’d write it all down and then read and read and read until my eyes blurred. I’d study other novels, learn new vocabulary, understand sentence structure, write down things I didn’t like about the flow of other stories, and then I’d take a nice look at my own and decide if I should give up or try harder.
When I wrote I Am Chosen, I first wrote the outline. I had all these ideas of where I wanted Ember’s story to go. Where I wanted doubt to lie. Where I wanted her to screw up. Where I wanted the reader to think one thing but it was not true. I also knew I wanted her to grow as a character. Big time. I wanted that childish, Skylar-ish attitude from Fear of No One to be nonexistent.
So with all this in mind, I sat down and I started something I never did with FONO: I wrote an outline.
Brainstorm
As I mentioned above, the first thing I did was brainstorm. I knew where I wanted to go, what I wanted to happen, and I had all these little pieces of a puzzle that needed put together. But at this stage, it didn’t matter. I just needed it all there. Like dumping the puzzle box over and arranging the pieces right-side-up.
So many things in my brainstorm sesh didn’t make it to the final result. Others, I originally left out and then added in. Some I felt were wrong or ridiculous or didn’t fit the narrative so I ended up removing them. The idea here is that it’s like a pool to grab from and it can be changed at any point.
Organize
I actually used Notes on my MacBook to write my outline. I know there are probably really fancy programs that cost money you can use, but this worked perfectly for me. I’d write a blurb about what I wanted the chapter to be about, and then I would sometimes write a scene or a line I knew I wanted to use. I did a lot of copy and pasting here because I wrote a lot of scenes and important bits I wanted to make sure made it into the final cut.
When it all started coming together and all I had to do was offer filler, I almost cried. I couldn’t believe how simply making an outline made my story flow and come together into, what I feel is, my absolute favorite part of Ember’s story.
Write Bullet Points
When I had ideas but didn’t know where to put them, I’d fill the top of my outline document with bullet points. I had reminders, too, like, “This Thing is happening/being said and Ember believes it but it is NOT TRUE.” I knew the story had to flow a certain way, certain events needed to happen, and Ember and the reader needed to believe this thing, but the reminder made sure all the hints/background happenings matched up with the truth.
It’s one of my favorite things to have the main character (MC) in first person point-of-view wholeheartedly believe something that isn’t true. Or is skewed. Because the work that goes into the events happening around them, or the conversations between characters, have to be so delicately planned. What can a person mean when they say one thing, especially if the MC holds a certain belief, that can mean something else entirely? How can this scene play out to follow the MC’s line of thinking but hold the opposite as true?
The bullet points act as reminders, they act as plug and play for chapter outlines, and they are great for making sure things tie in together.
final take
Creating an outline will help you to build a stronger and better story. It’s an opportunity to write down all your thoughts and ideas, the direction you want your story to go in, what characters you want involved, and, of course, lay it out to watch it come to life.
Do you write outlines for all your stories or do you wing it?
Share something