Novel mechanics: making an outline

November 8, 10:47 AMHuntsville Creative Writing ExaminerPamela Gifford

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Outline?
mconnors/morgueFile

In the interest of NOT losing YOUR interest, we'll skip the English lesson in favor of giving you a link (click here) and a video (below) about how to do a formal outline.  These are excellent resources and examples for how to create a formal outline when you want to stay organized and you don't feel you'll need to deviate from any path.

But let's face it.  Few people are going to do a formal outline for their novel.  It isn't high school or college.  You won't need to turn it in for a grading.  It is strictly for your own organization.  Plus, if you don't feel like you should outline your whole novel at one time, you can opt for the "five chapters at a time" option as discussed earlier in this post.

Want to do an outline but want an easier way so that you can easily change it in case the story goes in another direction as you're writing it?  You have two options other then the standard.

• Write the outline longhand in a notebook (preferably a three ring notebook so you can remove and rearrange pages as you see fit) specifically designated for your novel.  Still do five chapters at a time (or even the whole novel if you wish) but do it in a manner that is easy to manage should your story deviate from its original plan.  Start each chapter on it's own page in the notebook stating the main players of the chapter, how the plot is going to progress in this chapter, keep track of the subplots, and any key elements or plot twists that will be revealed.  Also note that doing this form of an outline can also be a great brainstorming session for you when you are first hammering out the details of the novel.
• Use index cards divided into groups representing each chapter.  On each card give a brief description of each scene as you want it presented in the story.

If you do opt to type up your outline, consider printing it out in hard copy form to reference so that you won't be flipping back and forth between windows on your computer screen.

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