Writers come in two broad types: architects who draw up thorough plot outlines before they start writing, and gardeners, or discovery writers, who just dive in and play it by ear.
Some writers are natural outliners. Others are natural gardeners. A common complaint of the latter is that they lose interest in writing once they “know how the story ends.” These are the writers who feel like they have a story inside burning to get out, and writing the outline satisfies that urge.
An architect approaches writing a novel like a builder approaches a construction project. He drafts plans, lays the foundation, and knows exactly where the project is going and how much work is left at pretty much all times. This approach has several advantages:
- Prevents you from writing yourself into a corner
- Keeps your characters in line
- Helps you make deadlines
- Stronger endings in general
- Lets you keep series continuity straight
As a professional editor, I can confidently say that every author needs to outline. At least half of all developmental problems in my gardener clients’ manuscripts would have been solved by outlining.
Nor do I ask anyone to do what I don’t do myself.
I outline extensively. For the Soul Cycle and XSeed series I filled four spiral notebooks each and gamed out the rough outlines with friends.
Not that you have to do that last part.
“How long should my outline be?” I hear you ask.
There’s no set format or length for outlines; they can range in size from scene-by-scene summaries of the book to one or two page sketches. Figuring out what degree of granularity works for you is a matter of trial and error.
Which means the sooner you start outlining, the sooner you’ll find your sweet spot.
If you’re a discovery writer, don’t worry. Your “To outline or not to outline?” dilemma has a simple solution.
I’ve done it both ways; my first published book (a murder mystery) was based on an idea I had back in university in 1990. I didn’t write it until thirty years later, but I had the story mapped out.
I published it early in 2020, and had the thrill of seeing someone at work actually go on Amazon and buy my book as soon as I mentioned it. So, I started writing the next one with absolutely no clue where it was going, what the characters would be (other than the detective and his sidekick), nothing. I finished it in eleven days, putting the mystery together as I wrote it. I had no clue who the murderer would be until day seven or eight.
I find that writing without an outline is a fun process of discovery. But, if I have a particular story idea in mind (most of my fantasy books were like that), I’ll have just the bare bones of the story in my mind, and just go for it.
It’s like using a GPS vs. using a map; the GPS will get you to your destination step-by-step, while the map gives you plenty of options to get where you want to go without locking you down in a particular path.
Good analogy
My approach is…half-and-half. I try to give myself a sort of rough map, knowing where I want to go…then I head more or less toward that goal, filling in the map and taking all kinds of twists and turns that I often did not expect on the way.
I’ve been able to write a detailed outline for the first act of my story, but only written a rough one for the rest of it. I’ve told myself once I’ve written the first act that I will sit down and give the rest of the story a more detailed outline.
Also, if I may ask a question. How important do you think it is that you try to structure ones story to the conventional structures such as the 3 or 7 act story structure? Especially if one is a beginner.
Using some kind of time-tested plot structure is essential for beginners.
Training wheels and safety nets exist for a reason.
Maybe it’s just me, but I find the “gardener’s approach” to be overrated. My first attempt to write a novel was really bad and I never finished. I got about 90,000 words and I was halfway done at best. That was about six years ago or so.
Recently, I took another crack at writing a novel. I wrote a lot of notes, chapter plans, some character sheets, and a map. I even wrote with the Three Act Structure in mind. More importantly, I actually had the initial story for it in my head (and my hard drive) years before I started though what I’m currently working on differs significantly from it.
Right now, I’m one chapter short of finishing the First Draft (and it’s the Epilogue). I started writing a little less than two months ago. That doesn’t mean that I ended up following through with everything that I wrote in my notes, but if I hadn’t committed myself to some basics then this project might have met the same fate as my first one.