How to Outline Your Novel

Outlines are hard to write - but also extremely fun since you get to plan out all your plot twists! I’m a big advocate for outlines and I believe they are essential in any writing process - but so often writers get confused as to what to include. Here’s what I do.

1. Write it all out

When I brain dump, before I start my outline, I colour code all my notes. For example, when I jot down a piece of dialogue I would highlight it in yellow where on the other hand I would highlight notes about world law in pink, etc. Basically, I recommend that you colour code to break up and section off your notes. DON’T BREAK IT UP IN YOUR OUTLINE! Your outline is where you combine it all. When you write out an action, insert an arrow under the dot point, going into more detail about what the scene looks like - describe the characters surrounding. Write down a few points on what you want the character to talk about. I find that if I scatter mentions on how the world is structured and the history of the world throughout the beginning of the book, it prevents the need for an info dump conversation later on. Here’s an example of what the last event in a chapter could look like:

2. Break it up

Outlines can be fun to write! But when you go to actually write you book and find yourself just staring at 25 pages of solid text - it's not so fun anymore. Once you have everything written out, section your events into chapters. Insert a line where you want chapter one to end, and below it write chapter two. Super easy, but it’s just another step to help you find the flow of your book faster. This will also ensure that you cut your chapter off at the right time.

If you want to know how and when to end your chapters, go check out my post on the ultimate guide to writing a chapter that will leave you readers wanting more!

3. Double spacing

If you’re someone that wants to print out your outline to read over as you write, double spacing is a great way to add in notes later on so you don’t need to keep re-printing.

For me, I print my outlines because I get really bad eye stain if I’m constantly flicking through documents on my computer. But the thing is, I don’t like the look of double spacing - I like things compact. So I set my document to 1.5 in the line spacing setting. This, for me, is the perfect medium to add in small notes and still have that compact, simplistic layout that I love.