How to Outline a Novel Before You Begin Writing
You are writing a novel or a manuscript! Congratulations. Perhaps you have a slight idea of where it will begin, yet you barely know how it will end. I have attended several writers' conferences, and in speaking with other authors, I hear comments like this: "I have started three books, but haven't finished one; I've written the end of my book, but I don't know where to begin."
What if I could share a technique that would let you organize and outline your entire manuscript before you begin writing? Perhaps when I meet you at our next writers' conference, you will say, I have outlined and written a whole novel--with ease! I want to show you how to make that statement your own.
Before you begin writing your novel, it is good to have a clear idea of where it will start, how it will develop, and how it will end. I do not suggest answering these questions by mindlessly beginning to write. What if you took a moment to organize and outline the entire book and the paths it will take before you write one word? Wouldn't that make writing and developing the book much easier? Yes.
Begin thinking of your novel as a film, and outline each chapter as a scene in that film. By implementing the four steps below, you can completely outline and organize your entire manuscript. Answer the following four questions for each chapter.
1. Forces. What two forces are going to meet in this chapter? What two characters are going to meet in this chapter? Are they going to meet in agreement or in a clash?
2. Purpose. What is the purpose of this chapter? To have your readers fall in love with your heroine? To establish the villain's childhood? What do you wish to accomplish in this chapter?
3. Meeting. Your forces or characters meet. They experience an encounter. What are the elements of that encounter -- interrogation, to inform, to convince or persuade, to invoke a liking to one character over the other, to create conflict, to create a union or a separation?
4. Result. What is the result of those two forces and their meeting? Who wins? Who moves on? Who quits? How does this lead to the next chapter? Will the result lead to a furtherance or a hindrance in time?*
* Not every chapter has to be a furtherance. The purpose of our chapters is to further time, characters, and scenes, but there can also be chapters that hinder, chapters where conflict stalls the advancement of the plot.
Imagine if you sat down to begin writing your next manuscript with a completed outline of each chapter, showing the FORCE, PURPOSE, MEETING, AND RESULT of each chapter. Mission accomplished!
Additional Things to Keep in Mind:
A good novel often starts with a scene instead of a description. A good scene, filled with conflict and emotion, will immediately draw your readers in.
You don't need to answer all four steps in each chapter to advance to outlining the next chapter. Answer as many as possible, and as you continue with your following scenes/chapters, you will be able to go back and further develop earlier chapters, or perhaps make changes.
Be flexible. Your chapters may change from your initial outline as you write and your creativity unleashes. Give yourself permission to be flexible and change as you write.
Now it's your turn: How many manuscripts have you begun? How many have you finished? Do you feel that the four steps above are a recipe for success that will lead to a completed draft manuscript?
