Organizing your Outline is a step that will happen once; however, you may find that during the the process of writing, some minor revisions will take place. This is normal, so don’t think of the outline you create today as a rigid checklist, but as a guide.
In Writing Your Book – Step 4 – Creating an Outline, you wrote 10 to 12 descriptive sentences that contain compelling elements in your story. After sorting these sentences into a logical, sequential order, you saw that you had created the beginnings of a working outline. Today you are going to refine your outline, separating some larger ideas into smaller sections under one main topic heading. Since your outline will act as a road map while you write, you will compare your existing outline to the intended “flow” of the story. And finally, you will look at each topic sentence, or heading in your outline and add brief descriptions of actions, scenes, conflicts that will appear as subheadings under each topic sentence.
If you were to use typical outline formatting, your topic sentences will appear as headings. These are the main elements around which your story will be structured. These main elements, or topics, can be numbered in this fashion:
- Introduction of story, setting, and characters
- First Topic Sentence
- Second Topic Sentence
- Third Topic Sentence – (Continuing this pattern until you add your final Topic, which will be…)
- Conclusion
After you have inserted your topic sentences into the format that works for you, you will go back and fill in details for each topic. Include your ideas for scenes, character development, and even subtle clues that will help generate anticipation for your readers. As you work, include as many details as possible so that the next step…writing the book…. will be just like following a map.
Some writers find that their outlines are generally vague and can be written on one page. Others find that their outlines are quite detailed and are several pages long. The more you write, the more you’ll develop your own outline style. Remember, unlike when you were in school, there isn’t a wrong way to do this.
One word of caution: It is at this point that many would-be writers give up. When it comes right down to it, they have not thought through all the elements of the story and they do not wish to work at this part of the writing process. I would encourage you to push yourself through this stage of writing so that the next step is more enjoyable. Think of this like you did eating your vegetables as a child. After repeated exposure to some vegetables, we learned to like them and eventually learned that they are an integral part of our diets. Refining your outline may be like that for you….keep working on it and eventually you will recognize its value and may even learn to like it.
