How do you make your outline?

[xuduxixi]

Do you like them complex like a detective's pin board, or do you like them simple like your dog's brain?

I have a good memory and bachelor in arts of laziness, so most of the time I just think of the major points that I want on my story and then the ending that I wanted.

 

[Keene]

In complete contrast to how I've tried to write for years, I've now found that writing without an outline produces my best work.

I would previously imagine an awesome scene, or conversation, cliff hanger and then try and outline my way to that point. 95% of attempts this failed for me.

I think the difference for me was I finally came up with some characters whose voice I both liked and understood to the point where I would put them in a room, at the start of the chapter, knowing nothing less than the opening sentence and to my surprise everything else would flow from there.

Shockingly I also found all those awesome moments, bits of conversation that I think the readers would love, those cliff hangers, all that and more just started to come out naturally as I wrote, on the spot.

Which is surprising for me, as someone who his highly analytical, being a programmer and all, to find I was a discovery writer.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

I just pants everything. I have tried outlining, but its not really my thing.

 

[KonoKei]

I talk to myself while I poop. Plan out all my dialogue and plot points that way. Works wonders.

 

[AmeronWerschrux]

Do you like them complex like a detective's pin board, or do you like them simple like your dog's brain?

I have a good memory and bachelor in arts of laziness, so most of the time I just think of the major points that I want on my story and then the ending that I wanted.

Honestly, I write what pops into my mind. I do have a sort of segregating system and the main ideas that my chapters would rotate around. I say you don't follow what I do though XD

 

[Deleted member 146224]

I tried writing without outlining, writing down key points and proper detailed outline and while the last option takes the most time it also provides the best results. It's easier to notice any problematic plot holes, makes writing faster, because most things are already planned and helps with avoiding mistakes.
Everyone works differently, though. Just try everything and see what works the best for you.

 

[xuduxixi]

Which is surprising for me, as someone who his highly analytical, being a programmer and all, to find I was a discovery writer.

Wow, I didn't know that there's a word for writing like that. Thanks for the info.

I talk to myself while I poop. Plan out all my dialogue and plot points that way. Works wonders.

I don't think my poo will go out if I did that, it takes a lot of focus to release them.

 

[TheKillingAlice]

Do you like them complex like a detective's pin board, or do you like them simple like your dog's brain?

I have a good memory and bachelor in arts of laziness, so most of the time I just think of the major points that I want on my story and then the ending that I wanted.

Same. Except that I don't have a good memory. I usually keep an excel doc around with names for characters and places, so I don't end up forgetting a good one I came up with at some point.

 

[Deleted member 166076]

I like to do a brief outline of everything I plan to write on a weekly basis rather than for a full story. I'll plan out chapter names, basic events, and any math needed for ~10 chapters on Sunday and then write the chapters throughout the week. I usually do a bunch of notes taking like excel sheets and chapter summaries that I even make available for my readers on my Discord in order to help keep the story more consistent. Having chapters compiled into a document instead of just a site like this also allows me to use the find & replace feature to look for keywords when I need to revisit a previous plot point for a refresher as well. I've found this whole process to be a nice middle ground for me. I'd get bored of the story idea by the time I finished planning for 500 chapters and never end up writing the story of I did a full detailed outline. Doing planning on a weekly basis, though, helps keep me centered on the immediate future so it doesn't feel like such a monumental task and I still get to finish everything in a few years time.

 

[RiaCorvidiva]

No outlines here; I have vague notions of where I want the story to go and sometimes seed hints for certain events that might happen later, but I mostly let the characters and the world write the story, with minimal guidance from me to steer it in directions that might make more sense for thematic purposes.

At best, I have some sort of notion for how the story is going to end and a few of the major events that the characters willpass by on the way to that end. But even then, there's fuzziness and room for things to shift course.

 

[Verdant]

Do you like them complex like a detective's pin board, or do you like them simple like your dog's brain?

I have a good memory and bachelor in arts of laziness, so most of the time I just think of the major points that I want on my story and then the ending that I wanted.

I honestly (probably) spend more time on the outline than the actual individual chapters lol. I got done (mostly) with my outline about 240+ days in.
I use google docs and put in a bunch of information, then streamline it into bullet points. My chapters then go more into detail.

 

[MatchaChocolate69]

Livin' la vida loca, here.
The plan is to not have a plan. The characters will (hopefully) figure it out.

Don't do what I do if you don't want to regret it.

 

[Takiemina]

I have to be honest, I think not outlining was my problem all along. I used to find finishing a novel so complicated but ever since I decided to finally sit down, and work carefully on my past works, I realised a lot of difficulties I encountered could have been prevented. Meaning, I could have finished my piece if I at least had an idea of what to do with it down the line. I know you can sometimes deviate from the initial outline (because I have done so countless times even in the first chapters of my most recent novel that has been in the works for years now) but it makes your job much easier.

I am not super organised, so I usually arrange everything in the same database (in this case I use Notion because I like the visuals and the simplicity) and write key points. Sometimes, when things need to be more descriptive to get the "vibe right for writing later" I do it, but most of the time it is just: <Aramina gets her arm cut off> or something like that. Then, I rely on imagination to make it into something else entirely.

I find Notion so good for outlining because I can make an initial heading, and another heading for a scene within, put all the key points related to it, and then both appear clickable on the side.

Like this:

 

[prognastat]

Mine is just a short list of bullet points of events I want the story to go through. It’s all very rough and I just figure the rest out as I go.

 

[kitty_maine]

I've had good luck with the one page novel planning spreadsheet. It might not be super helpful for webnovels, but it helps to format all your ideas in arcs and conflict and stuff.

The One Page Novel Scene Spreadsheet

docs.google.com

 

[Thraben]

A consistent page break + new chapter naming scheme and ctrl+f. If I bother to outline at all

 

[DARK_Culture]

Do you like them complex like a detective's pin board, or do you like them simple like your dog's brain?

I have a good memory and bachelor in arts of laziness, so most of the time I just think of the major points that I want on my story and then the ending that I wanted.

Though, this is mostly for fantasy stories.
I write world building in auxiliary chapters first, After the world is built. I start writing about races and power system etc..
After all is set, then I start with writing actual chapters.
After the world is built, it's pretty easy to write and imagine scenarios mc will go through to stabilise in that world. And I can use that same world building in other novels too with some changes.

 

[melchi]

I just pants everything. I have tried outlining, but its not really my thing.

*high five*
Brainstorming then writing what makes the cut for the chapter is fun.