Since it’s October 1st, I wanted to start out with a Nanowrimo preparation post. I explained how to prep for Nanowrimo last week, but now I wanted to talk about how to outline. Outlining can be done in a lot of different ways, so it’s just important that you start to get things figured out. Use this time to write a detailed outline if you know it will help you when November comes around.
For people new to writing (using Nanowrimo to write your first novel is a great idea!), outlining might be something you’ve never attempted before. There’s not a set structure to it, but there are some basic things you should cover:
Figure out your characters. If this includes filling out character sheets, go for it. Know your characters’ motivations, what they want, what their goals are, and how they will achieve them (or won’t achieve them). You should know their personalities and how they would act in situations throughout your novel. Know them like you’d know a friend of a family member you’re close to. This is important because they will lead your story.
You should know your plot, important scenes, and how your story will begin and end. I know people will disagree or have other opinions on outlining, but I like to know the beginning and ending. Personally, I think it’s hard to structure a story if you don’t know these things. You don’t have to know them right away, just spend time thinking about them. How the story begins and ends will sometimes have an effect on the themes and tone of your story. This is up to you.
Once you’ve been thinking about those things and feel like you know what you need to know, you can begin the outlining process. For this, I usually do a bullet point outline OR if I’m feeling really motivated, I do a chapter-to-chapter outline. My bulleted outlines usually look something like this:
- Intro to Amy doing a thing in a place. She fights a thing and then leaves the building.
- Meets Allen. They go to the place and meet Todd. This is where Amy gains important item.
- The friends separate and Amy heads to the place where she gets involved in the thing.
This is a ridiculous outline where nothing interesting is happening, but you should get the idea. Have a general idea what will happen in each scene and why it will happen. This is just for you, so don’t be afraid of “spoiling” something. This will also help you with foreshadowing, if that applies to your story. Also, not everything needs to be covered in your outline. You can fill in the blanks later on and leave room for changes. A chapter-to-chapter outline might be more detailed and will tell you what you need to cover in each chapter. I usually like this because I can see exactly when something will happen and I can stretch out certain scenes to fill up one chapter. This helps me create well-developed scenes in between the action that will help me flesh out my story. Don’t rush through your outline! Use it to bridge the gap between scenes.
Developing a style of outlining is up to you, but you should have a general idea of what you want to do before Nanowrimo begins.
-Kris Noel
