Creating a Novel Outline: A Guide to Getting Your Book Written

Recently, I have discovered a way for me to fully embrace writing a novel. I have been trying to get this creative writing process going (writing a novel) for ten years now. One day, I got this epiphany about getting my novel written. I decided to write an informal outline. Now, I know outlining a novel isn't a brand-new idea. However, I wanted to share it here for those who aren't quite sure how to organize your ideas and thoughts about writing a novel.

As usual with most of my articles, I like to write them in a series of tips or suggestions, so you will have a nice little guideline to follow or tweak how you see fit. One thing I have realized about novel writing since I started this process recently is that it is a lesson in patience. For me, the writing of the novel is the easy part. The most challenging part was taking my idea and putting on paper so I could know exactly where my story is going and why.

Using my outline process has helped me tremendously in knowing exactly where my story is going, so I can write the story without feeling any anxiety about turning out a good book. In my humble opinion, the planning stage of novel writing is the headache for a writer. As a writer, I'm used to having my idea and immediately hitting the paper with it and letting it flow. It comes out very nice this way - but when I'm writing non-fiction pieces. I've realized that with fiction there is some planning that has to go into it. It doesn't have to be completely mechanical, but it does have to possess some structure in order to ensure that the creative writing part of the process goes smoothly.

Here are a few tips to help you outline your novel, I hope you find these tips as helpful as I have over the past few weeks.

Tip #1: No Titles. Most times I find it challenging to write anything unless I have some title in mind. For fiction writing, I decided to let that notion go completely. I'm sure the title for my novel-in-progress will come to me when it's supposed to and not a moment sooner. So, for now, with your novel outline - don't worry about the title. Leave it be. Let's work only with the ideas.

Tip #2: Characters. Perhaps, by now you already have one or two characters in mind for your novel. If you do, that's great. Make sure you have some good notes on the characters. Make sure they are the first elements on your novel outline. Just jot them down and keep them handy.

Tip #3: Viewpoints. Decide who's going to tell the story in your outline. So, you'll know exactly who's point-of-view you're working with throughout the story. Be sure this is on your outline.

Tip #4: Chapters. Now, keep in mind, this is the way I outlined my novel. I just jotted down the characters, the viewpoints (who would tell the story), and then I outlined my story through a chapter outline. My recommendation to you is to see the story in your head like a movie. Know your beginning, middle, and ending, so that you can decide exactly how you want the story to play out on the pages of your book. Start with Chapter 1 and just outline from there exactly how you want to start the book and in each chapter jot down what you want to see played out in the story until you are done with the chapters.

For my first novel I'm working on now, I ended up with 19 chapters in my outline that will help me tell my story from beginning to end. So now, the only left to do is to start writing. If I don't remember what's supposed to happen in Chapter 3, I have it in my outline, I refer to it and start allowing the characters to play it out in my mind so I can write it down on paper.

So, there you have it. I know it sounds easier than it is in reality. Yet, I found this method to be quite simple. It took me a couple of hours to get it all down on paper in outline form. But the very same day I was able to sit down and write the first chapter without any problems because I knew exactly what I wanted to happen in the chapter to open up the storyline.

I hope you find these novel outlining tips helpful to you and your creative process.