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October 27, 2016 By penny Leave a Comment

How To Outline A Novel If You’re A Natural-Born Pantser

How To Outline A Novel If You’re A Natural-Born Pantser

November will be here soon, and November means National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.) Several new-novelist friends are taking part, and I’m very excited for them. The most common question I’m asked is: “how do I outline a novel?”

Some authors outline carefully. They love outlining, and won’t start writing until they have a 5,000 word outline. Other authors are pantsers — that is, they write by the seat of their pants. They outline little or nothing: they discover the story as readers do. They never know what will happen next.

Do you need to outline a novel before you write it?

No. Many authors won’t do it. Indeed, many say that they can’t do it. Their storytelling brain doesn’t work that way.

A friend, who’s been writing for years, and who’s made several bestseller lists says: “I hate outlines. If I try to outline, I waste so much time, because after I write the outline, I can’t write the novel. My brain seems to think that an outline is as good as a novel.”

She’s a pantser. 🙂

If the thought of outlining your novel makes you cringe too, relax. You can use my “outline as you go” strategy. Whenever I share it with a pantser, and they try it, they say it works. That said, it may or may not work for you. Try it, and see what happens.

Also, consider writing non-sequentially.

Consider writing non-sequentially: write whatever scene pops into your head

Scrivener makes writing non-sequentially easy, and over the years, I’ve learned to take full advantage of this.

Here’s how it works. (And yes, this is part of “outline as you go”.)

When I start a novel, I create several new documents in Scrivener. I label them: Character 1, Character 2, Character 3, Setting, etc.

I also create an Idea document, in which I write, in a list, Person, Situation, Outcome — this is the story of my novel, in a nutshell.

Outline as you go: person, situation, outcome

Let’s imagine that you’re starting a new novel.

You need a Person. You decide that your main character will be Nancy, who’s in college, and who’s just started working in a coffee shop.

Her Situation: she’s attracted to a man who completely ignores her. She’s warned away from him. He’s been in prison.

The Outcome: the man to whom Nancy is attracted is a criminal. He gets information from Nancy which leads to someone getting shot. Nancy learns a big lesson: judge people by what they do, not how they look, or what they say.

“Outlining” in this way means that I’ve got the basics of a novel in just a few sentences. My storytelling brain is intrigued, rather than depressed, or intimidated.

Outline as you go by telling yourself a story

I use a book journal for every novel I write. It’s always a paper journal, and I use a double page spread to outline.

I outline as I write.

Before each day’s writing session, I write some notes — just free writing, and brain storming, on the right hand page. On the left hand page, I create a mind map, or a list, of what I want to cover in that day’s writing.

Create scenes as they occur to you: write non-sequentially

Outlining as you go is an organic method. Your novel grows, without you being aware of outlining, in a formal sense.

Be prepared to write non-sequentially. In the Draft folder in Scrivener, I keep a “Scenes” folder. If I want to write a scene which won’t come up for several chapters, I place the scene’s document in that folder. Later, when I need it for the story, I drag it out of that folder, and into where it belongs in the novel.

Outlining as you go eliminates procrastination

Try this method of outlining. It eliminates procrastination, because you start each writing session by noodling in your book journal. You’ll find that the five minutes you spend on your journal leads to faster writing, and a better novel too.

Have fun with this outlining method — adapt it to your own needs.

By the way, if you don’t have Scrivener, try using Evernote for your non-sequential scenes. You can see which scenes you have at a glance.

The Eardleys Of Gostwicke Hall
The Lady And The Rake: A Scandalous Arrangement

The Lady And The Rake: A Scandalous Arrangement

eBook: $4.99
Author: Penelope Redmont
Series: The Eardleys Of Gostwicke Hall, Book 1
Genre: Regency Romance
Tag: regency

Melisande Eardley has a temper, and that temper gets the better of her.

More info →
Buy from Amazon Kindle
The Lady And The Duke: A Dangerous Season

The Lady And The Duke: A Dangerous Season

eBook: $4.99
Author: Penelope Redmont
Series: The Eardleys Of Gostwicke Hall, Book 2
Genre: Regency Romance
Tags: Recommended Books, regency

Her sister Catherine believes that Elaine's hair tells you everything that you need to know about her. It's flame-red. When Sir Oliver Destry trifles with Elaine, she decides on revenge. Elaine soon discovers the truth of the old saying that if you want to make the gods laugh, just tell them your plans.

More info →
Buy from Amazon Kindle
The Lady And The Man Of Fortune: A Wicked Secret

The Lady And The Man Of Fortune: A Wicked Secret

eBook: $4.99
Author: Penelope Redmont
Series: The Eardleys Of Gostwicke Hall, Book 3
Genre: Regency Romance
Tag: romance

Although he's a prize on the Marriage Mart, wealthy and twice-widowed Lord Delmere thinks that nothing could ever tempt him to marry again. Until he meets the lovely Lady Kingston.

More info →
Buy from Amazon Kindle
The Lady And The Military Man: Conquer My Heart

The Lady And The Military Man: Conquer My Heart

eBook: $4.99
Author: Penelope Redmont
Series: The Eardleys Of Gostwicke Hall, Book 4
Genre: Regency Romance
Tags: regency, romance

What happens when two people who won't consider marriage can't live without each other?

More info →
Buy from Amazon Kindle
The Lady And The Adventurer: Win My Heart

The Lady And The Adventurer: Win My Heart

eBook: $4.99
Author: Penelope Redmont
Series: The Eardleys Of Gostwicke Hall, Book 5
Genre: Regency Romance
Tag: regency

Henry (Henrietta) Eardley makes a huge mistake. Then she makes it worse. She's never known a man like Lord Devernwood, and he's never met a woman like her.

More info →
Buy from Amazon Kindle
Lady Saville’s Lover, A Regency Romance

Lady Saville’s Lover, A Regency Romance

$3.99
Author: Penelope Redmont
Genre: Regency Romance

She's gorgeous, but hot-tempered, and Scottish heiress Bess Fleming takes the ton by storm. She's refused six proposals of marriage -- will Lord Darius make number seven?

More info →
Buy from Apple Books
Various retailers
Buy from Barnes and Noble Nook
Buy from Scribd
Buy from Kobo
Buy from Amazon Kindle

 

Updated: February 4, 2018

 

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