Your real work starts today.
Not that it will be hard, but you’ll feel like NOW you get started on your book.
You might have written books before. Whether you have or not, and whether you outlined or not, I suggest you try it with this book.
I used to be a pantser who just wrote down what came to mind. But back in high school, I discovered how much time I saved by using an outline for my essays. And how much more structured my work ended up being.
In my opinion that goes for fiction as well.
No more writer’s blocks - you have your outline to follow.
I’ll give a short introduction to outlines for nonfiction and fiction and give you suggestions to where you can learn more.
How to Create a Nonfiction Outline
Outlines can be very different from book to book. As a general rule of thumb, I suggest you think about how you would teach your topic to somebody you know. Assume he knows nothing about the topic beforehand (except if you’re writing advanced books, of course, then he’ll have the basic knowledge to continue).
How would you explain the topic? Where would you begin? How would you proceed?
Let’s say you’re going to write a book about introducing a puppy in a home that already has a cat. Where would you begin?
I would begin by talking about doing research. I would go one step before the moment when the new puppy is put on the floor in its new home. I would tell readers how they can research the right kind of breed that’s more likely to be friendly with other pets and children.
Then I would take the next logical step.
And the next.
In other words, I would handle this in a chronological order.
Other books call for lists. And in those cases, the list orders are rarely important.
Ten ways to make money online. Seven Awesome Methods to Potty Train Your Toddler
In those cases, you’ll need an introduction, a chapter for each list point, and a conclusion.
If possible, add action steps and resumes.
Right now I’m reading a book (health related) and at the end of each chapter, the authors have a resume saying, “What you just learned” and then describes in a few lines what this chapter was about. I liked that approach.
How to Create a Fiction Outline
Okay, there are many thick books about this topic, so I can’t cover it in the last half of a blog post of course. But I can give you some ideas the direction you can go in.
You can outline your stories by using “the hero’s journey”. I’ve found several explanations online as well as in books. Instead of me showing you one of the blogs that explains the hero’s journey, I suggest you search yourself and pick the version you prefer.
Another free guide I’ve liked is the video series by Dan Wells called the Seven Point Story Structure. You’ll find the first video in his series here:
So today and tomorrow, your mission is to write the outline for your book.
You can do this :)
The Other Posts in KOCPU:
Publishing On Kindle? Find Your Category [KOCPU #1]
Research for Your Kindle Book [KOCPU #2]
I agree that having outlines in mind before writing is good to keep ideas organized. For me I like to read other things and just get ideas as I read. Then when I write, I just write naturally and it flows :)
Yes, you're probably building the outline in your head :)
I'm that bad student that has already fallen behind. I still need to do the research. But, I will catch up.