25 for 25: Outline
Your outline provides context of what is inside and outside the frame of the book—what you want to include and exclude.
This essay is part of my 25 for 25 book writing series. The lessons in this series are meant to simplify the book writing and production journey. You can find a guide with links to the entire series here.
The outline represents the roadmap to reach your book’s destination.
There are lots of ways to tackle outlines. Some outlines are very thorough, with bullet points and structure for each chapter. Some are loose diagrams or mind maps.
I often use spreadsheets to arrange my project outlines.
Sometimes if I’m struggling to unlock a book’s outline, I will write each chapter or theme on a Post-It note and arrange the notes on the wall, moving them around until I’ve figured out the right order.
Story note cards such as Fabula Storytelling Cards have also proven helpful, especially when I’m trying to map out the hero’s journey.
There are a million ways to structure your book. It could be a 10-chapter book following a step-by-step process or a narrative involving hundreds of short chapters and multiple points of view.
Importantly, your outline is going to provide context of what is inside and outside the frame of the book—what you want to include and exclude.
An outline will help you figure out where to focus your energy and attention. If you know, based on your outline, that chapter eight is the key chapter and longest chapter of your book, and the most time-consuming, it’s important to be able to spend your resources there rather than on chapter 12, which is a lot shorter and less impactful.
If you start writing before outlining your book, you’re liable to spend lots of time writing material that doesn’t actually fall inside the frame of the book. So if you want to save time, outline!
The outline could—and should—evolve as you write, just as your course to reach your destination on a long drive could change abruptly due to traffic backups or construction. But it still helps to have a starting plan.
Watch this!
I cover outlines in this video.