Putting it together in an outline
I put in a picture of keys today because I firmly believe that the true KEY to writing a killer rough draft is to have a great outline.
Drumroll, please.
You should now know all your numbers by now-
*genre length: page count
*chapter length
*number of chapters
*Plot Points 1 & 2, Mirror Moment, Climax and Denouement AKA Resolution
Today you will whip out your outline and plug things in.
Plan your disasters
My outline includes a column for a disaster- something I learned from the book Will Write for Shoes: How to Write a Chick Lit Novel by Cathy Yardley. not an affiliate link. (Long story there with the chick lit thing. Don’t ask.) Some disasters are big. Some are small.
Here’s my thinking. I love to read “potato chip” books. These are books where the chapters are so yummy that I can’t stop at the end. Something happens at the end of each chapter that makes me say, “Okay, just one more chapter.” Then – at the end of THAT chapter – there’s another mini-cliffhanger, and I have to read on. Until I discover it’s 2:00 am and there are only 20 pages left in the book, so why not finish?
So that’s the kind of book I want to write. One where you just have to know what happens next.
You may not need that. Feel free to put something else in that column. And I only took the chapters to #60. But I included a blank page that you can use if needed for your outline. I love short chapters, remember?
Moving forward
Me? Confession time. I think the middle of a book is the hardest to write. Especially the hardest to plan. I’ve usually got the beginning and end in sight when I start. Shh. Don’t tell anyone, but I have been known to leave a chapter or two blank on my outline. Then, as things develop, I get an idea for those chapters as I flesh out a conflict or something. And Choosing Justice started out as only 51 chapters. But Ike and Justice decided it needed 2 more. What could I do? That happened again in my third book, Taking Liberty, coming 2021.
You? Pull out your Writing Math and Arc templates and your calendar and start plugging things in.
Remember:
My FREE novel planning templates are available beginning June 14, 2021 from my Novel Planning page here, along with links to the brief blog posts that explain them. You will also find links to posts describing my additional planning templates that are available here in my Shop.
How many chapters do you think you’ll need? Have you ever written a novel without an outline?
“I am the Lord your God who leads you in the way you should go.”
Sometimes I wish God would give me a GPS or a map or a neon sign. I’d even take a pillar of cloud or fire. Okay, maybe not a pillar of fire. That would kinda freak me out. But it certainly would get my attention.
Sometimes I wonder if I’m on the right track.
I just need to reread Isaiah 48:17, and then I double check: who am I following?
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