# Outlining Your Novel ![rw-book-cover](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41rtJ4W2ZZL._SL200_.jpg) ## Metadata - Author: [[K.M. Weiland]] - Full Title: Outlining Your Novel - Category: #books ## Highlights - “In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” —Dwight D. Eisenhower ([Location 182](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=182)) - Chapter One Checklist Reject any misconceptions about outlining. Embrace the benefits of outlining. Open your mind to refining your writing process. Have fun! Asking ([Location 367](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=367)) - For every scene, I try to figure out the following: My main character’s goal, the obstacles in her way (and whom they come from), what she does to battle the obstacles, if she wins or loses (usually loses), and what’s at stake/what happens if (when) she loses. I’ll also throw in notes about where the scene takes place, who’s in it, what their goals and obstacles are (although I don’t usually detail those as strongly), and anything else that pops into my head as I plot. I try not to start a draft until I’ve gone through every scene. ([Location 375](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=375)) - My first goal is to hammer all this down into a premise: a single sentence that conveys the plot and the theme. ([Location 582](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=582)) - I know this sounds basic, but be able to create a mission statement along the lines of “I’m writing a relatively fast-paced action-adventure story with a subplot involving espionage and a tragic love relationship.” You may vary from that description, but being able to on the macro level tell yourself what it is you’re trying to do is very useful.7 ([Location 585](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=585)) - Every writer is familiar with the power of the “what if” question. Even when the question isn’t articulated, every novel, every story, and every article is ultimately inspired by those words. ([Location 597](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=597)) - On the first page of Behold’s outline notebook, I wrote What if…?, and, below it, I dashed off every single question that popped to mind: What if Annan (the main character) isn’t a knight? What if Mairead (the female lead) isn’t nobility? What if she doesn’t die? What if Annan kills her? ([Location 603](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=603)) - tried another variation of the “what if” question, by asking, What is expected? I made a list of everything I could conceive the average reader expecting to happen in my story—and then turned each expectation on its head to insert the unexpected wherever possible: ([Location 615](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=615)) - What’s unexpected? ([Location 626](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=626)) - Make the “what if” question a part of your routine for every story. Write the question out to provide yourself a solid visual, and let your imagination take off. Once you’ve selected the few ideas that might work, start looking for tangents: “If such and such happened, then what if this also happened? Or what if this happened instead?” The possibilities are endless. ([Location 631](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=631)) - Your “what if” question gives you an idea; your premise sentence gives you a story. ([Location 645](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=645)) - It’s relatively easy to come up with a plot idea, set the characters in motion, and then watch hopelessly (or sometimes obliviously) as the story meanders away from the original premise idea. ([Location 664](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=664)) - In addition to questions specific to your premise, ask some general questions: • What are four or five big moments that will occur in the plot? • Can you think of at least two complications for each of these moments? • Will these complications push your characters in ways that make them uncomfortable? • What additional settings will these complications demand? • Which character will be the protagonist? • Which character will be affected most by the inciting event? • Does this character have at least two major problems or anxieties in his life? Which offers the most potential for conflict and drama? • How does this problem affect other characters? ([Location 683](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=683)) - In Behold the Dawn, I opened my General Sketches with the question, “So what do I know about this story?” and then spent the next dozen pages summarizing, in linear order, everything I knew would happen to my characters: ([Location 779](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=779)) - As your outline begins to take shape, it’s important to keep in mind several key factors: motive, desire, goal, conflict, and theme. ([Location 945](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=945)) - Take a little extra time in the early stages to make sure all the building blocks are there. ([Location 950](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=950)) - In Behold the Dawn, I made a list of the main characters and their various motives for their various actions: ([Location 960](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=960)) - Giving a character a motive (which inevitably extends to a goal, which hopefully inspires an immediate obstacle, which fortunately creates innate conflict) is vital. ([Location 971](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=971)) - It’s not enough to create a character who does interesting things. He must also do them for interesting reasons. ([Location 977](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=977)) - Unlike fiction, in which we have the tendency to generously dole out black and white designations, motives and actions aren’t always clear in real life. Becoming aware of, and taking advantage of, these complex dichotomies can raise our fiction to a new level by deepening our characters, creating subplots, and, perhaps most importantly of all, offering readers stories they can sink their teeth into and chew on for a while. ([Location 981](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=981)) - Your character’s motive is what fuels his desire for something, and his desire is what gives him a goal to strive toward. ([Location 986](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=986)) - He should have one strong goal, usually inspired directly by the inciting event and often motivated further by strong beliefs or past experiences, that will carry him throughout the book, probably right up to the end (although sometimes it’s necessary for characters to completely change their goals at some point in the story). This is the goal the author must frustrate at every turn throughout the book. ([Location 993](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005NAUKAC&location=993))