Outline This!

I have K.M Weiland and her book, “Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success,” to thank for my new found love of outlining, brainstorming and plotting in general.

I bought the digital version of this book a few months ago, after suddenly taking an interest in plotting, and finally cracked it open while on vacation over the holidays. In it, Ms. Weiland covers not only the benefits of her outlining process, such as preventing dead-end ideas, but also:

  • Different brainstorming and outlining methods
  • Developing your story’s premise
  • Developing your setting, characters, and conflict
  • How to develop and use backstory
  • Extended outlining
  • Reverse outlining
  • How to turn all of that into a story road-map

At the end of every chapter she includes interviews with established authors such as Larry Brooks, Jody Hedlund, and Dan L. Hays. In these interviews, the authors share their own methods for outlining and story preparation as well as the their thoughts on “pantsing” and when each technique comes in handy.

What I liked the most about the book was the fact that Ms. Weiland includes a tremendous amount of examples from her own work. This way you can see her process in action. Since I’m a “Learn by Example” sort of student (show me how to do something once or twice and I’ve got it down), her examples were probably the most helpful out of anything else in the book.

After reading only a few chapters, I opened up a brand new notebook, dusted off my work in progress, and started trying out the techniques taught in the book. Within a short period of time, I busted open another notebook because I’d filled up the first.

I finally solidified my premise, grasped the concept of “Character Arc” (my main character now has one) and created a villain that has more at stake than just “I want what the protagonist has because he has it and I don’t!” I also have a Theme! Something I’d never concerned myself with before.

Now that I’ve read through my digital copy of “Outlining Your Novel” a few times and filled my kindle with bookmarks, I plan on buying the hard copy to plant on my desk as well.

Feel free to share your favorite writing books below. I’m always looking for new books to add to my ever-growing library!

18 Replies to “Outline This!”

  1. Sounds like a good book. Just this year I’ve sat down to write the novel I always wanted to write but that never got started due to the time demands of teaching English. The idea for the book was really more of an image, and when I sat down to start typing, I quickly realized that I needed to outline the plot. I’ve always been a big fan of freewriting, but outlining never came into play as I’ve focused on short stories and personal essays before.

    I’ll be back to check you blog. You might like mine as well. I have a regular schedule for posting topics.

    1. Hi Jeri! Thank you for visiting and commenting. I’ve only recently converted to using more outlines for fiction writing. My writing style up until now has been more along the lines of a “Mind Dump” … just get it all on paper and fix it later.

      I checked out (and bookmarked) your blog! I’m going to have to add “The Art of Styling Sentences” to my wish list.

  2. I’m just thrilled to pieces that the book has been so helpful to you! Makes my day to hear that. Thanks for sharing your thoughts in the post – and for following me on Twitter. I’ll look forward to tweeting with you!

    1. Hi Sandra! Thank you! I love your website. It looks like you have so much stuff on there for kids and their parents. I can’t wait to explore it further!

  3. Hi Karen,
    sounds like a great book. I have no desire to write a novel, but I enjoy writing. I have always liked the idea of brainstorming and plotting for many projects and even in goal setting. Problem is it can be hard to get focused. Do you think this book could be helpful in general goal setting as opposed to being geared only to aspiring writers?

    1. Hi Marie!

      What I took away from this book is it’s more geared toward fiction writers. Though, brainstorming and outlining techniques are helpful in any type of writing. (I do technical writing as well and actually try to outline for those projects!)

      I think though, if you’re not interested in writing a novel, this book may not help you beyond the first few (and last few) chapters. There’s a lot of information in there about creating setting, character and plot sketches. Which might not help you in your other goals.

      I hope that helps! And thank you for taking the time to read my post!

  4. Thanks for the introduction and review of this helpful book about writing. I’m also a ‘learn by example’ person, so I’ll definitely be on the look out for Outlining Your Novel: Map your way to success.

  5. I would never consider myself a writer and when I sit down to write a blog entry it sometimes seems to be hard work getting something coherent to emerge from my thoughts. Your short piece has helped me to think about approaching my posts more like a short story in terms of having an outline and a plan. Thanks!

    Pretty cool that the book author dropped by too!

    1. Hey Trevor! I still find it hard work some days to jot down coherent thoughts! I checked out your blog but didn’t have a chance to leave any comments yet (I’ll rectify that). I liked your post on teacher’s making home visits. That’s an interesting thought/concept!

      Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to comment.

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