SamSuka
scwalker
scwalker

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On Outlining

A reader asked me about my outlining process, so I thought I would share this information with you all.

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For outlining a story overall, I try to decide what the overall arc of the story is. Where does Luke start, and where is he going to end up? Then I start mapping out from there, how do you get from point A to point B to point C, etc. With every individual chapter, I think about how they contribute to the overall narrative. The first 4 chapters are fairly slow, but you can see that each one pushes Luke a little bit further, not only in the progression of his JPS but also his feelings about having it and his relationship with Sammy.

For each chapter, I think "what is the main idea of this, what do I want to say?". Chapter 1 was about the discovery. Chapter 2 was about Luke reaching out to Sammy. Chapter 3 establishes Luke and Sammy getting together regularly. Chapter 4 is a big turning point, probably one of the climax's of the story.

General rules I follow: I try to make chapters between 5000-7000 words. I think longer chapters are very difficult to read. If I write more than that I usually split them up into 2 chapters (Which is exactly what happened with Chapter 1 and 2, originally they were 1 super chapter). In my opinion, more is not better, it's more about formatting and readability than just sending out something long. 2 chapters of 7000 words each is an easier read than 1 chapter of 14000 words.

You should minimize scene changes and time skips in a chapter. I've done some, but they are very minor. I make sure that a chapter contributes to the story and isn't 2 separate ideas. That's why I split chapter 1 and 2 up as well.

Each chapter I start with a sentence or two for the main events. Something like "Luke discovers his problem" "Luke goes to Sammy for help" stuff like that. Then I start by outlining main events - not writing dialogue or getting too descriptive, just a play by play of what happens. This allows me to see if there are gaps or extraneous parts of the story - so I revise and trim/edit until I'm happy with it.

If you're having trouble getting your ideas into stories, you just need to free write. Don't think - just type. Keep going until you run out of steam. The point is to empty out your brain so you can just get it on a page - rewriting is when the real writing happens.

Here's an example:

Chapter 1 Beta Outline

Chapter 1 Finalized Outline

So what I did was get the main beats of the story down first, then expanded upon them to create a more detailed outline.

I hope this info is useful for all you budding writers out there! Feel free to DM me for questions, when I was first started out I was supported by my favorite writers so I'd like to pass it on :)


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