Outlining - Stage Two

Stage Two

You've filled your Brain Fart board, you've read through your plot over and over again and think it's done.

It's time to make a spreadsheet.

This is my spreadsheet. Change it to what works best for you.

What do you think you need to navigate your story?

I use this spreadsheet to find a section quickly, and to remind myself of what is in/what needs to be in each section. Since this photo I have added a new column for my most recent work; Artefacts. I use that section to keep up with what artefacts my characters have used and to keep all the information about that item together.

Perhaps you need a column for a character's food, weapons, historic events. Make the excel suit your story.

I will go through each of my columns and explain why they're there.

These columns are self explanatory so I won't spend long on them.

Chapter - Chapter number

Page - Page number

Word Count - Word count for that scene or chapter

Scene - Scene number

Characters - Characters which make an appearance in that chapter.

All of these columns help to show at a glance what is in that chapter and helps you to navigate quickly.

For example, if you have a story with multiple protagonists and each chapter is from a different POV (Point of View), you could colour-code each chapter to represent that character. This means that if you have a major problem with one character, you can pinpoint their pages easily and quickly.

It can also show if your chapters are the same or varying lengths. Authors and editors have different opinions on chapter lengths. They could be anything from 1000words to 10,000, but it is the writer's decision. I, personally, prefer a mixture of short and mid length chapters. I find it keeps the pace of the book fast and (as an anal reader) a reasonable way to control when I stop reading. If a book's chapters are exceptionally long I can get frustrated because I can't keep reading before bed as I won't get to the end of the chapter, simply because it is too long. (Like I said, I'm very anal. We're all different.)

The chapter needs to be as long as it needs to be. it's your decision. Do what works best for your story.

These sections are all just to help with navigation.

Next up;

Important Dialogue - This is for any snippets of dialogue you may have come up with during your Brain Fart phase.

These can all be altered. But just write them here so you can refer back to them easily.

What Happens - Very self explanatory. Write here what happens in that chapter/scene. Be as brief or as thorough as you like.

I.e. Character A is caught shop lifting. They meet character B in the police station and a friendship is

formed. They start plotting their escape. (Terrible story, I know, but just a little example.)

Foreshadowing - Always, ALWAYS, foreshadow.

Foreshadowing is hinting to the reader something that is going to happen later in the story. This can

be obvious or subtle. A reader could get a hint upon first reading your book, or get to the pivotal

point and have a revelation (Oh, that's why that character wears gloves and no-one else.)

Sometimes readers will reread a book just to find the hints the author has placed there.

This is important. A pivotal moment without prior foreshadowing can leave the reader feeling empty and cheated. Yes, you can have plot twists. But these should still have subtle hints, very very subtle, but they must be there.

And finally;

Other - Anything else you need. You can use this to write in something that's vitally important to a chapter but isn't foreshadowing. Or write a character's growth. An item they must see. A character they must meet.

It's your choice. Use this section for what you think is appropriate.

Writing your outline up onto a spreadsheet is useful:

1. For when you're moving around.

2. To have a backed up copy of your work.

3. To find faults in your planning.

Typing up words you've already written, for me, always shows my errors. It's like another read through but more detailed.

As I type up my outlines I always find things that I've missed, things that aren't needed and sometimes change the structure of the plan all together.

Give it a try and see what works best for you.

If nothing else, at least you will now have your outline backed up and safe.

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