Some writers outline in great detail, creating a blow-by-blow list of what’s going to happen in each chapter.
Others don’t outline at all – they just get started and let the story unfold as they write.
Most, of course, don’t fall into either of these extremes. They find a middle ground: usually, they’ll have a loose plan, with some idea about the major plot points in their novel – including the ending.
So should you be outlining? There are definite advantages – but also some drawbacks.
Advantages of Outlining
1. You’re More Likely to Hit Your Deadlines
If you have a deadline for a publisher, or if you’ve put your self-published book on pre-order, then having an outline makes it easier to hit that deadline. You’ll know where your story’s going – and you won’t risk having to do a ton of rewriting after the first draft.
2. You’ll Do Less Rewriting
If you don’t outline, you’re almost certainly going to do quite a lot of rewriting. You’ll end up drafting chapters that don’t really fit, scenes that don’t go anywhere, or simply passages that need to be heavily rewritten. With an outline, you may well still have some missteps, but you’re not going to end up doing quite so much rewriting.
3. You May Craft a Better Plot
Outlining lets you see your plot as a whole – and you may find that you can craft a more detailed and intricate plot by planning it all out ahead of time. This is more important in some genres than others: in, say, a romance novel, you don’t need such a complex plot as in a mystery crime novel.
Disadvantages of Outlining
1. You May Miss Out on Better Ideas
Once you’ve developed a detailed outline, it’s difficult to deviate from it – even if a better idea comes along. You might ignore or resist ideas that could work really well for your novel, simply because they aren’t in your outline. (Or, you might never have those ideas in the first place.)
2. Your Characters Might Feel “Forced” Along With the Plot
Have you ever read a story where the characters did something nonsensically stupid or behaved in a way that just didn’t seem to fit who they were? This can happen if your outline requires characters to do something uncharacteristic, for the sake of keeping the plot on track.
3. You Might Feel it Doesn’t Work For You
Some writers just don’t get on with outlining. You might read loads of great advice about outlining, try out lots of different outlining techniques, but still feel like you’re not “getting it” or that your outlines are sapping all the joy out of writing. Outlining isn’t for everyone.
So should you outline your novels? Only if you want to! I certainly think it’s helpful to do some idea-gathering before starting to write. You might jot down notes for scenes that you have in mind, fill out index cards that you can shuffle around, or simply spend some time daydreaming about your novel.
If you like to plan and outline, by all means, do! You’ll likely find that your writing process is faster and more predictable as a result. But if you find that you prefer to discover the story as you write – even if that means doing a lot of rewriting afterwards – then that’s equally fine too.
What’s important is that you come out with a finished novel. How exactly you get there is completely up to you.
