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Creative Writing – How To Write A Book Outline
If a structure or pattern in the notes can be discerned, or there are extensive notes about how to develop that structure, arrange your content notes so they follow the approximate order of the roughed-out structure.
If the story is about an unfaithful spouse who seeks redemption in good works, determine the opening-perhaps the infidelity or the circumstances that produce it-and then indicate how the novel develops from there, whether a lapse from redemption with further infidelity or an increasing religious fanaticism that has its own consequences.
The structure does not need to be firm and is better left flexible.
In this initial stage of organization, the goal is simply moving from loosely ordered notes to something more linear, thematic and direct, something that makes it easier to see which thoughts and ideas are not longer appropriate and should be cut, where the book is well thought through or thinly developed, and what other developmental possibilities there may be for the book’s overall structure
Because this is a stage of clarification, clear away as much conceptual material as possible, retaining only what is essential.
As you were developing the concept, masses of thoughts and details were fine but now refinement is vital. Too much material is obscuring and confusing. It’s not necessary to get rid of the deleted material entirely, of course. Save it somewhere in case you want to go back to it later for inspiration or to confirm that there is nothing usable.
If you’re planning a biography, for instance, divide the life of your subject into significant periods, or organize the material thematically, grouping it in terms of the main issues and crises that your subject struggled with. Keep your organizing elements large so they are easier to keep in mind individually and collectively, and keep the notes focused.
You’ll need to proceed differently if you’re beginning this stage with only a mass of notes and thoughts and no particular and evident structure. Start grouping the notes, even if only joining one or two at a time. Put all your thoughts about a character in one place, the major conflict in another place, and the book’s intended audience somewhere else. You may find that the process of arranging stimulates your thinking and produces new ideas. When that occurs, place those ideas within the emerging groups and patterns.
Gradually, the notes will become organized into major groups, and the book’s structure or plot will become more focused. As the sharper focus occurs, adjust your organizing so that it follows the book’s appropriate new directions and changing form, even if it means rearranging all your notes.
Your fully organized notes are close to an outline but there’s one more step: distillation. Concisely express each note and clarify what’s essential. In the process of distillation, you will further focus your thinking about the character, theme or plot point you’re addressing in the notes, and about the overall book. Also, you will make it easier to keep track of the book’s various parts.
While each note should be concise, the outline itself can take whatever length and detail is appropriate for you and the project. You may need only a single page that reads almost like a table of contents but has all the chapters carefully worked out. Or you may be more comfortable with an extensive outline that includes a host of characters with psychological profiles and family histories, a detailed description of the plot, and notes about the places where the point of view will shift from one character to another.
Once the outline is revised to the point where you understand the book as well as necessary, begin the actual writing, with the outline as your guide.
If you aren’t sure whether the outline is sufficiently developed, begin writing anyway. If the writing goes well, keep the outline on the side and continue writing. If after a good start, you realize you’re losing your way in the writing, go back to the outline and develop and rework it, at least from the point at which you got lost.
Concluding the Outline
Starting the writing does not necessarily mean that the outline is finished or no longer useful. Sometimes your preparation has been so solid and the outline is so elegantly thought out that the whole book can be written with little reference to the outline and with no further additions or changes to it
Often, though, the outline continues to be a work in progress that is regularly referred to and revised as the manuscript is written. To get the most benefit from it, keep revising the outline so that it incorporates all of the significant new developments in the book.
Keeping the outline current can often be done economically. As you understand the book better, Make Your notes more brief and the outline more skeletal. If you’re writing a work of history, revise the table of contents to reflect the reordering of the chapters, or the addition and deletion of other chapters. If you’re halfway through a thriller, you may only need a sketchy reminder of the major plot twists in the first half and the probable twists in the second half to keep your writing focused.
It may not be necessary to keep revising the outline all the way through the writing. If at any point the outline has done all it needs to, complete the manuscript without it. However, it may also be so helpful that you revise and refer to it through completion of the manuscript and even through manuscript revisions.
As you continue to write, gain experience with the process of developing a book from concept to outline, and learn better the particular approaches that work best for you, adapt these suggestions so they are most effective for you. You’ll no doubt add other methods and approaches learned from other authors or devised on Your Own. Also, expand or contract the amount of time spent developing the book in each of the four stages in the ways that are most appropriate for your style of writing and the particular book.
Through it all though you should not only become a better, more productive and efficient writer but get an increasing amount of pleasure and satisfaction from your writing.
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About the Author
Tom Norris is the author of “The Journey” which is an autobiographical account of his earlier years growing up in the farming communities of Southern Ireland.
From the time Tom left Ireland in 1974 he has travelled extensively throughout Europe, Asia and Africa. He has 3 daughters, two sons and lives in London – his home for over 30 years.
Tom is chairman of QFJ Media, the UK’s largest Price Comparison Network, and writes passionately on Global Warming & Renewable Energy issues.
He is currently working on a no-nonsense business guide ebook series called “Survival,” aimed at assisting entrepreneurs and smaller businesses world-wide to grow their businesses.
It Gets Better: The Book (Now on sale)
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