Outlining Season

September is a busy month in my household.  Homeschool begins, birthdays are celebrated, and tutoring goes into full mode. Little writing occurs during this very frantic month of settling in.  The focus falls on routines and finding the school year’s groove. October is mostly recovery from September’s madness. But it’s also time to outline.

As November comes, Nanowrimo approaches.  In a few days, the writing feast will begin.  50,000 words are the goal.  The time limit:  the month of November.

My first Nano I was utterly unprepared.  I prepped out a rough outline two nights before the event.   That meant I was flying by the seat of my pants.  This is a liberating and creative way to construct stories.  I do well this way if I’m writing only for myself.  By the time I hit the tricky middle bit I have to pause and outline.  This slows down my progress towards my  50,000 words and the completion of my book.

I’ve learned by trial and error that outlining a handful of storylines in September and October sets me up for a rocking Nano.  Not only this, but it sets me up for a year of writing.

Here’s how it works:

Begin with a Goal:

My personal goal for October is to outline at least 2 Cozies and one Middle-grade Novel.  This gives me plenty of options for November and Nanowrimo.   It also gives me some kindling to set my writer life aflame.  When slow writing seasons happen, my battle plans are all laid out and waiting for me to attack.

Outline a Series Chunk:

At the moment, my cozy mysteries are all part of a single series.  By outlining more than one a season, I get my timeline in order, my character arcs tighter, and my themes lining up from book to book.   Characters tend to screech at me, usually while I’m trying to write something else.  Outlining a series, where the same characters come out to play silences their chatter.  I outline the series until I’m out of ideas and exhausted. Outlining a handful of volumes for a series allows me to ride the momentum of writing without actually taking the time to carve out every detail.  I then order my outlines by volume number and story timelines.  When I sit down to type out the details, I grab the next book in the series and get to work.

Outline Multiple Worlds at a Time:

Sometimes the characters nag and pester at my brain and don’t let me rest until I’ve got the backbone of their stories on paper.  When I move onto another project and they pop back in to say they weren’t quite finished.  Other times a brand new project keeps me up at night. If I  outline as much as I can of this world. mapping its territory, charting it’s character arcs gets me familiar with the people living this reality and I can lay it aside as I finish the work I’m currently sketching.

Write One Book at a Time:

Though you can outline a whole series and multiple projects in one season, I don’t advise writing them all at once.  I used to jump from project to project as whimsy and writer’s block dictated but this just jumbled my pieces. They became twisted echoes of each other instead of their own unique piece. I write best if I write on one book at a time. Set your mind on the outline that most interests you, at the moment, and dig in until you’ve completed the rough draft.  Rough drafts are just that rough!  Don’t focus on making them perfect… yet.  There’s editing and formatting and marketing, each is their own beast with their own needs.  With a few solid outlines in the queue, I can jump right back into creating once the nitty-gritty of publishing is complete.

Goal Rocked Now Go Polish & Publish your Books.

My future self is already applauding. Your future self will cheer for you as well if you separate a chunk of time for outlining.  Once outlines are complete I can set them aside and return to writing without losing my ideas and without convoluting my current work. This also helps heaps when I’m waddling through the editing doldrums and just have to write something NEW!!!

Let me know how you prefer to outline, in the comments below. Also, sign up for Nanowrimo and let’s be writing buddies.  (Look me up as: sarahthecoffeejedi)

Outline Helpers: