3 Google Docs Features that I Use to Edit My Outline

And the crazy story about how I didn't know "outline editing" existed.

I didn’t realize until about two weeks ago that I could actually edit my outline. I was glancing through a friend’s outline and adoring how wonderfully color-coded it was, and then something ticked inside me: I can edit my outline!

It has helped me so much regarding scene layout, foreshadowing, and keeping track of what’s important. I don’t know how I never thought about this before— but now that I’ve found it, I’m never not using these strategies again.

I usually outlined on paper, but now I’ve moved all my material onto Google Docs. I love a nicely organized space, and my docs are no exception. Here’s how I keep myself from going insane when I outline. ;)

1. Highlight

I have a highlighting guide and use a few different colors to keep things noticeable. For example, I use a pastel red for any worldbuilding that gets done during the scene; I use light green for the first time a character gets introduced in the book; I use light blue for any important things that happen in regards to the plot; I use light purple if there are names that need to be changed (because I am very undecided on this front). I add things as they come up.

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2. Comments

I comment on anything that I need to remember— I basically use the comments feature as a “note to self” machine. (Or I write down anything that’s funny to me, as displayed in several comments where I’m chiding my characters for their bad decisions.)

A few example comments that I found in my outlining doc:

“Does she meet [character name] here or in the next scene?”

“Need to make a map of this side of town. I keep getting the roads mixed up.”

“Haha, very funny, [character name], but you’re going to be disappointed later…”

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3. Tabs

You can now separate your document into tabs, and I utilize this a lot. I have a tab that is simply a checklist of things that need to be done, a tab for scenes and character arcs, a tab for worldbuilding, a tab for scenes I’ve practiced writing, and a tab for the language of my world (because this is a fantasy fiction).

You can rearrange, name, and create subtabs if you want. You can even add a little emoji marker for it.

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Let’s Outline

If these tips helped you understand your outlining process better, drop a comment or DM and let me know! I love to get messages asking for help or for more information!!