The Outlining Technique that Got Me to Write 100k Words in Less Than 10 Weeks
With NovNov coming up, we're all trying to get high-quality, high quantity writing in as little time as possible. Here's how
There are only 30 days in November. That’s four and a half weeks. Right now, you might be wondering how in the world you’re going to get to 50k without burning out completely.
I have an answer to that problem, if you’re willing to hear me out.
If you are, read on!
I’m going to lay this out for you in five easy steps. These are the exact steps I’ve used to outline my 4 novels and write them in record time.
Step 1: Recognize Your Midpoint
The first thing you have to do when outlining your book is to understand the middle. Of course, the middle is my worst fear and could be yours as well; however, there’s a way to defeat it.
Here’s how:
There’s a moment when your character realized that the plot is far bigger than they are. When they have seen a glimpse of antagonism before, but now they believe it. When they stop reacting to their circumstances and start acting for themselves.
When Mr. Darcy proposes for the first time, and Elizabeth brutally refuses.
When the battle rages at Helm’s Deep and Frodo’s burden gets heavier.
When Harry Potter’s broom is jinxed, and Hermione lights fire to Snape’s cloak.
Take this piece of your plot and understand that this is the turning point. This is the point you work towards during your entire first half, and what you work away from during the entire second half.
When you have determined this point, you are good to move on to the next steps.
Step 2: Your Antagonist Strikes Again. And Again. And Again.
There are three main pinch points that must be dispersed evenly throughout your plot at the 37%, 62%, and 82% marks.
Outline your antagonist’s actions like you would a battle plan. You must strike at these three points for maximum impact. Your protagonist will be affected in three different ways during each pinch point.
The antagonist strikes and:
Your protagonist is pushed to the ground but gets back up because his pride is bruised. He knows now just how dangerous the antagonist is.
Your protagonist suddenly understands for real what the antagonist truly means to do— it is no longer personal, but because the protagonist now cares for more than [fill in the blank here] but the whole world, he is still injured by this antagonism.
Your protagonist experiences a “dark night of the soul,” where he is nearly ground to dust by this antagonistic force, but gets back up because of his acceptance of the Truth of goodness.
In Wicked: the musical:
Glinda embraces public approval while Elphaba rejects it. We discover that the antagonist is really Madame Morrible and the Wizard of Oz.
Fiyero protects Elphaba but gets captured in so doing. Elphaba realizes that she is not just fighting for her own freedom, but for the freedom of others.
Elphaba fakes her death and escapes with Fiyero.
You now have the plot points for the 37%, 50%, 62%, and 82% marks. This is basically the whole middle; good job!
Step 3: Identify Your Protagonist’s Actions
Your protagonist is on a journey through this battle plan of the antagonist’s. Now is the time to map this journey out.
The next points that we need are the 12%, the 25%, and the 75% points. These mark the personal decisions and growth that your protagonist takes, using their own wit and gathered wisdom.
The 12% mark is often what we imagine when we get a story idea. This is the inciting event, the moment that the stranger comes to town or something new is introduced to the world. Your character is used to the world around them, no matter whether they’re content or not; however, this is the moment when everything changes, and your protagonist’s interest is piqued. Usually, though, something gets in the way of this moment, and the protagonist has to work to gain acceptance with this new thing.
The Bennet family meets Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy (aka a new chance at love).
The One Ring is discovered to be in the possession of Frodo Baggins.
Harry receives his Hogwarts letter.
During the 25% mark, they finally accept or gain acceptance from this new thing. It’s the first plot point.
Bingley and Darcy leave town, and Elizabeth accepts the fact that there is more to love than just being enamored with each other.
The fellowship is formed, and Frodo accepts the fact that the Ring is his burden.
Harry arrives at Hogwarts and is accepted into Gryffindor House.
The 75% mark is after the first antagonist’s strike, the midpoint, and the second strike. Now the characters have gained much more wisdom and understand far more broadly what is at stake. They are presented with a question that they must answer. This is a rite of passage.
After Elizabeth and Darcy grow closer, Lydia runs away with Wickham. Elizabeth has to answer the question of whether or not she should let the embarrassment of underdeveloped love affect her pride and reputation.
While Aragorn attacks the Black Gate, Frodo and Sam must battle with the temptation of the Ring and Gollum.
Harry encounters Voldemort for the first time, and must decide whether or not to actually pursue and defeat him.
When you’ve decided what these points are in your story, you will then have the 12%-82% marks. Excellent work!
Step 4: Establish the Normal World
The normal world is home, where the protagonist is seemingly safe from the antagonist and the conflict. The protagonist is only in the normal world a short time: from 0% to 12%, and possibly from 82% to 100% (the end usually has less than this, because much of it is resolution).
The Bennet household is full of giggling and eye-rolling. By the end, Elizabeth and Jane have moved on to live with their husbands.
Frodo Baggins lives in the Shire. By the end, he goes to the Grey Havens, where all is peaceful.
Harry Potter lives with the Dursleys. At the end, he has to go back, but he is forever changed and will soon get to go back to Hogwarts.
You must structure this world carefully, making sure that the protagonist’s discontent or happiness is well on display. Then, articulate the perfect way to jut in with the inciting incident so that it tips the normal world completely upside down.
Step 5: Outline Your Scenes
Putting your plot points together, write a list of every scene that occurs from start to finish (or in whatever order you want). Keep in mind that many plot points may be scene sequences rather than one single scene.
Each scene has a:
Goal: Harry wants to win the quidditch game.
Conflict: His broom is jinxed.
Decision: Hermione sets fire to Snape’s cloak. This inadvertently solves the conflict.
There are a lot more strings to this scene than meets the eye, of course. Crafting clever scenes is one of the most important parts of outlining your book.
Remember: setup scenes are just as important as this midpoint scene.
Let’s Write
With this road map to guide you, you’ll have the perfect path to success this NovNov. Following each point from A to B is the best way to avoid burnout and write a book that readers won’t want to put down.
Make sure to tag me this NovNov when you post your word count for the day! I want to celebrate your accomplishments and answer any questions along the way!!
New Character Writing Guide!
Writing characters is incredibly challenging, especially in today’s day and age. Everyone’s characters are so well thought through that sometimes it seems like you’ll never create one of the greats.
I used to feel the same way too, until something shifted my perspective.
Using the information that I learned about, I’ve created a FREE classic literature character writing guide that focuses on character traits that you can translate to your characters without having to worry about being a copycat. This guide goes over 10 master character forms that are not defined by names like Frodo Baggins or Dr. Watson, but instead as tropes that can be played around with until they are as unique as your story.
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I've always found other people's techniques interesting. I typically shape stories like:
1) Identify the conflict
2) Form the exposition
3) Solve the conflict
4) Fill in the middle like a sudoku
And by sudoku I mean like you have some ideas that require certain details that spark other ideas that spark more details, bouncing around the main structure in no particular order until all my building blocks have actual flavor