I like outlines, but there are plenty of authors—famous, successful ones—who refuse to use them.

Despite this, I would still encourage new writers to try to outline. Why?
(1) It will help you make sure you have a cohesive story.
(2) It will give you something to follow instead of veering too much off course. (It can’t stop you, but it can help!)
(3) And giving it a try will help you know what kind of writer you are! If you end up hating the outlining process and trying to follow it, that just means you’re a discovery writer! (Commonly referred to as a pantser in the writing community.) You can follow others and find resources made just for you!

And no matter what kind of writer you are, I’d recommend writing an outline before you start the editing process! But more on that later.

My outlining process looks like this: ✨ new idea ✨ ➡ freewriting ➡ putting pieces into a specific structure ➡ organizing with index cards.

But that’s three different outlining methods smashed together, and it took experimenting to find what worked for me. If you’re new to outlining, you probably don’t know where to start!

So here’s a quick look at four different ways to outline, their pros and cons, and more! I hope it helps you find what works for you. And once you’ve figured that out, check back in; I’m working on a post all about ways to approach outlining.

mind mapping

Mind maps are where you write down your central idea and then any other ideas you have branch off of it. For that reason, the central idea is usually in the middle (probably in a bubble) and all the other ideas are connected to it (and/or each other) by lines.

This is like a brain dump with a tad more structure to it. It’s a good way to just let your ideas out. And making sure your ideas all connect in some way to the main idea is super important.

Once you’re done with a mind map, you have to go through and see which ideas are worth keeping and which aren’t. Ideas for specific story events that you would consider cutting are ones that are far away from the main bubble; if it’s too much of a tangent, it probably doesn’t need to happen. And look out for ideas that might be connected to something you scrap!

Once that’s done, figure out your order of events, add some bullet points, and see if you like it!

In a similar way, mind maps might help you with an outline you’ve already made but doesn’t feel fleshed out enough yet. Ask yourself things like “What if _____ happened right now?” or “What if Character A responded like _____ instead?”

Mind maps are good for someone who

is intimidated by the formal structure of an outline
has an outline that needs a little more work
has a lot of ideas and isn’t sure if they all fit into the story they’re trying to tell
prefers to break projects into smaller pieces
isn’t familiar with story structures

Pros: Unintimidating. They’re more fun than bullet points.
Cons: Can be confusing to read back. The order of events isn’t established. It might be impossible to fit everything into one page.

Amount of Work: High
There are ways to make them virtually (like MindMup), but you still have to put everything in order when you’re done.

Comprehension: Low
They look like a mess at first glance.

Adaptability: Medium
Seeing how the ideas connect to each other will help you decide what can and can’t be changed easily.

index CARDS

Index cards make for a very aesthetically pleasing outline, don’t they? There’s just something about a corkboard covered in index cards that makes me want to go buy a ton of them!

They’re great because they can be color coded, easily switched around, and you can use the back to write down things (like a character’s motivations or feelings) without it cluttering up the plot point itself. When so much of what happens in a book is about how your character reacts, their motivations, emotions, and reactions are fantastic things to keep track of!

In a similar way to mind maps, index cards are a good way to get all of your ideas out with abandon. They don’t have to have a perfect place to fit on the corkboard yet.

Personally, it’s been a long time since I’ve used this method of outlining—unless Scrivener’s virtual option counts. That’s how I organize my bullet point outline, and I use different colors to separate scenes into the three different acts.

Index cards are good for the early stages of outlining, and it’s helpful to see everything together all at once.

index cards are good for someone who

needs flexibility
likes space to write down details while keeping things organized
likes a tactile planning experience
wants to color code
likes to write by hand

Pros: It’s easy to add or remove scenes. Index cards have space for details.
Cons: Usually creates waste. You need a big surface to organize the cards on.

Amount of Work: Medium
If writing them out by hand, this can take a lot of time, but they’re much easier to organize than other methods. Can be as simple or detailed as you want.

Comprehension: High
Just look at the order the cards are in!

Adaptability: Medium
Be careful you’re not ruining the timeline of your story if you rearrange cards, but it’s super easy to do.

FREEWRITING

This is how I’ve outlined my stories.
It’s how I work through writer’s block.
And it’s how I journal sometimes.

So, yeah, I’m a fan of freewriting.

It’s the messier version of a mind map. Just write any and everything that comes to mind.
My favorite part about the process is that once you really get in the zone, the ideas seem endless.

I’ve found that I prefer to do my freewriting by hand, but it’s perfectly okay to do it on your phone or computer. Either way, once I’m done with my freewriting, I go through and highlight what I want to keep. And the other ideas don’t go in the trash; they’re something I hang on to in case I find them useful later on. (It sounds like I hoard ideas, huh? 😅)

Freewriting is good for someone who

has so many ideas that they aren’t sure where to start
feels overwhelmed
needs help narrowing down ideas
wants to explore ideas before they commit to put them in their WIP
likes writing by hand

Pros: Helps you explore newer ideas without a total commitment to them. Can help clear mental blocks around creativity. Inspiring + exciting.
Cons: Can be messy. Takes more work to yield actionable results. Can be a procrastination method. Can create waste (paper).

Amount of Work: High
Like with notecards, if you’re writing by hand, it can take a long time. You also have to comb through a lot of notes and stream-of-consciousness writing to pick out what’s worth keeping and what doesn’t serve your WIP. Once all of that is done, you still have to put it into an actual order of events.

Comprehension: Low
As is, freewriting creates a hot mess. The highlighting helps, but things are still scattered and might not even be in sequential order. Once it’s organized, it’s much better, but that takes a few extra steps.

Adaptability: Medium
A list with bullet points is easy enough to re-order and change around. And I think freewriting is especially helpful if you do need to make a change but you aren’t sure which change to make yet; you can test things out and see where they lead.

FOLLOWING A SPECIFIC STORY STRUCTURE

Whether you’re aware of them or not, stories follow a structure. Those structures are important; they create a sense of security in a reader.
And they help you create a coherent outline. That’s a win win!
One of my favorite parts about this is that it’s good for helping you make sure your pacing is on point.

Take Star Wars: A New Hope. It follows the Hero’s Journey that we all know and love.
In a Hero’s Journey structure, the main character is almost always forced to be part of a bigger conflict they didn’t ask for. (Luke finding R2’s message for Obi-Wan and the death of his family.)
After that, they make friends and enemies along the way. (Han + Chewie + Leia!) Readers know that the trials they face get more difficult as the story progresses and that they’ll probably lose someone important to them along the way. There’s usually a moment of despair before they fight the big bad.
These are things that readers anticipate whether they know it or not.

I have a big module about story structures in the course I’m working on right now; there are a lot of them and some have a lot of moving parts.
But if you’re familiar with them (or don’t mind studying) and you’ve found a structure your idea will fit into, go for it!

Following a specific story structure is good for someone who

has a good understanding of story structures
(or wants to learn)
wants reassurance that they’re “doing it right” by following a recognizable structure
only wants to fill in blanks in their outline
needs boundaries for their creativity to really thrive

Pros: The familiarity of a story structure gives you peace of mind; it’s something you know works. You can fill out a quick worksheet with main events and be done. Helps with pacing. Can draw on popular examples for inspiration.
Cons: Worry about copying another popular story. Requires more work beforehand.

Amount of Work: Medium
Depending on how much you know ahead of time, filling in a story structure can be as simple as filling in a worksheet. But you might need to do studying ahead of time. Once it’s done, though, you’ll have a good outline that’s easy to follow!

Comprehension: High
You know the outline works before you’ve even written it! And it’s really easy to see how one event flows into the next.

Adaptability: High
Ideally, you won’t be changing much after refining your outline. But if you do need to, it’s easy to pick out which chunk needs changed and how that will affect future scenes.

So, HOW MUCH TIME SHOULD OUTLINING TAKE?

Sorry to disappoint, but the answer to this isn’t straightforward. There are a lot of factors that would go into how long outlining will take you.
Here are just a few of them:

How developed your idea is
How much experience you have writing
How familiar you are with story structures
Whether or not you want or need feedback
How busy your schedule is
Your confidence

I like to let my ideas simmer for a long time before I really start to bring them to life. I jot down things as they come to me until I feel I have enough to put it all together.

If you argue that I started outlining the first time I jotted down an idea, then it took me months to outline my WIP. But once I’m ready to really commit, I can crank out an outline in a dedicated afternoon.

I also find myself revisiting and tweaking my outline as I write. I’m a weird combo of discovery writer and planner. I don’t change too much—the big pieces of my outline have been set in stone since day one—but sometimes I find an idea that’s better than the one I originally had. As long as I’m still headed in the right direction, it’s all good!

At the end of the day, if you find deadlines helpful instead of paralyzing, I’d recommend giving yourself no more than a three weeks to outline (assuming you’re working on it consistently). If you can really sit down and spend time with it for 30+ minutes at a time, narrow that down even more. If you take too much time outlining, you’ll find that you’ve stopped outlining for the sake of organization and started outlining for procrastination.

Remember, outlines can be changed. They don’t need to be perfect. And even if you don’t consciously change it, I’d be willing to bet money that your draft won’t 100% match your outline.
You’re not going to publish the outline. So get the ideas organized as effectively and quickly as you can and get writing!