I used to be a pretty proud pantser. Outlines scared the crap out of me. The problem never was that I felt less creative by doing it [outlining], but that I wouldn’t stick to it. After doing plenty of research about it, I decided to try. I made an sketchy outline in my writing notebook, and I was so excited!
And then I kind of didn’t follow it and had to change it entirely.
And then again.
And then I discovered K.M. Weiland’s website, and her Structuring Your Novel book, and it was like heaven because I finally had some sort of guide to craft my outline around, and not just blindly stack scene upon scene with no idea of what I was doing. It felt like going to battle with the necessary weapons, and not just with a wooden stick.
That was a big step in my outlining journey. But the question remained. How could I make an outline for a book that continously shifted, that I kept adding ideas to, without stressing me out from having to rewrite it?
And that’s where Scrivener comes in!
1: I split MS into the 3 Acts
Ever since I became acquaintanced to story structure, it has been saving my life. So the first order of business for me now, almost without thinking, is identifying the three main acts of my story.
This is how Scrivening looks like for me, although solely for this purpose I have made the Binder section, the first column, bigger. This is the column where you organize most of the things.
As you can see, I have these folders that are ACT I, ACT II, and ACT III. Some people are super organized and inside these folders, they put other folders that represent chapters, and inside them, finally the text files that are the scenes. I just drop all the scenes inside the ACT folders.
2: Type in the Main Events
Yeah! These will be sort of like the skeleton of this outline, the base upon I will build the rest of the things. The main events I’m referring to are these:
- The Characteristic Moment
- The Inciting Incident
- The First Plot Point
- First Pinch Point
- Midpoint
- Second Pinch Point
- Third Plot Point
- Climax
- Resolution
But I mean, I just type the labels, haha. I don’t write what each will be about just yet. I just like having a visual of what I have to do.
In my example, I have just completely outlined ACT I of my story, which is why that folder is filled in with something other than just the Characteristic Moment and the Inciting Incident; while my ACT II folder has nothing but just key events.
3. Get to the basics of scene structure
This is something I have just recently incorporated to my outlining process. In the same way that there’s structure for a story, knowing about Scene structure is also pretty useful.
It all boils down to two parts of Scene: The scene, and the sequel.
Scene:
- Goal
- Conflict
- Disaster
Sequel:
- Reaction
- Dilemma
- Decision
4: Rinse & Repeat
And then basically I just repeat the process witch each scene, until I get to each milestone/key event.
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Love this! The only book I’ve tried to write, I was totally pantsing it, but it didn’t work out so well. Next time, I’m hoping to go in with more of a plan. I’m going to bookmark this post to remind me of this resource!
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YAY! Go for it! Are you doing NaNo this november?
This is so much better than the way I organize. I just do it by chapters, with the second column being my outline. That’s it haha. I do have folders for character profiles and setting descriptions. I like the way you do this though!
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You should give it a try! I mainly do it because this way I know what’s sort of supposed to happen at each stage and can orient the story in that particular way. 🙂
It’s so interesting to see someone else’s story structuring method! I used to be a pantser too, but I have definitely found it so much easier since I began structuring. For one thing, if I know where my story is heading I’m less likely to write myself into a corner and just give up.
Scrivener has been an absolute life saver for me too, and my method is fairly similar to yours, except I have different names for the different points and I split into chapters instead of scenes. I have a vague outline that involves me outlining the introduction, the problem/inciting incident, how the characters react, how the problem worsens, the climax and then the resolution, and I’ll also do a separate outline for any sub plots. Then I’ll split the general outline into chapters, and then in theory I have a workable plan of the book from start to finish. I have only recently started using this method though, so it still needs perfecting. I’ll definitely be checking out the book you mentioned for any tips!
Great post 🙂
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Thanks! And yes, I totally recommend the book and blog. I still haven’t decided how to approach subplots. I’m not that detailed with them when I’m outlining.
PS: I’m so happy for your progress with your book!