There, I’ve confessed. I’m a hardcore, all-out pantser. I sit, I write, I watch the story unfold in front of me. Therefore, my outlining advice comes not from me, but from people who actually outline their books before writing them. Now, I’m going to go blah blah blah on for another paragraph about that time I DID outline (sort of) and how it worked out. So, if you just need to get to the how-to outline part, click HERE. I took a cursory glance through, and though it made my chaos brain hurt, you may find it invaluable.

My Attempt At Outlining

So, in fairness, I wouldn’t call it a fail.  Not at all, really. When I began work on the second book in a three-book series (a now set-aside project, cue facepalm) I needed to reacquaint myself with the characters, settings, and so on. I also needed it visible for quick reference, so I went old-school and chose index cards on a corkboard. I propped that big boy behind my laptop, and boom, there it was. Now – and once again, due to my pantser nature – I found it time-consuming and therefore, frustrating. I just want to write, damn it!

And Yet, I Tried Again

Same scenario in writing my series, Welcome To Chance. With more than a dozen “main” characters, there is no choice but to do some outlining. In this case, though, it was more about keeping my characters, um, characteristics, straight. This time I created a People and Places of Chance File, and use it for reference. I’m terrible at updating it, so now that I’m thinking of it, I guess I’d better get at it. Damn.

No Right Or Wrong

But consider trying try both ways, or even a hybrid of both, which is very common (especially when writing series). This will all depend on what kind of writer you are: planner or panster? Time to get back to writing. Oh, well after I update that character outline. Sigh.