5 Benefits of Outlining Your Novel
Are you a pantser or a plotter?
5 Benefits of Outlining your Novel (Espeically as a Pantser)
Are you a pantser or a plotter? If you’re a pantser, or recovering one, like me, then this is for you. These are the five benefits of outlining your novel that I learned as a former pantser.
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What are the 5 benefits of outlining your novel?
Half-written manuscripts won’t collect dust in your digital attic.
Storytelling fundamentals
Character Development
Consistency
Inspiration
Have you ever been five to seven thousand words into your manuscript and one day, you just completely stopped writing?
Your mind went blank and the story fall flat. Then, you grew so frustrated that you tucked it away onto your computer, never to touch it again. Yeah, we’ve all been there. But don't worry. I’m sharing some poignant advice that I wish I adhered to earlier in my writing career.
Speaking from experience: going into a story blind leaves it vulnerable. It’s time to stop squandering your creativity.
The secret to completing a successful first draft is outlining. I know, some of you may HATE it, while others can’t even write the first word until they have the whole book plotted out. I’m telling you right now, not outlining is a disservice to you and your future readers.
Plotting a novel forces you to question if your idea is worth sharing and helps you dig into the details. It forces you to ask why. Asking why is the most important question before writing a story.
Let’s face it—we all have bad ideas from time to time. Outlining helps you uncover if this next one is worth following, or letting go. That’s the first step to writing.
Now, this list isn’t telling how much or how little to plan out because that is up to every writer. This list expresses why an outline is crucial to the craft.
Are you ready to take your writing to the next level? Then I implore you to read the entire list before wasting any more precious creative energy. And stick to the end to receive valuable recourses on outlining your novel.
The 5 Benefits of Outlining your Novel
Half-written manuscripts won’t collect dust in your digital attic
Plotting a novel gives every writer a roadmap to their destination. Without it, you will write your way into oblivion. This is how pantsing often looked for me: the initial idea came to me, it was vivid, fluid, and raw. Then five days later, I stared at my cursor without a clue as to where the story lead. This was because I never set up the why: why does this story need to be told (the theme)? Why are my characters important (hero’s journey)?
2. Storytelling fundamentals
When forced to follow story beats in an outline, you will naturally learn how to tell a story. You gain tools that you will carry in your writer’s belt for future projects. These will include learning how to execute the hero’s journey, the 3 act-story structure, and more.
3. Character Development
Building and outline helps you understand your characters motivations, actions, and personality. Character-driven stories are (in my opinion) the best to read. Why? Because we love watching a protagonist overcoming their inner and outer demons; we learn a little more about life through their trials and errors. When you know your character's psychology, you will never get stuck writing about them. Their internal conflict molds with the theme and keeps the world unique and dynamic. When the theme is clear, everything falls into place.
4. Consistency
Speaking from experience, it’s vital to plot out major key points in your story. You don’t have to write every detail, but you need to know where you’re going. So many people believe that plotting takes out the creativity, when in fact, it does the opposite. Having an outline guides you; it keeps your characters, plot, and world consistent. How many times have you (as a pantser) written about your characters green eyes when they are actually brown? Consistency is vital on a small scale—from appearance to a much larger one—a character's actions.
5. Inspiration
When it comes to sitting down and actually writing, the outline helps you pick up where you left off. You get plunged back into a world with characters you care about, and a message you want to share with the world. It gives you the will to write one word at a time until the first draft is finally finished.
There you have it! The 5 benefits of outlining your novel (especially for a pantser). You won’t regret adding an outline to your writing routine. It will save you so much time and frustration when it’s time to actually write the first draft.
RESOURCES:
Check out these valuable resources that helped me TREMENDOUSLY as a fiction writer.
First, check out Abbie Emmons’ everything; she's a writing coach on YouTube with valuable videos about storytelling. Second, please devour her 3-Act Story Structure template (it’s FREE). And finally, read Lisa Crons novel, Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel. This book has transformed my outlining process—especially with her scene cards. These two resources are pivotal to the writing process, and you won’t regret it.
Let me know in the comments below if you are a pantser or a plotter.
And if you were a pantser—has this list opened your mind to plotting?
Thank you for reading and happy writing!
