INTRO.
This is my second non-fiction book. Why (yet) another book on writing? The answer is simple. You see, I've read a lot of books on writing. In the hopes of gaining knowledge of outlining. The writing process is, for me, learned by fire. I'm a discovery writer but I wanted to know how to outline, and as I learn by doing, writing a book about it seemed the best option. And I'll do it as blog posts -- using the blog for the first draft. As all writers know, things change, especially when writing.
The books I have read over the past two years (I will not list them) have all dealt with outlining. I want to know how to do this as it may improve my output. Writing a book is not an easy process. It takes more than creativity to pen a compelling tale. You will need a strong dose of willpower and determination.
Writing is a solo act, even if you write books with a partner. When you sit down to scribe, it is just you. And if you are a social person who loves to be surrounded by friends and going out on dates, dancing, drinking, etc, every weekend -- it's going to take you a long time to finish your book.
This book is in response to Million Dollar Outlines author David Farland. In the book, he says that he'll show you how to write an outline. After reading through the book to the final chapter Writing Million-Dollar Outlines, he said: "I'm not going to show you how to write an outline." So, pissed off, I decided to do exactly that.
When I wrote this How to book, I was basically teaching myself.
At the time I was working on a werewolf novel, like none other. That book is in a rewrite, holding pattern as I switched to writing a couple of thrillers, screaming to escape my noggin. I might get back to it one day. I mean, I do have the outline.
This book deals with novel writing AND outlining using Scrivener. However, I'm using Zoho Docs to write this book. It seemed like a good idea to utilize an online platform as I use more than one machine on a daily basis. Also, writing more than one book on one piece of awesome software at the same time seemed like a bad idea, as I would be closing one file to open another file to make notes and changes. An online universal program appeared to be the better choice.
Whoops, I got off track (a habit of pantsers AKA Discovery Writers). All the books I read, even by famous writers and all dealing with outlining, gave no actual outline details or buried gold nuggets with the text making it impossible to find, or they used films to describe the outline (and that’s just cheating. The film’s already been made). Each book spoke of characters, setting, and so on. Not one of them gave any solid plan. Not a single one of them showed us what they did, or even gave us a starting point.
This is why I have decided to write this book. It is short and to the point. Also, I penned this book at the same time as I was working on my werewolf novel. Everything that is mentioned in this writing book will be reflected in the novel.
My goal is to show new and experienced Discovery writers or writers looking for a change in the way they scrawl novels, to have a reference book and a step-by-step guide with photos to highlight points.
The basic outline of this book is:
1. Brainstorming. Great if you are part of a writing community or have someone to bounce ideas off. Case in point, I had a science fiction piece that I couldn't sell. It involved self-replicating nano-bots.
I was talking to a friend about the story and the fact it hadn't sold (seven magazines declined). I was talking about the nano-bots and explaining what they were to him. Tiny metal robots. Explaining the bots to him made me wonder how tiny metal bots could replicate without tools and materials.
BOOM!
An idea from the universe exploded in my head: change nano-bots to bio-bots. The idea, how to write them, and how they worked were all in my head. Brainstorming works. That story was sold to the next publisher.
2. The story idea. This is kind of important. You will need an idea. I have already brainstormed my idea and I'll explain this in chapter one. I went from blank paper to 2 pages. Also in the idea stage, if there is an item you are not sure about, make a note to research it later. Keyword: Later. Like in your free time when not working on the book.
3. Characters. These guys and gals are needed and they need to feel real, like people we know. In this book, I am not going to bore you to tears with details you can find in any bookstore or online in the most basic of searches. But we will touch on -- what I feel are -- the important points of characterization. Things we need to know and how to find the right name for a character (sometimes Bob just won't do).
4. Setting. All our lovely characters need a roof over their head. And not just any roof will do. The location must be scouted and/or well-known by the author. In this section, I will show you a way to scout any location (almost) and free.
I live in Japan, and most of my books are based in New Zealand (my home country), I know the locations very well. Sometimes I change them to fit the novel. My next book will be set in Alaska. A country I know nothing about. I will need to research. This should be fun (spoiler: it was).
5. The outlining process. Corkboards. Cards. Post-it notes. Notebook pages. The list goes on. I will be using Scrivener on my MacBook Air. You don't need Scrivener to follow along in this book but it is THE BEST writing tool available. There is a Windows version as well. I've used a lot of writing software in the past, from yWriter to PowerWriter (loved this at the time). After the trial period, I switched to Mac and bought Scrivener and fell in love with it. I no longer require corkboards, cards, or Post-it notes. If you don't have a writing tool (for just writing books and stories) check out Scrivener. It'll cost a few dollars and save hours of work.
Side note: Later on I will provide a list of writing software that may or may not suit your needs. There won't be any links. You'll need a search engine. I was going to add the links but then I figured you'd be reading this on a Kindle, Kobo, Nook, or print edition, and adding a link seemed pretty worthless. It is the main reason I read print books for non-fiction. I didn’t think I’d be writing this on Substack.
I have added a bunch of writing software because I truly believe these are worthwhile tools. I have a friend happy with Google Docs and another loving iPages, so to each their own. I give a brief run-down on the software if I have used it. If not, I just typed in the details on the site. (Yes, I did visit EVERY site to confirm it was still active.)
6. Writing the book. This is where stuff changes. Hence, this book is being written side by side to be as accurate as possible. Many of the books I read were written after the fact and usually, these popular writers had written several books and years later grouped all their knowledge and put it on paper. As mentioned in the introduction, all these books leave out one very important thing. The outline in descriptive detail. This book will right that wrong. And I'll provide photos as well.
7. The dreaded synopsis. In step-by-step detail. Publishers want to see this. I will highlight some but not all. I'd like you to enjoy the novel I write. And use it to match the guide.
8. Editing. This will NOT be covered. I may write a few notes about it, and I may not. I will add this though: after your self-edit, please hire a professional editor, especially if you plan to self-publish.
9. Research will be briefly covered in this book, as most will be mentioned and touched on during the course of setting the book files in Scrivener.
10. My Bio. Short form. And what not to include in a bio. Other writers may have different ideas, and this section will be just my belief.
Finally, I'd like to write this How-to book in a friendly chatting style. As if you are sitting in a conference room listening to me. This book will not be overly technical, and if by chance there is a tech point, I'll use an image to help describe the issue. I doubt seeing this happen.