A novel outline is critical for a writer. At least it is for me. Until I write the novel outline, I can’t figure out if the novel is working out as well as I want it to. Sometimes I have written the novel outline after finishing the novel and sometimes I have written it after the first draft. Rarely have I ever written it before writing the full story. Although I always write the synopsis before starting the novel.

A synopsis is critically different from an outline. A synopsis contains the beginning, end of a novel and somewhat of what happens in the middle. It also contains the conflict, hook and goals of main protagonist.

An outline is a chapter by chapter summary of the novel, containing just a few lines showing what happens in that particular chapter. It is in fact the litmus test of the whole novel .If each chapter is not able to stand on its own, the whole book is going to fall flat. You cannot afford for the reader to fall asleep in any one chapter. No chapter can be boring—although at times a particular scene maybe boring for a particular reader.  For example, you might have skipped through some descriptions in a book and I usually skip over the fights.

I usually write the chapter outline on one page in this manner:

Chap 1:

Chap 2:

Chap 3:

And so on. In front of each chapter number is the main thing that happens in that particular chapter. In order to make a book interesting, each chapter should contain a major conflict or disaster. If not that, then the protagonist should be chasing important goals. You might want to end a chapter on a disaster or start a chapter with a conflict and end with a goal.

If any one chapter does not contain any one of the above mentioned disaster, conflict or goal, then that chapter is not needed. At that point, I usually cut it out or integrate part of that chapter into another and delete the rest.

Once I am happy with the outline, I re-edit the novel, incorporating all the points that have been approved in my outline. It’s a tedious process but it works for me.

So now you know my writing process regarding novel outline. I hope it works for you too.