Jim Driver - Outline Your Books Or Die!: Secrets of Writing Fiction that Sells: Plotting, Authorship, Novel Outlining Techniques (How To Write Book 5)

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Its practically impossible to write a bestselling novel unless you work from some kind of outline. Just ask successful authors such as James Patterson, JK Rowling, and Stephen King.

At this point, fans of Stephen King are going to be screaming that Im wrong, that he pours scorn on the very idea of outlining. Maybe thats what he says, but in On Writing, King instructs fledgling authors to put their efforts into creating a spontaneous first draft. To my mind, thats nothing less than a labour-intensive way of outlining.

The only hugely successful author Ive come across who never outlines is Lee Child. His method of writing is to construct a novel scene by scene. Its a laborious process but he writes slowly (500-1,000 words a day) and concocts his novels in one draft. Even so, I genuinely do have the feeling he has more of an idea of whats going to happen than he lets on.

The method Im going to show you is less time-consuming and more user-friendly than either of those utilised by the two giants of contemporary story-telling. Once you get used to the process, it shouldnt take you more than a few hours to produce a workable outline for a novel or screenplay in any genre.

Story gurus such as Robert McKee, Syd Field, and John Truby have almost turned storytelling into a branch of science. They compile charts dotted with mysterious phrases like Character Arc, Point of No Return, Rising Action, and what-have-you. People pay thousands to go on weekend seminars to unravel the mysteries of storytelling. There are even three- and five-year university courses studying nothing else.

Dont get me wrong: I think its good that writers know about the Three Act Structure and the nuts and bolts of storytelling. Ive even put together a book that explains all that stuff. Its called How To Write The Million Dollar Story. If you think it might help you, feel free to check it out.

There are hundreds of books out there claiming to show the secrets of outlining. Problem is, they almost all suck. I know, because Ive read almost all of them.

The majority rehash tired old ways of stringing together Plot Points, Inciting Incidents, and so on, to create a pile of index cards saying stuff like, John sells Bleak House to Jane, but unbeknown to him, she was the one who instigated the infestation of rats.

Youll already have worked out that the title of this book is a slight exaggeration. You will not literally die if you decide not to outline, but it could seriously damage your career as a bestselling author. Ive written novels and short stories every which way, and I can tell you that my method of outlining is the easiest and best Ive come across. I also keep refining it, which makes it better and better.

Note about Language: Being from the UK, Im writing in British English and so readers in the United States may notice some deviation from the spellings you are used to. For example, instead of realized its realised, people wear trousers because pants are what they wear under their trousers, and so on. I hope this deviation will not spoil your reading enjoyment too much.

Ive been outlining fiction for many years. In my time, Ive ghostwritten a total of 22 works of fictions under various pseudonyms and guises. From time to time, Ive also been paid to compile outlines for other authors, whove gone on to use them to write their own novels. You could say, Ive been there, done it and got the T-shirt.

When I first started, I used the methods taught by leading gurus, and it would take me quite a while to construct a fairly straightforward outline.

A little while ago, I decided to create a new detective series and publish it under my own name. I wanted it to be something I could be proud of. The characters excited me, and Id worked out a vague three novel story arc that I thought would work well. All I needed was to outline the individual novels and make sure it all worked together as a trilogy.

I soon realised the techniques Id been using up to then just werent up to the job. It took me ages to construct an outline, and I was getting clunky results. The old, traditional methods of outlining just werent doing it for me.

I tried and I tried, but I could never any further than plotting the first 38 chapters of the first volume. [As Id decided to write short, snappy chapters, this would be less than a third of the projected novel.]

All right, I knew roughly how each book was going to end which meant I also knew how the next one one going to begin but outlining the individual chapters was complicated by the timelines and by the number of characters involved.

I decided to get stuck in and wrote the first 45,000 words from what Id already plotted, hoping that would spark me into action, but it didnt. The characters didnt talk to me, and the plot was all over the place.

I knew I needed a find a better way of outlining, so I decided to spend time (and money) on research. My first call was to an online Masterclass conducted by the worlds bestselling thriller author, James Patterson. These days, he writes almost exclusively with co-authors, so I suspected hed be big on outlining. And he is.

Id read a couple of James early novels. I liked his short, snappy chapters, and I was fascinated by the number of surprising twists and turns he managed to build into each plot. During the masterclass, James came across as a nice guy, and he seemed open and revealing about the way he works.

What I learned was useful, and inspiring, but it still wasnt enough. Afterward, I visited a bookshop and picked up an armful of his novels. To be honest, I was disappointed by what I read. Although his stories are well-crafted and genuine page-turners, his characters and his writing style just dont do it for me.

A while later, I realised why I felt like I did. Running over what hed said in his Masterclass, I found out James Patterson was writing with a particular reader in mind (and that reader wasnt a late middle-aged writer from England). I learned a lot from that one revelation and Ill talk more about it later.

After taking the James Patterson Masterclass, I bought just about every book about plotting and outlining I could lay my hands on. Practically all the ebooks I downloaded from Amazon rely on variations of the same few techniques. The finished outlines tend to create books without depth, largely because they are almost entirely event-driven.

In the end, I went away for a week with a notepad and a laptop to try and work out a new way of outlining. On the third morning, Id just drained my first coffee of the day, when I had one of those lightbulb moments. Something James Patterson had said resonated with an idea Id just jotted down, and I was pretty sure Id made a breakthrough.

Four hours later, Id managed to construct a detailed outline of my detailed trilogy.

Phew!

The technique I came up with is what Im going to show you here. Its not completely revolutionary or totally unlike whats gone before, but it is different. Ive knocked off a few rough edges and simplified some of the processes. Im sure itll work just as well for you as it does for me.