Tips and Tea

book/ chapter outline.

What are book and chapter outlining?

A brief summary of what your book and chapter are going to be about.

For me personally, I consider outlining to be the skeleton of the book. It's strong structure and without it, pardon my French, my books tend to go to shit. Of course, everyone is different, but let's go with my flow right now, OK?

Outlining my book allows me to visualize the big picture. The big picture is my end goal;

· Does my character fall in love?

· Do they catch the murderer?

· Are they able to break free from the chains of their past and be happy?

Without knowing the end goal, stories tend to veer off track and either the reader loses interest, or you lose motivation. Having a book outline, or shall we say skeleton, helps the chapters of your story add flesh onto your bones because you'll have a somewhat clear idea of what scenes each chapter needs and what information needs to be put into it to reach your end goal so you don't find yourself thrusting unnecessary information left, right and centre. This way you'll be keeping your story on track and you won't forget important information that you want to add to your book.

I've found that having an outline helps me with writer's block because I'm able to look back on a written plan of my book to see what goes next.

I've found the 'synopsis outline' is easiest for me when planning my book. It's simply writing down the beginning, middle and end of your book while including major plot points and twists.

· What is the climax?

· What is the resolution?

Based on a book I started writing a couple of months ago;

· My beginning was these two characters being set up by their Aunts into going on a date.

· My middle is their friendship turning into romance. However, this is where I add the climax of my female character finding out that the man she has feelings for is a pusher and, despite him assuring her that the illegal side of his life wouldn't cause problems for her, is held at gunpoint by a junkie which leads to her ending their relationship. When he attempts to leave his dirty life behind in order to be with the woman he loves, he ends up getting shot.

· My ending and resolution are the Boss, my male character was working for, being shot dead meaning that my character is now free from danger and able to move on with his life with his woman without fear. However, I end my book on a climax when my male character receives a note from someone anonymous claiming he owes them a huge favour for taking out the Boss, and they plan on collecting on that favour sooner than later.

Now, my book outlines are much longer and detailed more than the example I've given you above, but you get the gist.

I've found that sometimes the end goal isn't quite clear but at least have a somewhat clear idea of what you want to achieve.

Are Cookie and Lucious going to remain married?

Is Laurel found?

Is Polo exposed as Marina's murderer? (Oops, spoiler alert)

My questions to you while you write your outline are these;

· Who is the main protagonist?

Knowing your character before writing your chapter is most important. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IS KEY.

· What is the situation?

· How will the protagonist change from the beginning of the novel to the end?

· What is his/her objective?

· What does he/she want?

· How does he/she get or not get what they want?

· Is there an opposing force that is stopping the protagonist from achieving this objective?

· What is the central conflict of the novel?

· What about the central theme—what are you trying to say?

Are you bringing awareness to LBGTQ+ issues, or POC, maybe mental health? WHAT IS YOUR STORY ABOUT?

Let's quickly talk about character development.

How can you write a story if you have no idea who you're writing about?

I write character profiles. I visualize them through actual humans. Sometimes I find myself pretending to be the character to get into their headspace. Who is most important and who is background noise? Think backstories. Do they have any unresolved issues that are crucial to the plot?

Now let's talk inspiration:

Inspiration can strike anywhere, from watching TV to listening to music or hearing a conversation. ANYWHERE. And it's so important to write your idea down before you forget it. For me, I write whatever springs to mind in my notes on my phone or on a notepad.

Ideas don't have to be complete plot ideas. Sometimes it can simply be a scene. For example, I was listening to a HipHop song and the lyrics just spoke to me and before I knew it, I had a scene for my book 'Cream';

"Take those off, baby girl." He said, taking her hand in his to slip off the rings on her fingers and the bracelet around her wrist. "People in this neighbourhood are like magpies. They see something shiny and have to have it."

I had no plot idea, just a random scene between two characters whose names I didn't even know yet. Now, I didn't know their faces or even their names, but I built on one paragraph and created a whole book plot.

It's quite astonishing how the mind of a writer works if you ask me.

Once you have a clear book outline, add side plots in because for me a story is boring if a side character has no personality or depth and is simply thrust into the storyline. A reader cannot connect or trust a character without knowing who they are beyond a parent, sibling, relative, lover or friend etc to the main character.

When your plot outline is in place, you'll have a better idea of what scenes you need and where they need to be placed. You could even add them to your book outline. Flesh them out as much as you want by writing a short scene for it, or dialogue if you have an idea of what a character's going to say. Once your outline is complete, you'll be free to start your first draft knowing that if you get stuck, you can always turn back to the outline to see the big picture. As you begin writing, make sure that you check for plot holes and don't be afraid to adjust the plot to fit the draft you've written if you're feeling the draft more.

Now I know I probably haven't covered everything, but I sure hope that this has helped you in your struggles.

Create your story, and let it be amazing.

Written by; @tmrobinsn