How to Write an Outline: 4 Ways to Organize Your Thoughts
When I was a new writer, I chafed at the idea of using an outline. I was certain organizing my thoughts in advance would stifle my creativity and make my writing stiff and uninspired. After all, how can serendipity happen if you’ve got everything planned? But then I discovered that it was taking me a long time to finish my books because, when my creative mind was unfettered, I had a tendency to ramble in a chaotic stream of consciousness that I would then have to go back and structure in order for it to make sense. Not only that, but I would over-research. I’d wind up with a thousand words before I realized I was only one-third of the way through my book. I’d have to go back, refocus, trim down, and sometimes even start over! And so, I started outlining. And it saved me. Here’s my step-by-step process. And it works!
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
4
Reads
476
Organize, revise, and eliminate
Chapter 4
Take a look at the points you’ve jotted down and begin putting them into a logical order. Cross-check each point to make certain that it’s relevant to your objective. If you’ve strayed off the path and included extra information that doesn’t really fit the scope of your book, eliminate it.
You may come across a few things that don’t quite fit into your book as their own sections, but seem important to mention nonetheless. Those elements make great sidebars. In this book, you’ll see them used as tips. Pretty nifty, huh?
Here’s a tip: Save things that don’t make it into your article—information that was extraneous to the book you’re working on now but may be interesting enough to pursue in a separate book some other time. I keep an idea file that I store as a Google Doc. Reference your file when you need a little book inspiration.
As you revise, start putting your outline into a standard format. You don’t have to be too formal about this process, just organize everything into a bulleted or numbered list. (If you want to be traditional, use Roman numerals. I think they make my outlines look fancy.) Include topic segments. Under each topic segment, indent and include the points you’ll discuss in each paragraph. You don’t have to get too granular here—all you’re looking for is enough information to help you remember where you’re going and keep you organized and on track. My outline for this book looked like this:
I. Intro
A. I didn’t use to outline
B. Becoming a more advanced writer made me change my tune
C. Outlining brings structure to chaos
II. Do some recon reading
A. Look for an angle, ways the topic has not been covered
1. Look for knowledge gaps
B. Take notes while you’re reading/record URLs
C. Don’t go too far down the research rabbit hole
III. Make a quick list of the points you want to make
IV. Organize the list into a formal outline
A. Get rid of anything that doesn’t support objective
1. Save extra stuff in a clip file for future use
B. Some extra stuff is worth keeping as tips/sidebars
C. Demonstrate standard outline format
An outline isn’t a prison—it’s there to guide you, not control you. You can take conscious detours, or change things around as you write. Outlines are just guidelines, so they shouldn’t feel restrictive. And yet, you’ll be surprised how the simple act of creating one will give your books more structure and keep them focused and on-point. You’ll write with more clarity, and you’ll do it all faster and more efficiently. Outlines for the win!
