THE SIMPLEST WAY TO OUTLINE YOUR NOVEL (pantser-friendly!)

Want to outline a novel without feeling overwhelmed? Maybe you’re a discovery writer or you just HATE PLOTTING and you want a simple, straightforward method of outlining that helps guide your story to success without taking all the joy out of the journey. If you can relate, today's video is for you!

A lot of writers ask me:
“Abbie, What is your very first step to writing a new story?”
“Do you create your characters first or do you outline your plot first?”
“Do you fill out all your character profiles and scene cards before you begin?”
“How long does my outline need to be?”

These are all great questions, and since my outlining process has evolved SO MUCH over the past few years, I thought now would be a perfect time to show you a behind-the-scenes look at my Preptober process.

In this video, I'm going to share with you the very first steps I take when I set out to write a new story. These are the methods that I am currently using and would recommend to any writer who feels lost and overwhelmed when it comes time to outline.

Grab a notebook and let’s dive in!

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✨ T I M E S T A M P S ✨
00:00 Introduction
01:44 Step #1: THE IDEA
03:14 My book pitch meeting
04:44 Step #2: THE ROUGH SKETCH
07:14 Step #3: BULLET POINT OUTLINE
11:14 Watch my Preptober live training
11:45 Subscribe for weekly writing videos! :)

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✨ V A L U A B L E R E S O U R C E S✨

✨F O L L O W ✨

✨ A B O U T ✨
My name is Abbie Emmons I teach writers how to make their stories matter by harnessing the power and psychology of storytelling, transforming their ideas into a masterpiece, and creating a lifestyle that makes their author dreams come true.

Story isn’t about “what happens” — it’s about how what happens affects and transforms the characters. I believe that there is an exact science (a recipe, if you will) behind a perfect story. And if you know what ingredients you need, you can create your own perfect story with ease and confidence. That’s what we talk about every week on this channel – and if it’s something you’re into, be sure to subscribe and join this community!

[Amy_Mi]

And the Oscar goes to ... Abbie for her stellar performance as Abbie in "Abbie vs. Abbie" !! 😄👏 *please let this be a recurring segment -- it was highly entertaining* 👌💜🤗

[tysonhooks]

My goal is to finish the novel that ive been sitting on for 5 years baking and planning it so I hope I can get it fully written in 30 days

[josephgilbert]

The "book pitch meeting" scene is EVERYTHING!!!

[michaelcherokee]

I dont know if Im just an EXTREME case of a pantser, but even writing an outline like you gave as an example is significantly more than I know about the story most of the time. I know how it starts, a few events throughout the story, and I often know how the story ends, that's it.

[hilalkaragoz]

A newbie here 🙋🏼‍♀️
I see the stories in my dreams. I wake up with a whole novel already written in my brain with almost all the details. But I've never actually written one yet. I just noted the stories I find the most interesting and when I first started writing one of them, it was hard to follow along because everything flashed back to me and I wanted to get everything out at once. That's why I'm here. This is the first video I found of you and now I'm subscribed. Thank you

[fusionburstofficial]

I was watching this video at 12:20 AM at night. I was already writing the 3rd chapter of my book(At more than 7, 000 words already but currently in pause because I am dealing with school exams). I don't know what happened but I just opened up a doc file and just wrote the outline to my book in 30 minutes following pretty much this same format except for a few changes I made myself. At the end I was like "Wow, I finished it.". This video gave me like a sudden energy boost lol. Thanks Abbie!

[BKPrice]

I'm not a discovery writer because I feel like outlining takes away the thrill of writing. I'm a discovery writer because the beats and flow of the story are most clear through writing prose rather than descriptions. Having my characters in the field shows the pitfalls and dead ends my initial plans might have, and leads to some rather out of the box ideas that I would never come up with by outlining. Plus, as a fantasy writer, my story concepts can get pretty off the wall and I need to see them in action to keep them from getting out of hand. This is good advice but sadly I probably can't use it. Love your stuff, though, Abbie.

[worthfightingfor]

THAT BOOK PITCH MEETING WAS EVERYTHING. 😂😍And seeing the example of that bullet point outline in action was sooo helpful!!! Like, it made me actually realize that the climactic confrontation doesn't have to be some gigantically huge thing. *smh* Really takes the pressure off. XD

[adrianfisher]

It may not be the most efficient method but I'm working in my first novel. I'm starting off with an idea and then a general overview of the story. I then move on to the main characters for the story, even if they never actually appear in it as such, ie, memories of a loved one whos passed on, etc. I also work on character arcs. I then cycle back through the process again, this time adding in more detail than before and keep doing this until I'm happy with the result.

Fingers crossed 🤞🏻 and good luck all 😊

[jarmoliebrand]

I have plenty of story ideas but so outlining is the next step I must take.
There is another hobby that might help me to outline by stories: Lucid Dreaming. Knowing that you’re dreaming and being able to control dreams as a result. I would visit my characters and get to know them on a personal level, as if they were actually friends of mine. I think it would help with outline and character voice a lot.

[ulyx]

Much appreciated Abbie. You've given me confidence like no other teacher has. I feel like I've learned something fundamentally new with your series compared to all others. Thanks for all that you do.

[Weird-Girl]

Yesss! I love it when I’m struggling with something writing related and Abbie just posts a video about that exact topic 😂 I normally love to have a 20, 000 word outline because I need to see EXACTLY what I’m going to write since I tend to get blocked a lot due to having many interruptions at home. But for the story I’m currently writing for nanowrimo, it just wasn’t fitting right. It’s a romcom type story with its share of drama and serious moments, and my main characters are super chaotic and oblivious to the world around them, so they have a tendency to surprise me at every turn. If I plot that they’re going to kiss in x chapter, I can assure you it’ll happen anywhere but the chapter I plotted for because they write themselves 😂

So I needed to have a clear sense of direction, while not getting too detailed and still being able to shift things around. This bullet point outline is the perfect thing for this story. Thanks Abbie! Love your videos! 💕

[shane]

Oh my God I'm so excited for the new character profile!! Honest to God, Abbie, before you, I was never outlining any of my novels (maybe that's why they were never completed) But now, I have become so dependent on outlines because I realised that I am a planner! Thanks a lot for helping me discover myself ❤️

[munafausta]

Oh my! Thank you, Abbie. Just thank you.

I've been having a hard time trying to figure out how to go about outlining my story via the three-act story structure. But seeing how practical this video made it, I realize now that I have been overthinking.

Just thank you, Abbie. You're an angel come to save me from confusion.😊

[teabooksgirl]

As a hard core discovery writer trying to get back into novel writing (I've never finished a novel before but want this time to be different), this was so helpful! Thank you so much!

[moonyloops]

i’m so glad this came today, i need to do another outline for my book that i’m writing for nano so this is really helpful!

[itsmelala]

The way you played the Abbie and Abbie meeting, so relatable with new stories!!! Also thank you so much for starting this Preptober series, I really hoped you would do it, because I love how you explain. I was worried you were too busy, but you never fail to get us content! Really needed this video 🥰

[lisavanhusen]

My favorite tip/advice video yet. The pitch meeting LOL! Love it.

[emlearns]

The little sketch was my favorite part of the video. Made me LOL 😂

[pilot]

Your videos are succinct, clear and always motivating. Every time I’m like “author goals!!” Love your work.