So you’ve created an outline for your novel, and now you’re ready to start writing. Diving into the first draft seems like the first logical step. First, however, I recommend you slow down and edit the outline of your novel. I learned this lesson the hard way after publishing my first-in-series novella.

In this episode, I discuss how I go from a story idea to a fleshed-out outline. I know this is obvious, but this is my process instead of ‘the way to outline a novel.’ As you can see from the title, this is the third and final instalment in a three-part mini-series on outlining a novel.

Welcome to the second instalment of my three-part mini-series on how I outline a novel. For those of you who are unaware, I discuss how I go from fleshing out a story idea to a basic outline in the first episode. In this show, I share the steps in my outlining process that help me create a structurally sound story with scenes that actively move the story forward. If you haven’t listened to episode TAP034, I highly recommend you pause here and go back and listen to that. The steps in this show take my outlining process and push it to the limits of being a zero draft.

In this episode, I will discuss how I go from a story idea to a fleshed-out outline. I know this is obvious, but this is my process instead of ‘the way to outline a novel.’ This process has evolved since my very first novel. As I wrote the next story, more steps were added to my intricate outlining approach.