Do you outline before you start writing your novel?
I didn’t think I did but I just learned today that there’s different types of outlining. Here’s the list Gemini (Google AI) gave me.
Choose Your Outline Style
- Plot-focused: Great for structured stories. List major plot points (inciting incident, climax, resolution) with brief descriptions.
- Character-focused: Explore your characters’ motivations and arcs. Outline their goals, conflicts, and transformations.
- Scene-based: List key scenes with a sentence or two summarizing the action and purpose.
- Hybrid: Combine elements from different styles to fit your needs.
When I begin planning my novel the first thing I do is find ways to understand my characters. I do character outlines several times throughout the writing process. I’ve never been good at scene-based outlines and I should really take some time to learn how to do a plot outline. I’m laughing at that because I have often felt lost while writing my novel.
Jayne.press 