Outlining. Who needs it?

Outlines are helpful tools when organizing a story line. They keep the story flowing and keep you on track. Outlines can come in many forms like numerical numbers, multilevel lists, and mind mapping. For the sake of this post, I will be referring to multilevel lists and mind mapping.

For Organized Neat Nicks

Are you an organized person or do you like an organized chaos? If you are like me, you keep things neat and tidy and always in their proper places. For us, neat nicks, I think the multilevel list is the best way to go. Usually a multilevel list looks like the main idea or chapter title on the first line, the sub idea on the second line, and their sub points on the rest of the lines. Here is an example:

1. To Stay or Fly? (chapter title)

   1. MC (main character) is racing in the forest

      1. Away from a bad guy

         1. Bad guy is black

         2. Bad guys is blurry

         3. Bad guy is tall and huge...might be an animal?

      2. No idea who or what this thing chasing her is.

   2. MC approaches a sea cliff.

      1. Needs to decide to stay and fight or jump and fly

         1. To stay and fight

            1. Will discover identity of attacker

            2. Might die

         2. To jump and fly

            1. Escape attacker

            2. Might drown

      2. Decides at the last second to jump

   3. MC dives into the water

      1. Temporarily stunned by the impact of water enveloping her

      2. Loses sight, sound, feeling, smell

      3. Will she completely surrender to the waves

      4. Will she fight against the current and break free to the surface?

For Organized Chaos Gurus

If you love organized chaos, then mind mapping could be for you. Mind mapping looks like a tree...sort of...it doesn’t have a trunk. Never mind, it looks more like a bush. So, your mind mapping bush starts with a single topic at the center (title chapter) and then branches off into subsections that include the main points of the story. These subsections can be broken down into further details until you are satisfied you have enough information to write the story. Below is an example: