Outlining can seem like a daunting task. Especially to someone who has never used one when writing fiction. Memories of high school term papers come to mind, with mandatory outlines, complete with roman numerals, letters, and numbers.
K. M. Weiland sets out to erase that picture and give a more accurate presentation of what a novel outline looks like. In this book you’ll learn how to flesh out ideas, characters, and settings, all before writing a word of your first draft.
I discovered K. M. Weiland about six years ago when I stumbled upon her Wordplayer’s Manifesto. When I seriously began thinking of writing a novel I found her again and I’ve followed her online ever since. She is adamant about helping writers, and it shows in this book.
Coupled with the workbook, this is a great resource for outlining. The workbook especially takes you piece by piece and asks specific questions you can answer about your characters, plot, etc. It’s a great guide. I say guide, simply because I found that, at least for the purposes of the novel I’m working on, the order of her outlining doesn’t quite work for me. So, I’m doing it a bit differently, but those questions will work in any order.
With examples from Weiland’s own work, insight from authors who use outlines, and checklists to guide you through, you’ll see the benefits of outlining in no time.
1) Is it understandable = 5
2) Presentation of Information = 5
3) Quality of Writing = 5
4) Overall Enjoyability = 5
Average score of 5 out of 5
Jess Boudreaux 