Earlier this year I set a goal to write my first novel and thus far I haven’t written anything beyond the scene I created two years ago. Why has it taken me so long? you might be wondering. There are several reasons: losing my job two years ago; losing my house one year ago; picking up the pieces while trying to remain faithful to a God who won’t always share His plans with His children; lacking confidence in myself and my writing abilities; getting acquainted with my own writing style; navigating social media unsuccessfully…Needless to say, I had a lot going on – internally and externally.

Regardless of the challenges I faced, I haven’t lost the desire to write. Since this is my first novel and the first time in a long time that I’m writing in my genre, I want to start off on the right foot. I’ve learned that I write faster and I’m not all over the place when I write an outline. When I worked on my short stories, the outline was done after a scene came to mind. I’d write out the scene until there was nothing left, then I’d work the outline around it. Rarely did my outline change what was happening between the characters. There were a few occasions when I had to tweak the outline and the structure of the story. However, there were times when I didn’t rely on my outline.

So I decided that I should read some reference books on outlining, structure, and plot before I begin. Outlining a short story is one thing. Yes, you still encounter character arcs, conflict, and theme, but it’s on a smaller scale. In my case, what I’ve published on this site was a result of an exercise, not my actual novel.

Outlining a novel is a huge undertaking for me and I want to research and experiment with different styles. I’ll develop my own way, but it can’t hurt to see other ideas. I’m currently reading Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success by K.M. Weiland to see how this will influence my own format. I’m sure I’ll learn something I didn’t already know since I haven’t been at this for very long.

Have any of you read this? If so, did you find it helpful? Are there any references you recommend for outlining a novel, developing character arcs, etc? Let me know your thoughts.