October Novel Prep Challenge

Last year I ended up with a massive outline (12,000 words) from the October NaNo prep because I'm a linear outliner. For the first Outline day, October 2nd this year, I went from beginning to end. That is a good way to outline 'The Hero's Journey' sort of plot.

If you look at the calendar, there's more than just one outline day. Over time, I fleshed in the outline so it was more than a list of chapters, scenes, characters in the scene, what happens in the scene, what's the point of the scene ...

For the first round of outlining, can you at least get a beginning and end, and a list of some scenes you've envisioned? You can develop it in later rounds, especially if you see too much beginning, a weak middle, and only one scene between that and the end.

Another way to approach it is to lay out the bare bones, then spend time during each round concentrating on the neediest section - or by Act if you're doing a 3 Act Plot. By Oct 29th - Revision 5, each subsection will have been addressed in detail so you have an idea in November how the characters got from establishing conflict to kicking back and sipping cocktails on the defeated bad guy's yacht.


Sharon from New Jersey