#blaizewrites

[blaizekit]

an overly long and detailed post on how I outline

EDIT: Since making this post, I've abandoned Notion for various reasons that mostly come down to a desire to keep my working files local, offline, and within my control. I now use Obsidian, but the process is virtually the same, so the explanation below still applies.

I’m currently trying out Notion for outline building, and while I’m still not sure I’ll use it with every project, I really dig the clean result it gives me. But the way I outline is more or less the same regardless of the program I use.

My HFOWW outline-in-progress is based on the guide Save The Cat (Writes a Novel), but it’s not as rigid as it looks here (especially when we’re talking estimated word counts because lol). I did the same thing with my last original draft and liked the clarity it gave me, so I’m using it again. I’m less anxious demonstrating this with a fic, though.

HFOWW is the 3rd story in my Windmill series, but anything I think is very spoilery will be blurred out. Still, there may be minor spoilers.

This is the top-down view of my outline in Notion.

IWBTW epilogue has its own toggle because the epilogues in this series are really more like prologues for the next one. I post them ahead of time to lay down some spicy hints and an expected post date. It has more to do with the new story than the old one.

I still use some of the color-codes I developed for outlining in OneNote because it was harder to find what I wanted in such a sprawling format. It’s less necessary here, but it still pings the important stuff for my brain.

Sample of an old OneNote outline. I could easily make a whole post about outlining in OneNote and wrangling the chaos.

If anybody cares, the color code I use for everything is like this:

Red = header text for new ‘version’; OR a serious problem to solve Orange = Important Header Yellow = This information will be important later on, so don’t forget it Blue = This topic needs more brainstorming Pink = this idea or info is for a scene I haven’t started working on yet Gray = reference information, fine to gloss over unless I need it

Back to my current outline. “Beats” are in orange. A Beat (in StC) is a collection of scenes that work together to accomplish a specific story purpose.

Here, Act 1 has two important story beats: Setup and Debate. I make them separate toggles so I’m always reminded what the scenes in each beat should be doing.

These beats and their definitions come from the StC guide, but I think of them less as ‘rules’ and more like reminders of what the beats’ purposes are. Understanding the why is far more important than trying to paint by numbers.

Each sub-toggle beneath the story beat is a scene. I don’t separate by chapters until everything else is done, because scenes could be moved around or changed entirely by the end. In the editing phase, I do manipulate scenes to match chapter divisions, but it’s not hard to do.

The number of scenes in each ‘beat’ is a very wiggly-wobbly thing. Here, I’m relying on past experience with this series to get a feel for it. This is so variable, you should think of each beat as a ‘bucket’ to hold whatever is needed to accomplish the beat. Don’t be afraid to move things around as your outline evolves. 

The Setup beat is meant to lay the foundation for the character’s world before shit really starts going down. This matters for more than establishing the setting and characters involved (though that stuff is important, too). IMO, the most important thing here is to show the stuff they are dealing with before the story kicks into high gear. Even if you’re not writing a sequel like I am here, a character’s life isn’t linear. They’re not sitting around waiting for the real story to begin. They are already making plans and carrying baggage and dealing with the micro-dramas that define their everyday life as it is before the story shifts.

That’s what the whole beat is about. So how do you know which of these things should be included? A lot of it comes down to personal preference and style, but I always think of it as which things will complicate the coming plot the most, or in the most interesting/intriguing ways? Characters don’t leave that stuff behind when a spanner is thrown in the works. If they did, you wouldn’t need a first act. Scenes in this beat pull double or even triple-duty by showing the stuff while dropping plot nuggets and (hopefully) being entertaining in their own right.

The Debate beat is about the tension between the setup stuff and What’s Going Down. It begins with a change or interruption, called the Catalyst. This is even more wiggly-wobbly than the setup beat. It doesn’t have to be very dramatic on the surface, because this is still Act 1. The point is, this is a change or (preferably new) issue the character must contend with, whether they see it as a big deal or not. What they don’t know yet is that this is only the first domino that will crash into their world in the form of act 2. This beat is called the Debate because the character usually doesn’t want to deal with this--they have plenty going on already! They try to circumvent the problem, solve it as quickly as possible, or overlook its significance entirely. Their reaction sets things in motion.

The catalyst I’ve picked for this story happens to be very dramatic, but it remains an act 1 sequence. The protagonist tries solving his problem as quickly as possible, but gets himself into even more trouble by being rash. As a sequel, he’s already made some character progress, but he’s still holding the baggage demonstrated in the Setup. His actions directly lead to the ‘point of no return’ break that marks act 2--so rather than solving his problem, he walks into the nest of thorns that is the plot. 

Whenever possible, it’s better to have a character get themselves into trouble through their own actions. Even better is when they do those actions in response to the initial problem that enters their life. It doesn’t mean everything is their fault, or that nothing unexpected ever happens, but there should usually be a reason why this thing happened to them, whether they realize it or not. That’s why an initial problem, a Catalyst, is good to have. Even if it’s small. A small thing can snowball into a big thing.

[caption: the 10% catalyst is the thing that happens at ~10% into the story to introduce a problem or complication. The way the character reacts to this will snowball into the main plot. Even if they react by trying to ignore it. Here, the Catalyst is a single scene.]

[caption: in Notion, I’m giving each scene a toggle underneath the beat they belong to, and a caption describing what the scene is in one or two sentences. Underneath the scene toggle are any number of bullet points and sub-toggles. This area is a free-for-all of scene description, ideas, reminders, and overall talking to myself about the scene. That’s where the chaos that was splayed out from OneNote can be tucked away neatly to view a clean top-level outline.]

I hope this has been helpful when it comes to organizing an outline in Notion, or just outlining in general. This post would get even more massive if I went through every StC beat and what it means to me. Mainly, I wanted to talk about organization. But I hope it gave you some ideas. :>