As a writer, what is your outline process? My outline process is a mess, I am an avid writer, but not of fiction or novel length.

I will describe my process below, but I am more curious about what your processes are.

For me I started with a premise, and where I wanted to end. IE whatever idea i had for character origin -> Kills God, Becomes God. Something small like that.

And then I start filling in between. setting up basic synopsis of arcs i would like to have in an approximate order i want them to appear.

Then i open up a new document and outline those arcs in the same manner Beginning of Arc -> Resolution, and once again fill in the blanks in between with more detailed story points.

Then I open a blank document for each arc individually - usually i will start outlining the next arc while i am working on the arc before it to make it more cohesive - and outline events very detailed in an approximate chapter by chapter case.

I KNOW this wont be everyones cup of tea. I know some people just like to write as they go, but for me, I enjoy the outlining process because i find it helps me keep track of events in the world of the story, and makes it easier to bring things up later.

Like that kid who stole a magic feather in arc 4? Well now hes back arc 7 and hes a prof assassin. That kind of thing. While also subtly dropping hints on whats going to happen before the chapter where the thing happens.

    oh my god, if you add underscores under a sentance to try to demarcate sections it just bolds the sentantce above it. Good to know.

      Lukis_Aurelius
      Honestly, your system is probably already better than mine lol.
      I started with my synopsis and a list of characters.
      Then I started writing/publishing my story.
      Then I started adding organizations, locations, technology etc. as they appeared in the story. Kept adding new similar sections such as events, systems, etc.
      My most important section is probably my last 3.
      1. Future ideas. These are important things that need to be implemented as some point in the far future, including future volume/arc details. I also include some potential ideas I may throw out.
      2. Extra Notes. I throw less important ideas here and minor notes for things that need 'resolved'. Such as minor character X has his issue resolved. It's not super important if I miss it and won't affect the story, but it's still better to provide closure.
      3. Next chapter. This is where I keep a list of what to write for each of my upcoming chapters. Right now, I have 8 brief descriptions for my next 8 chapters. I add to the list as I go. If I ever reach 0 here then I need to spend extra time planning my next chapters or else I'll have nothing to write about.

      I didn't even really start thinking about 'arcs' until recently. I dived in blind and I think my 1st volume suffered a bit for it in the early chapters. Live and learn, lol.

          SnoozySloth Do you suffer constant anxiety someone will see your "outline" and think youre utterly insane? cause i do. Mine are honestly not too different from yours, if anyone else were to read them i am sure it would look like the ravings of the mad.

              Lukis_Aurelius
              Nah. No one IRL really knows I write except for my mom. Even then, she only knows that I write, as opposed to knowing what I write.

              There are messy people and clean people in life and they both know where their stuff is. Writing a messy outline is probably fine if you're the only one using it and you know where everything is. Whereas other jobs, such as programming, require clean readable writing so others can understand it.

                  Broughtwaorld
                  My first book I dropped had poor planning and outlining. Jump on it before it's too late, lol. Otherwise, you'll go digging through old chapters trying to remember a characters looks and personality. Or what you said previously about some place. Or you'll contradict previous info. Maybe not if you have a photographic memory or are a genius, but I am neither of those =p

                    Lukis_Aurelius Your processes are quite like mine. But I basically store the story's ending, an arc's overall flow and progress, and the future volumes in my head.

                    In the current arc of my story, I have a basic idea of how it will end, and the resolution and what not.

                    Chapter Outline:
                    - I write a few points of what is entailed inside it and tried to follow those points (sometimes as I write the chapter, I make any changes on the fly.)

                    Volume Outline:
                    -Nah, in my head. I'm much more of a fantasizer (is that a word?) you could say.

                    Story Outline:
                    -In ma head.

                    ; As for world-building, characters, and such, I kept a very simple document in my google drive about it. After an arc ends, I put up a document and summarized what happened. Any important characters for future arcs will be noted.

                        I keep my plots in points.. I wrote all the ideas there. Slowly I take one point and expand into a chapter or combine them..

                        There also this app character planner in Google store that I used to keep the characters..

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