Lore & LilacHow much outline do you need?
The useful question isn't whether to outline, but how much, for this book, and for which parts of it.
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Related glossary terms
- OutlineA plan of a story's events, scenes or chapters written before or during drafting, ranging from a few lines to a detailed scene list.
- Discovery writingDrafting without a detailed plan and finding the story's shape through the act of writing it, sometimes called pantsing.
- Beat sheetA list of a story's key moments or beats in order, used as a lightweight plan for structure and pacing.
- Setup and payoffThe pairing of an earlier detail, promise or skill planted in the story with a later moment where it matters.
- Red herringA misleading clue or suspect that deliberately draws the reader toward a wrong conclusion, most often in mysteries and thrillers.
- SubplotA secondary storyline running alongside the main plot, usually with its own characters or goal, that complicates or reflects the central story.
- MysteryA genre built around a crime or puzzle, often a death or disappearance, whose solution is withheld and gradually uncovered by the end.