How to Organize A Book: When to Outline vs. Letting it Flow
We all learned the importance of prewriting in elementary school. It was SO important, that it was often part of the final grade for a paper or essay. That was likely a motivating factor to get us to actually do the work, and probably fell by the wayside as we got into high school and college. And maybe settling into your own prewriting style worked for you! Or maybe it caused you to procrastinate and have less thought-out ideas (we’ve all been there).
The Why
Why do the work ahead of time? Why do we need organization? Why is an outline important? Because whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, you need to know where you are taking the reader. That doesn’t mean it has to stay rigid and can’t be changed, but you need to know what the end goal of the book is.
[this is also why doing a book proposal is an important prewriting step no matter how you choose to publish, but we will discuss that another day]
Mapping out your chapters helps keep you focused. You still have the freedom to move chapters around, change the order, or scrap a section/chapter altogether! But having a framework will keep you on track.
Imagine this - you sit down to write at the time you blocked off on your calendar, as free from distractions as possible. You open the word processing document and stare at the blank screen. The words aren’t coming because you don’t know where to start, or where you left off from your last writing session. This is not ideal and it happens all too often. We have the best intentions to write, but our lack of organization can hold us back.
Here’s the beauty about outlining too - if you are stuck and don’t know where to go next, you can just move on to the next chapter and come back to where you got stuck later! If you are just writing whatever you feel motivated to write that day, then writer’s block is truly crippling because moving on from where you are depends on having it solidified first.
Now, having talked about the importance of having clarity in your writing process, I have a caveat…
God will do what He will do whether you plan it out or not.
I am a Type A person who thrives on and greatly appreciates organization. I knew that God laid a message on my heart to write for 10 years before I started writing in earnest. Part of what held me back was that I didn’t know how the book was going to be laid out. I didn’t know where to start, so I simply didn’t.
But God challenged me one day. He asked me to trust Him and just start writing. So I did. As difficult as it was, I literally put a pen to paper and wrote solid for an hour. I didn’t even know if I would end up using those words! But I knew that if God gave me this message to deliver, then He was the one I was going to follow.
So that went on for three months. I wrote once a week for about an hour or so (because that was the time I had available with 3 young kids).
One day, it came to me.
The outline of the book.
I started writing out ideas, scripture verses, and points that I wanted to make on notecards and moved them around on my kitchen table into a rhythm and flow that worked. And there I had my book!
The Bottom Line
Here’s the thing - you need both. Take the time to outline your book to the best of your ability at this moment AND be ready for God to move, adjust, and change that plan as you go. Do what you can with your abilities, and let God take over where your gifts leave off.
If you’re struggling to organize your book, as a writing coach, I can help! Click here to book a call and we can chat about my coaching services!
