Book Writing When You Have To Ditch Your Outline And Start Again

As I think about it now, I’m overwhelmed by his kindness. I was also a bit overwhelmed at having to ditch my outline and begin again. But I did.
It was picky work, work that involved keeping some points, deleting others, and finding supporting references. Fortunately, my decades of writing experience helped me and two days later I had a new outline. To make sure I was on track, however, I turned to Internet resources.
In 1997 Paul D. McCarthy wrote an article titled “The Evolution of a Book.” Published in “Writer’s Digest,” the first part tells how to take an initial idea add develop it into an outline. “Too much material is obscuring and confusing,” McCarthy notes. He says distilling information — figuring out what’s essential and what isn’t — helps writers to clarify their thoughts.
Some writers are comfortable with a long outline (that’s me), and some writers can work from one page (that’s not me). “If you aren’t sure whether the outline is sufficiently developed, begin writing anyway, McCarthy concludes.
Sample outlines are posted on the How to Write a Book Guide website. Reading these outlines assured me I was on target. The samples go from basic to detailed. A book outline is really a skeleton, the website explains, and while it should be detailed, the author shouldn’t go nuts.
Chris Webb shares his experience in a blog article, “The Book Proposal: Tips for Writing Your Outline.” Though I was familiar with his tips, I appreciated the reminders. Each chapter should have an estimated page count. The chapters should flow in chronological order or order of difficulty. Finally, the chapters should have headings.
Armed with this information, I spent two days, two intensive days that made my back ache, writing a new outline. Then I did two things that made the outline suddenly come into focus. I made a list of the chapter titles and the headings in each chapter. I checked the flow of the headings and revised any that were unclear or boring.
All of the work was worth it. I have a new skeleton to work from, a real-life story to tell, and research to support my story. As my generous mentor asked me to do, I expanded my target audience. To make the book real, I asked a graphic designer to create the cover. I have a lollapalooza of an outline and am like crazy.