Hi, I’m Zenia—indie dark fantasy author of The Grimm and the Reaper, The Ghost of Midormere, and more. I’ve been writing for over 10 years, and while I’m not a New York Times bestseller (yet!), I’ve learned a lot about what works—and what doesn’t—when it comes to creating a book.
This post is part of my “How to Write a Book” series, where I share my personal process for everything from generating ideas to editing, marketing, and beyond. There are a thousand ways to write a novel, this is just what works for me. If you’re looking for a starting point for your own process, I hope you find this useful.
Why Outlines Matter (Even if You’re Not an Outliner)
Some writers are “pantsers”—they write by the seat of their pants—while others are “planners” who prefer to know exactly where the story is going before they start.
Even if you lean toward discovery writing, a simple outline (even just a few bullet points) can help prevent you from stalling halfway through or digging yourself into a plot hole. Think of it like a roadmap: you can still take detours, but you always know the general direction you’re headed.
Outlines can also stop you from writing 20,000 words before you realize that you don’t actually… like the story. I’ve had at least one experience where an idea I was really excited about fell flat, and I caught it in the outlining phase, saving myself many hours of effort on a story that just didn’t work.
What an Outline Really Is
An outline is simply a plan for your story—a framework of chapters and scenes that guides you from start to finish.
It can be as minimal as a sentence for each plot point or as detailed as a scene-by-scene breakdown. Personally, my outlines are usually about 20% as long as the finished book (around 20,000 words for a 100,000-word novel). That may sound intense, but it saves me a ton of rewriting later.
Step 1: Start With a Brainstorm
When someone says they “have an idea for a book,” it’s often just a seed—a setting, a character, or a premise. These are great starting points, but they’re not enough to sustain an entire novel without more development.
Begin by dumping every thought you have about your idea into a notebook, whiteboard, or document. Don’t worry about detail yet—just capture the raw material.
For example, the seed for The Ghost of Midormere was:
“Nun ninja with a brooding past and a criminal alias.”
From there, I asked myself questions:
- How does she reconcile being both a nun and a criminal?
- How did she get her combat training?
- What does she want?
- Who hurt her? Who helps her?
Answering those questions led to new ones about her allies, enemies, religion, and setting—gradually fleshing out both character and world.
Step 2: Identify the Catalyst for Change
Stories revolve around change. If nothing changes, you don’t have a story—you have a snapshot.
Change typically comes from:
- The setting: floods, invasions, disasters, political upheaval.
- The characters: conflicts, love, betrayal, ambition.
Once you know what disrupts your character’s normal world, decide what they want most—and what’s standing in their way. Obstacles might be an antagonist, a societal structure, an environmental hazard, or even the character’s own flaws.
In The Ghost of Midormere, the catalyst was the main character escaping her home to prevent others from suffering under her father’s goddess. Her father and the goddess themselves became her main obstacles.
Step 3: Shape the Story
With characters, motivations, and obstacles in place, start sketching your plot. If it feels too short, look at your side characters—can you give them subplots that weave into the main story? The richer the connections, the more immersive the book becomes.
If you’re not sure about length, write a few short stories or scene ideas to figure out how you generally write. Take an average word count of each scene. For example, I write scenes of around 2,500 words. This means that for a 100,000 word novel, I’m looking at around 40 scenes. Be aware that you will likely end up adding 1-5 scenes after your rough draft is complete to fill gaps and polish the story.
Here’s a guide:
- Novel: 40,000+ words (80k standard fiction, 100k+ for published fantasy)
- Novella: 17,500 – 39,999 words
- Novelette: 7,500 – 17,499 words
- Short Story: <7,500 words
- Flash Fiction: <1,000 words
- Microfiction: <100 words
Step 4: Build a Timeline
This step is crucial for me. I create a grid timeline with rows for days/weeks and columns for key characters or ongoing events. I track what each character is doing at any given time—even if they’re “off screen.”
This keeps pacing realistic, prevents idle stretches, and reveals opportunities for characters to cross paths in interesting ways. If you write multiple POVs, it also helps you decide whose perspective is most engaging for each scene.
Here’s a snip from the timeline for The Grimm & The Reaper:
Step 5: Write a Scene-by-Scene Outline
Once my timeline works, I write out the entire book in scenes. For each scene, I note:
- When and where it happens.
- Who’s present.
- What each character wants in that moment.
- A rough version of the scene (including basic dialogue ideas).
These outlines often end up one-fifth the length of the final manuscript, but they make the drafting process much smoother and faster.
At this stage, I also check pacing—balancing slower, dialogue-heavy moments with faster action scenes. Early in the book, slower scenes can work well for setup, but as you approach the climax, increasing the pace builds tension. Try to start your book with a “hook” – usually mid-action scene.
Another example:
Step 6: Stay Flexible
An outline is a guide, not a prison. As you write, you may find better ideas, discover plot holes, or realize a scene feels wrong. Adjust your outline as needed—just make sure you update related events to avoid continuity issues.
Final Thoughts & a Demo
Outlining isn’t about removing creativity—it’s about giving your creativity a structure to thrive in. Whether you’re a meticulous planner or a loose discovery writer, having at least a rough map of your story can make the writing process more focused and less frustrating.
If you want to see me take a randomly generated story idea through this process, you can! Here’s the video demo:
Next in the series, I’ll share how I power through writing the rough draft. Until then, happy outlining—and happy writing!