Outlining my novels

Outlining your novel is reading the route

I wrote the final chapter of The Naraka Cycle first. ‘Begin with the end in mind' seemed like a good strategy. But then, as I began constructing the initial chapters, my left brain kicked in. The time I invested in an extensive story outline saved me time and again. Imagine you’re hiking DOWN a somewhat steep trail. You could just take a step forward, and then another, to see what would happen. You might reach the bottom safely this way — but there’s a bigger chance that you’ll sprain an ankle or fall facw- first at the bottom of the trail.

The alternative would be to pause and look down carefully; to take a little longer to read the route. This would enable you to descend more fluidly, and with greater confidence and safety. This is what an outline will do for your novel.

I worked with an assistant to break the novels into chapters and then further into scenes. This type of skeleton outline was immensely useful as I created character arcs, cliffhangers and Point-of-View changes in the Naraka Cycle novels.