WHY OUTLINING SAVES YOU FROM THE REWRITE PILE
When you sit down to outline your story before you write a single scene, something shifts. You stop thinking like a writer and start thinking like a builder. That's the whole point.
Most new writers want to jump straight into scenes and dialogue. They've got a great opening line in their head, and they just want to get on with it. But here's the problem: when you write first and figure out the story second, you end up rewriting. A lot. You'll discover halfway through chapter five that your killer couldn't have been at the scene, or that your protagonist's motivation doesn't hold up, and now you're tearing apart pages you already fell in love with.
Outlining lets you put on a few different hats before you ever put on your writer hat. Each one has a job to do, and if you do those jobs first, the writer hat gets to show up later and just write — no backtracking, no throwing chapters in the trash.
Here are the professional hats you'll need to wear:
The Brainstorming Hat — This is the first hat, and it's the loose one. You wear it when you're sketching out a few possible storylines, just to see which one has legs. This is quick work — short, messy ideas, not finished plots. The goal isn't to pick "the" story yet. The goal is to make sure whatever story you commit to actually has enough potential for twists, turns, and a full novel's worth of trouble. Don't skip this hat. Committing too early is how writers end up 40,000 words into a story that runs out of gas.
The Story Engineer Hat — Once you've picked your storyline, this hat goes on. This is where you lay out the bones of the story — what happens, in what order, and why. You can do this with short paragraphs, a bulleted list, index cards, whatever gets the structure out of your head and onto something you can look at. It won't be pretty. It's not supposed to be. This is the layer where you make sure the story actually holds together before you build anything on top of it.
The Location Scout Hat — This one comes after your story has taken shape in the engineering stage. Now you go looking for the places where all of this is going to happen. Where does the crime scene sit? What's down the street? What does the neighborhood look like? Putting in a little effort here pays off twice — it makes your story feel grounded and real, and if you've ever thought about your book being adapted for film or streaming, having real, scoutable locations gives you a head start.
Wear these three hats well, and by the time you put on the Writer hat, the heavy lifting is already done. We'll talk about the other hats you wear before the Author's Hat in our next article.
Writing a Novel in Layers
Have a peek behind a real novel.
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Writing a mystery is like building a clock. While the reader only sees the hands moving steadily forward, the internal gears—the secrets, the motives, and the hidden history—must mesh perfectly for the story to "tell time" accurately.
This is the "Backstory" or "True History" of the event. It begins long before the first chapter and usually ends the moment the detective arrives on the scene.
A mystery novel isn't just a logic puzzle; it’s a story about people. This timeline tracks everything that isn’t the murder—romance, personal growth, professional conflict, or side-mysteries.
Writing the first draft is about getting the story down and not much else. So this timeline tracking doesn't start until you have finished the first draft. The first draft is merely blurting out the story. You don't even have your writer's hat on yet. You are only the story engineer and location scout at this point.
The biggest hurdle for new writers isn't a lack of ideas; it’s the pressure to be an "Author" too soon. If you sit down at a blank page expecting to produce polished, rhythmic prose on your first try, you’ll likely stall before Chapter Two.
Before the first sentence is written, you are an Engineer. You aren't worried about the beauty of the bridge; you’re worried about whether it can hold weight. During brainstorming, your job is to stress-test your concept. Does the plot have enough tension? Is the protagonist’s motivation strong enough to power 300 pages? You are building the foundation.
If you are writing a mystery or a thriller, it’s time to put on your Investigator’s hat. You are working backward, looking at the "crime" and deconstructing it. You need to know exactly how the deed was done before you can hide the truth from your readers.
This is the most critical phase. Now, you put on your Town Crier hat. Your only job is to blurt out the story as fast as you can.
It is only when the draft is finished—when the "The End" is typed and you finally sit back to review the context of the entire journey—that you finally put on your Author hat.
This blog post will be a peek behind the author workflow in Layer 5 of my Novel Writing in Layers Series. I am writing Book 6, Majestic Landings, in my police procedural series, Jack Nolan Detective Series.
1. Making sure the scenes line up and flow smoothing and fill in the Synopsis box if I forgot to do it in Layer 4. I have a snapshot of the Synopsis box to the right or below. This allows me to look at my work in the Outline Mode where I can see the novel from a bird's eye view.
Every writer has strengths and weaknesses. At some point, it's important for each writer to recognize what their particular weaknesses are.
Once I'm done with that list, I search through the document using the Control F (Find feature) to check that all of my quotes have an open quotation mark and a close quotation mark. It takes a little time to do this, but I feel much more secure when I check them. I ALWAYS find an extra one or a couple of missing quotation marks.
Now, some of you may say, why bother if you're just going to hand over the manuscript to an editor?
I have written and published 14 full length novels and one novelette to date. I only started writing novels in 2022 so at this point, I have sold and given away many books but have no idea how well or how bad my marketing of the books is doing.
Once you have all of these story parts connected, this is the easiest time to take the characters from stick figures into two-dimensional characters. The characters will be transformed into their final three-dimensional states during the actual book-writing process, so the goal in this brainstorming process is to sculpt two-dimensional characters.
So the next set of questions is designed to take your story idea from this crime/mystery spine to a second dimensional level. This is the point where you can add realistic character traits and motivations that will fit inside the plotline. I assure you, there won't be any more trying to fit a fully-fleshed out round character into a square plotline. This process will avoid that.
Unless you are writing in a series where the main character is already fully developed, it's best to wait until after choosing the antagonist, suspects, and motivations for each of them to infuse the main protagonist with human traits. Why? Because the protagonist will need to have a character arc and this will need to be developed over the action of the story and in relation to all of the different suspects.
Once you know who, what, when, where and how the story will proceed, now you can choose the type of protagonist needed to solve the mysteries. Now it is time to sketch in more character traits and details. This process will take your stick figure and raise it to a level of a two-dimensional character.
What fears or human frailty will the sleuth need to overcome in solving the crime? This is what drives a character arc. What will the main character ultimately learn? Does he have a fear of heights? Is she normally timid and now has to be courageous? What inner fears will be challenged when going about solving the crime and/or mystery?
Again, it's easier to create a character after you already know what he/she will be required to do physically, what skills they will need, and what human flaw can make this challenging. It's easier than forming a main character that you like and then trying to fit him or her into a storyline that already has a life of its own.
Is there a moral dimension to the conflict that raise the stakes? Does the protagonist's decision have far-reaching ethical implications? Is he/she fighting for justice, truth, or a greater good? Moral dilemmas add weight and complexity to the stakes.
Is there a ticking clock in your storyline? Is there a deadline to solve the crime? Is there a rapidly-approaching event that can significantly heighten the stakes? The faster the clock ticks, the more intense the pressure, the higher the stakes. This added time pressure can turn a mystery into a thriller.
When Brainstorming a Novel Storyline, what questions do you need to ask and answer? After having written 14 novels, I believe this technique that I'm about to tell you about will help anyone brainstorm a working plotline.
What will the mystery or crime in the novel be? Will it be a psychological thriller and mind control is the crime? Will it be a murder mystery? If so, what is the cause of death? If it's a science fiction plotline, what mystery will hook the reader and thread through the entire story only to be revealed at the end?
The type of crime or mystery will dictate the investigation methods and details. It will also dictate what clues will be needed in order to slowly reveal the mystery throughout the four-part plot structure.
Is he/she a private detective, an amateur sleuth, a police officer, or maybe just a weekend visitor who is inadvertently led into solving a mystery?
Determine the identity, background, and significance of the victim. This decision can affect the motive, the suspects, and the overall narrative story arc. The victim's characteristics can also influence how the crime impacts other characters or the community at large. Before figuring out who the suspects are, you need to know who the victim is and why they were murdered or wronged in some way. If it's not a crime story but just a mystery or thriller, you will still need a victim. They may not die in the story, but there will be at least an injustice done to them. What is that injustice and who is the victim of it?
The victim's background, their relationships, and their secrets are all vital. Were they likeable? Did they have known enemies? A compelling victim, even if flawed, gives the reader someone to care about and root for. Even if the victim hasn't been killed or murdered, who is being bullied or targeted as the victim and why?
Where will the story play out? Most stories will have multiple stages, but where will most of the action take place? Will it be a haunted estate house? A corrupt business office? Will it be on the streets in a cityscape? How does the setting influence the mood and the unfolding of the mystery? For example: If it's a gothic novel, you will want a large estate house or a monastery, a place that has secret rooms, tunnels, or has a long history with lots of secrets. If it's a urban thriller, you will need several stages in a city scape. If it's a psychological thriller, it may need at least a mental institution. Think of yourself as a location scout for a movie: What interesting places can most of the drama take place?
Choose a location that not only serves as a backdrop or a stage for the events to take place but which can become its own character. What secrets does the location harbor? Who lived in the historic mansion in another era? Will you need a remote island somewhere to have a closed-door mystery? In a city scape, the backdrop may be about about the certain era, or just a gritty story, or a surreal story. In a mystery drama, what happened in the main family that started all the secrecy? What sin has been passed down through the generations? What corporate setting do you need to show back-door deals or money laundering? What setting can you choose that will enhance the story?
Will the story be set in a specific time period? Will it be a general contemporary book that won't reference any specific time period at all? Or will it be specifically cast in an era or time period that will require research?