12 Steps to Write a Novel Without an Outline: A Guide for Discovery Writers

Discover how to write a novel without an outline using this 12-step guide for discovery writers. Gain courage, beat fear, and write that novel you've been wanting to write for years.

I'm going to expand on the two posts on building a novel I recently wrote by going deeper into the various points of those posts. There will be twelve new posts, one every week, for the next twelve weeks showing you how to build a novel from beginning to end. Hope it helps. Brian

12 Steps to Write a Novel Without an Outline: A Guide for Discovery Writers

Here's the truth: you don't need an outline to write a novel. What you need is courage and determination. The process you use to find your way isn’t all that important. Outline, don’t outline. Find what works for you and do that.

However, I’m here for the discovery writers because that’s my process. I’m going to try to tell you how to build a novel. Hope it helps.

My dad was a builder of homes. He had a regular job working for the post-office but his passion was building houses. While working full-time at the post-office, he’d build two or three houses a year. 

I can remember him taking me to lots he’d bought and telling me what kind of house was going to be built there. Empty lot one day. Foundation poured the next. Then weeks and months passed and the frame, the walls, the roof. Then the inside of the house: plumbing, appliances, electricity, paint and so on.  Eventually, a house to be lived in.

“If you build it they will come” is an oft-used quote from the movie Field of Dreams. Sadly, that’s not always the case, but if you build it you have a chance that they will come. If you don’t, you just have an empty lot.

Building a Novel:

Step 1: Breaking Ground - The Leap of Faith

So you can’t outline. Welcome to the club. I’ve been writing novels for years, and I’ve never been able to outline worth a damn. Every time I try, my creativity shrivels up like a raisin in the sun. That’s okay. There are plenty of successful novelists who don’t outline. Steven King, Toni Morrison, Ray Bradbury, Neil Gaiman, Elizabeth Strout, Donna Tartt, George Saunders, Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams—to name just a few.

WHY FEAR IS NORMAL FOR WRITERS

Starting a novel without an outline is terrifying. It’s like jumping off a cliff and trying to build wings on the way down. I get it. The blank page stares at you accusingly. Your mind rebels at the idea, and fear sets in. How can I possibly do this? Where do I even start? If I do get started, where do I go after the start? I’ve written a few pages, but I need hundreds. How can I know what comes next and next and next? It’s impossible. Hundreds of pages? It’s impossible.

Breathe. This fear is normal. Every novelist—even the famous ones—feels this fear. The difference between writers and wannabe writers isn’t talent or outlines. It’s that writers write despite the fear. They put one word after another and another and they keep going.

If you’re waiting for certainty before you begin, you’ll never write a word. Novel writing is an act of faith. You have to trust that your subconscious mind knows things your conscious mind doesn’t. You have to believe that if you keep showing up to the page, the story will reveal itself to you.

“But what if I waste months writing and it turns out terrible?” you ask.

Here’s a secret: your first draft WILL suck. Mine always do. Almost everyone’s do. First drafts aren’t about perfection—they’re about discovery. They’re about finding out what your story is. The “discovery” in discovery writing is essential. So, cut yourself some slack on your first draft. Low expectations. Start there. Know that you can improve whatever you write with revision.

The perfectionist in you is your biggest enemy. That voice that says, “This isn’t good enough” You’ve got to try to silence it. That aspect of you doesn’t get a vote right now. Its turn comes in revision.

HOW TO START YOUR NOVEL

Start with anything. A character who fascinates you. A situation that raises questions. A setting that gives you chills. A scene that you see in your mind. That’s enough. That’s your foundation.

I’ve started all my novels with only vague notions. Sometimes I began with an image, like a man out in the woods who sees something he shouldn’t or a sheriff who wakes up in his bed but can’t remember getting there. Sometimes it was an idea. I wanted to write about a boy who had never had a home or family and who found both by leaving his town and going on a voyage of self-discovery. Or an alien invasion that takes only thirty seconds because we are so primitive compared to our invaders. Sometimes it’s a theme. Like the struggle to have relationships in our complicated world.

Start with a scene that thrills you. Do your best to express what thrills you, and you’re on your way.

Don’t worry about writing in order. If you know a scene that happens somewhere in the middle, write it. If you have a flash of dialogue but don’t know where it fits, write it down anyway. These are the bricks you’ll use to build your novel.

The goal isn’t to write a perfect novel in one go. The goal is to get words on the page that you can shape later. Remember this: you can’t revise a blank page. You can revise the crap out of ones with words on them.

 Another consideration is always time. You don’t have to force yourself to write for hours in the beginning.

 Fifteen minutes of focused writing is better than an hour of start and stop and check my email and watch cat videos writing. Write one paragraph and then another. Do your best to see what you’re trying to show the reader.  The simple act of putting words on the page will generate more words.

Discovery writing feels chaotic. Embrace the chaos. Let your characters surprise you. Follow narrative threads that intrigue you. Take unexpected turns. The joy of discovery writing is finding out what happens next along with your reader. At the same time, be mindful that you are writing to a reader. Think of yourself as a reader or a watcher of shows or movies. What do you love? What do you hate?

Keep a notebook for ideas that pop up as you write. Maybe you realize your main character needs a childhood trauma that shapes her decisions. Maybe you see a potential plot twist. Jot these down, but don’t stop your forward momentum to incorporate them yet. That’s what revision is for.

Trust yourself. Your brain knows more about storytelling than you think it does. You’ve been absorbing story structure since you were a child. Those patterns are in you, even if you can’t articulate them.

Some days, the words will flow like a mountain stream. On other days, each sentence will feel like you’re walking through knee-deep snow. Both days count. Both move you forward. Also, here’s a weird thing: sometimes the knee-deep snow days are a lot better than you think they are. Sometimes, reading them over later, they look pretty much like the flow-like-a-mountain-stream days.

Remember, even with an outline, novelists still face uncertainty. Characters rebel. Plot holes emerge. The perfect structure in your mind falls apart in execution on the paper. You have to struggle through them. Again, it’s better than real life. You get a chance to rewrite, revise. You get do-overs.

So take that leap of faith. Write the first sentence. Then the next. And the next. Keep going until you reach the end. It won’t be pretty, but it will be something. Something real. Something you created from nothing.

And that, my fellow writers, is magic.

Next time you feel that fear, remember that every novel begins with uncertainty. Every novelist faces doubt. The only way through is forward. One word at a time.

Now go break some ground.

My amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Brian-Yansky/author/B001H6UHHW?ref