How do you write and stick to an outline?

Morgan L. Busse Hi Liv!
I think every writer is different in how they approach their story. Some people love to plan every detail out before they write, and some people need to sit before a blank screen and dream while they type along.

I'm one of those that plots, that is, I need to know how the story starts, what the main events are, and how the story ends. Because I am that kind of writer, it is easier for me to stick with an outline.

Here is a quick summary of how I write a book. I usually start coming up with ideas years before I write the book (usually because I am working on another book at the time). I start a folder on my computer and put all the ideas, scenes, characters, and dialogue I dream up in that folder. By the time I am ready to write the book, I am very familiar with the characters, the settings, and the story.

When it's time to the book, I pull the folder out and for a week I brainstorm and figure out how the story fits together. Where should I start? How does one event lead to another? Is there a theme I'm seeing? And how does it end?

At the end of the week, I put all my ideas on 3x5 cards and pin them to a cork board in the order of the story. This storyboard becomes the map or outline I follow as I begin to write the story. Then I start writing :)

I rarely veer away from my storyboard. What's there is what goes into the story. However, as I get into the rough draft, my characters usually reveal more things going on that I didn't realize.

So that's how I write and stick to an outline. It works for me, but it might not work for you. Sometimes you just need to try out some different ways of plotting to see what works for you :)

Hope that helps!

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