Hello lovelies! In April and May, I wrote about revisions. I introduced you to Rachel Griffin’s course “Writing is Rewriting” and this wonderful blog post that gives us a peek into Rachel’s revision process! I also talked about how my Magical Cookies are the heart and soul of my edit letter.
In today’s post, I want to tell you about my experiences with the dreaded, dreaded chapter-by-chapter outline. Hey ho, let’s go!
The Painful Truth
As you know, I don’t like revising. Just…ugh! Sooo, it should come as no surprise that writing a chapter-by-chapter outline as prep for my revisions was not fun for me. NOT AT ALL.
It took me days and days (and days) to get through my chapters. It was a struggle—one I survived (barely) thanks to an indecent amount of stubbornness and a ton of chocolate. But guess what? Writing the (dreaded, dreaded) chapter-by-chapter outline turned out to be one of the most helpful things I did to kick-start my revisions!
What, How…?
The chapter-by-chapter outline is about writing down what happens in each chapter so you can easily identify what needs fixing. It’s a bullet-point summary of your manuscript in its current state. The bullets list the most important things that happen in each chapter: plot, character arcs, theme, setting, red herrings and secrets, flashbacks, points of romantic tension, and so on…
For example:
Chapter 1 (POV: Aster)
- Aster is hurrying through Old Town in disguise, trying to stick to the shadows and avoid the Sheriff’s watchmen
- Intro of her father’s flat-cap and her brother’s promise
- Risking her life because she wants to find out whether the rumors about her missing brother are true; if they are, she wants to be with him in his final moments
- Mergen confronts Aster in Sanglot Square and wants her to stop – first look at the complicated friendship
- Aster and Mergen watch with dread as a man resembling Aster’s brother is dragged onto the dais
The bullets cover all the main things that happen in this first chapter. They include Aster and Mergen’s friendship dynamic because it’s an important relationship arc in the book and I want to track its development across all chapters. They also mention Aster’s flat-cap and her brother’s promise: two items that are key to the story that I also want to keep an eye on.
I also added Aster’s point of view at the top, so I can see when each MC character has their moment in the spotlight. I also want to make sure that the POV fits the events happening in the chapter and I check whether a particular POV should get more (or less) page time.
Check out Rachel’s blog post on the chapter-by-chapter outline for additional examples!
What’s Actually There
Writing the chapter-by-chapter outline forced me to slow down and SEE my story. For each chapter, I had to truly look at the havoc I had created before I could condense it into a couple of bullet points: I had to elbow my way through word vomit, messy paragraphs, and randomly inserted thoughts; I had to make sense of an off-kilter story world and volatile characters; I had to contend with unhinged relationships and weird vibes.
I realized that some chapters didn’t move the story forward, that certain motivations weren’t clear, and that some subplots had just…disappeared. Yikes! Things that I’d assumed were on the page turned out to be still in my head: theme, anyone?
I repeat: yikes!
Final Thoughts
For me, writing the (dreaded, dreaded) chapter-by-chapter outline was not fun, but it turned out to be very valuable! It forced me to see my story as it was, not as I imagined it to be. It helped me spot all kinds of sneaky problems early—problems I might not have seen (or confronted) until waaay later, perhaps even after multiple rounds of edits. It made me sharper and more prepared for the revisions to come.
Sooo, if you’re staring down a messy draft and dreading the revision process—take a deep breath, grab a notebook (or open a doc), and start outlining your chapters. Your future self will thank you!
Happy revising!