Outlining VS Free-Writing a Novel: Self Analysis + Tools

Bella Rose Emmorey

book editor, rogue behaviorist, digital marketer, writer, brand builder, plant aunt, and cheese enthusiast.

The Difference Between Outlining VS Free-Writing Outlining VS Free-Writing Self Assessment The Benefits of Outlining Your Book How to Write a Novel with an Outline 1. Choose your starting point 2. Decide what ideas stay 3. Develop the character 4. Identify the settings 5. Start the plots 6. Break out your chapters and outline!The Benefits of Free-Writing Your Book How to Free-Write a Novel

If you spend any amount of time in the writing world, you’ll quickly come across differences with advice as it relates to outlining versus free-writing a novel. What’s hardest as a new writer is actually figuring out which type of writer you are.
Most outliners try free-writing at first, only to realize they can’t string an interesting plot together to save their lives. While free-writers simply can’t make any progress with a strict set of "instructions" for writing.
But I’m getting ahead of myself here.
Let’s first discuss the differences, a self-assessment to help you figure out which you are, and then we’ll go into the benefits and steps of both methods.
The Difference Between Outlining VS Free-WritingThe main difference between outlining vs free-writing is that one writer plans the plot and story before writing and the other makes it up as they go along.
You might have heard of the terms outlining and free-writing as plotter and panster, respectively. Pantsers are also called "discovery writers," because they discover the story as they write.
This is a pretty strict translation, but it’s more accurate to say that both styles are on a spectrum, and you know how we love spectrums. There are varying degrees of outlining vs free-writing and each writer will have their own unique position on the spectrum.
You can think of it this way to find where you might be:
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See how there are different degrees of outlining? I’ve never liked advice that puts you in one or the other as if it’s a simple binary.
Outlining, for example, might look more like this:
Light outlining: Planning major plot points like the introduction, inciting incident, two or three key plot moments that lead to the climax, and the resolution. But you don’t know much else about how they’re connected, which is where you’ll free-write those pieces.
Comprehensive outlining: This would look like planning your novel on a chapter-by-chapter basis, knowing what is happening in each chapter—using bullet points or paragraphs—before you even start writing the novel.
Varied outlining: Some outlining might take place for the plot points or characters, but the rest could be freewriting. For example, Brandon Sanderson free-writes his characters despite having a comprehensive outline for the actual plot points of the story. But he doesn’t actually plan who the characters are until he starts writing and gets a feel for what character best fits his plot.
The same is true for free-writing. Even Stephen King, one of the more famous free-writers, knows where he wants his plot to go in the end, and will plan the next parts of his novel between writing sessions (in his head).
And while many free-writers just make it up as they go along, they do end up planning more during a first revision, once they know the story they want to tell.
Outlining VS Free-Writing Self AssessmentUltimately, whether you should outline or free-write your novel depends on the amount of preparation you need to make meaningful progress on your book.
What is helping you actually get closer to finishing the draft?
Look at the spectrum above again. Are you more on the left side, where you like to have some idea of what you’re doing or you’ll get "writer’s block" and not make progress?
Or are you on the right side, where the excitement of not quite knowing what’ll happen next propels you to sit down and write to figure it out?
More than anything, this self-assessment should happen over time with some self-awareness. If you’ve always free-wrote your novels but never actually finished one, chances are you need a bit more outlining in the process. And on the other end, if you’ve outlined a book extensively but can’t seem to sit down and write what you planned, you might need a bit more free-writing in your process.
The Benefits of Outlining Your BookIf you’ve determined you are indeed an outliner, or are still trying to figure out if it’s for you, this might help. There are a ton of benefits to outlining your book, and here are a few of them:
1. Having a direction you’re writing in
2. Less writer’s block
3. Fewer lulls or plot points that don’t work (better pacing)
4. Fewer revisions and time spent self-editing
5. More cohesive story
6. You’ll write faster
7. Fewer plot holes or inconsistencies 
8. Stronger first draft
9. Better foreshadowing
This isn’t an exhaustive list, but you get the idea. When you plan ahead, it gives you a lot of help when you actually sit down to write. The writing will be stronger because you can focus on the prose and less on what’s coming next.
How to Write a Novel with an OutlineThere’s a lot that goes into outlining a novel, but we can help you fast-track a few of the details.
1. Choose your starting pointThe starting point differs from person to person. Some people think of plot ideas first, others come up with a character they want to build a story around. There are writers who even think of a location or setting they want to create a story around. Whichever it is for you, start with how you naturally come up with stories.
And brain dump as much as you can until you start piecing the details together.
Keeping all your ideas in the same place you write your novel will help a ton. For that, I like to use $ NovelPad’s Notes$  feature, which can organize the world-building, various topics, and random notes that I haven’t found a place for yet.
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In the example above, you can see that I keep it really casual in the notes. Usually it’s some heading for the folder, with general ideas in a bullet list.
If anything gets confirmed and concrete, then I move it to other sections, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
2. Decide what ideas stayMost of the ideas don’t make it into the story. That’s why you’re an outliner. You pick and choose what you want to go with and move forward from there.
For me, this looks like combing through my notes and moving anything that I don’t want to keep into a folder called "not used". I never delete anything, because you never know if there’s something you’ll want to bring in later.
Once you have your ideas sorted, it’s time to move on to filling the various areas of your outline, including characters, settings, and the plot points.
3. Develop the characterNow it’s time to collect those character-specific details and ideas. Sometimes this step might come after the plot, but I like to get a general idea of my plot, then go to developing the characters that’ll fit best into the plot.
And by "fit best" I actually mean "would cause the most conflict and entertainment".
In NovelPad, I use the Character Boards to keep everything together, and it’s honestly great because you can even set a nickname for your character so when you’re writing the novel, the character board will pull every single scene where that name is written.
So helpful for $ editing your novel$ .
But while outlining, open the character board and click the edit symbol to fill in details:
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Make sure you’re doing more than just the bare minimum. This is the place to add character motivation, flaws, weaknesses, strengths, and anything that will play a role in outlining the plot of your story.
4. Identify the settingsThis might be something you do as you plot, but if you know at least a few primary places your scenes will take place, you can add them to the locations section in NovelPad, or keep track of them elsewhere if you’re not using the software.
Just like with the characters, this software will pull in every $ scene$  you write where that location has been tagged so you can see them in order.
5. Start the plotsBefore doing a chapter-by-chapter outline, start by developing the plots. Depending on how far along your notes are, you can pull those into your plot by linking from the note to a plot point.
Just go to your notes, highlight the section of notes that pertains to a certain part of the plot, and click the link button. Follow the steps below:
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When you go back to the plot section of the software, you can easily toggle back to the notes and to the plot to fully flesh it out.
For these plot points, you’ll want to craft a few key plots to fill in, depending on how you like to outline. I like to organize my books by parts so I can craft each part to have key elements, so it looks a bit like this:
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6. Break out your chapters and outline!There are a lot of ways to go about outlining your book. You can start at the beginning and outline chronologically. You can do what I do, which is sort of like a $ snowflake method$  where I fill in major plot points, then break those plot points into chapters and bridge them together.
This doesn’t have rules. Just do whatever works for you!
I really like to go into each of the plots I’ve set up and compile the notes by breaking them into chapters. Then I go to the chapter section in NovelPad and create chapters with all of those details. A little copy & paste, and that works for me!
I end up with a chapter-by-chapter outline that looks like this:
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Whether you use writing software or not, you’ll discover your own process. Most outlining is a process—brainstorm, figure out details, plot some stuff, figure out details, brainstorm, plot some stuff, then start outlining more depending on the level of outliner you are.
The Benefits of Free-Writing Your BookIf you’re not an outliner, that’s totally fine. Your process is different, and there are a lot of great things about being a free-writer, even if you have a mild level of planning involved.
1. You get to enjoy the story as it comes together, like a new reader
2. Innovative story structure
3. You get to write what you’re in the mood to write
4. You can start writing sooner
5. You have more of a sense of freedom when writing
6. You can change your mind about the plot often if you don’t like how it’s going
7. You can capitalize more on writing when you’re inspired, whenever you see something that makes you want to put it in your story
When you free-write, you get to do away with structure and over-planning and ask yourself, "What does the story need right now?" which will allow you to create something that feels fresh and new.
How to Free-Write a NovelThis one is easy.
Open a blank document, and write.
I do recommend that you use some sort of tool that has an auto-save feature like NovelPad. For free-writers, the risk of losing your writing and work is even more severe because there’s nowhere that you’re keeping track of details. You’ll also benefit from a goal tracking system where you can actually see which part of the novel you’re in.
It’s too easy to lose track otherwise. If you’re in the middle of the novel and you’re writing a 90,000 word romance, for example, certain plot points should be happening. So it can help shape your free-writing for the better, and is really easy to set up.
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NovelPad is a great option for a lot of reasons, but specifically for a free-writer’s ability to keep track of characters, locations, and scenes for when you're ready to $ revise your novel$ . Because you will have a much more comprehensive revision process than an outliner will typically have.
You might decide halfway through your story to change a character’s dialect. That would be so much work unless you can easily sort and access every scene that specific character appears in.
Now, if you do some planning even as a free-writer, plan as much as you need. $ Use the notes inside NovelPad$  to jot down thoughts about where you want to take the story next.
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This isn’t a battle between outlining vs free-writing. No one method is better than the other. What’s best for you can be terrible for someone else. I’ve tried free-writing. It was a chaotic, embarrassing disaster. Find what works for you and stick with your method! 