Do you write an outline before every book you write?

Jul 31, 2014 | Q & A

Detailed Plans?

Detailed Plans?

Before I sit down to write a book, I like to have an idea of where the story is going to go, however I don’t have a detailed outline of the story. I have tried to write detailed plans, however they don’t work very well for me. On the other hand, if I have no idea where the story will go, I lose interest part way through and it’s easy to abandon it. The drafts I finish need to have a general idea of where I’m going to go.

Even when I was at high school, I couldn’t plan. I can remember having creative writing assignments where I had to submit a plan before a draft and I struggled – then I started to write the story and then write the plan based on what I had already written. It helped me pass English.

Not all authors write with the same process, and having a vague outline and then writing helps me get it done.

Latest Blogs

Worth Reading: Gnoming About

Worth Reading: Gnoming About

This weeks book worth reading is Gnoming About: Tree Mail Adventure by Liv Lorkin. Three gnomes, Daisy, Lucky, and Rocky, are on the hunt for a missing gnome. They need to retrace his steps, find some postcards, and spot some mushrooms, but not everything is as easy...

A New Chapter at Elmsbury Bookshop

A New Chapter at Elmsbury Bookshop

I'm excited. I have a new book out today. This is another romance novella - A New Chapter at Elmsbury Bookshop. I started writing this story back in 2016. I got an idea and wrote 10,000 words in a couple of days. At the time, I was writing more stories for children...

What I’ve Read – April 2026

What I’ve Read – April 2026

How is it the end of April already? This year is flying by! Somehow, April brought me to 41 books read for the year... a mix of audiobooks, picture books, and others. Here's what I read: Digging Up Trouble by Kitt Crow - an audiobook that has a fun cast of characters,...