• When it comes to the best way to write a story, everyone has their own tips on how to do it. Some people say you should write the first and last chapters first so you know how the book will begin and end. Others say that writing a fiction book should be a discovery process, with you writing the book from beginning to end and seeing where it takes you. Me? I'm a planner.

    When it came to writing my current novel, I started with that idealism of just writing and seeing where things took me. However, around 20,000 words into the book, I began to feel overwhelmed. I felt like there was a hundred and one things left to write and I was never sure which one was the perfect piece to go next. Finally, I broke down and decided to outline the remaining chapters.

    Outlining the rest of the book immediately made the entire process significantly easier. I knew where I wanted to take it, and I knew exactly how much more I had left. Occasionally, I would veer from this plan in order to add something that I thought of as I wrote, or if something seemed to fit better with the character's actions, but for the most part, the outline served as my guide. Whether you’re writing memoir, or working on writing a fiction book, the use of an outline can just make the whole process easier.

    The extent of your outline is up to you. Mine was a few key notes about the characters that would be used in that scene, and what the important points in it were. Other people might prefer a more detailed outline, with a breakdown of everything that's going to happen and a few rough points of dialogue. In the end, you decide what feels right. The key part is to at least try it and see how outlines work for you.