How I outline a novel: a deep dive

I walk through a problem child novel: solving plot problems, reworking the outline, editing plans.
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[@colorblockpoprocks6973]

the irony that you would upload a video on the same day i discover you via a video about writing for casual fun-- and i am just legitimately so thrilled to hear more tips on how to overplan my novel concepts instead of actually writing yaaayy ✨✨🥂

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

I mean, they're not mutually exclusive! Overplanning is fun sometimes!!!

[@cyb3r_Ang3lBee]

exactly the same happened with me!

[@BewilderingStudio]

Her: I wrote 10 books a year. Also her: This is how I outline my novels. Me: Grab the popcorn!

[@gwynn2528]

I love Una's realization of how different imaginary "brooding and damaged" is to real life "brooding and damaged". I had to discover that difference as well when I was younger. Also, I like that the main guy has a lot to be broody and damaged by, but he seems to be as happy as a clam despite it. There are people who have terrible experiences and it all seems to slide right off of them, and there are others who one little bad thing happens and it is "The end of the beans.".

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

Una's growth arc from living in a world of books to dealing with the real world is rather relatable to me too! It's been fun to write. And yes, Varrie is just one of those people who seems to default to happiness, even though he is prone to anxiety. He's different from any of my other male leads, and I love him for it.

[@teresachaotic.corner]

I'm digging your dress:) And I really need motivation to outline my new book (so far, all I have is: it needs to be set in a specific season and there's a train).

[@RocamboleMan]

every story needs a train! :) what does the train do for your story?

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

I feel this. I still keep wanting to tell a story with someone who lives on a little houseboat on the river and it's like...yeah okay what is the story though?

[@constancecampbell4610]

I thought of you yesterday (?) when I read that Asheville residents have safe drinking water again. 🎉🎉🎉

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

Luckily we always had good drinking water in Marshall. But it's a relief for the whole region, to be sure! A lot of restaurants have been closed and of course many of my friends have not had water for so long!

[@constancecampbell4610]

@ 🤗

[@Hello-hello-hello456]

I found your little sketches of each character charming!

[@woodlandlady7011]

Two things happened while watching/listening to you telling your story,. One, I really want to read it when you have it published, and two, it gave me a brain clarity clue to a problem with my own outline. So, thank you Lidiya🙏

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

Well, that is a perfect outcome!

[@LedgerAndLace]

This was really great to listen to! I think that someone's greatest strength can be seen as a weakness in different situations by different people. It all depends. And vice-versa, in stories and real life! The best thing is when you find your niche and your people. 🙂

[@samsarasuplex]

Outlining is HARD. I'm a vibes-based writer but don't necessarily identify as a pantser. I write toward an ending. This causes difficulty when the ending changes. I also relentlessly interrogate myself about the vibes themselves, trying to get exactly the right words down above all else. Combined with my city-state novel which has got a million ideas about the real world mixed in with very Weird notions of thought and power, it's a doozy. Further, I rely primarily on epiphany as a rewriting mechanism; manuals tend to frustrate me, though I can see the value in them. I'm turning to fanfiction so I can keep writing and not feel blocked, because this project is so overwhelming... which I have nobody to blame for but myself. Oops?

[@porcelainchips6061]

Maybe Una's drive to go check on Vari stems partly from both of them growing up in a fairly safe environment and now it's starting to set in with Una how "real" the war is and then she starts worrying about Vari, almost out of guilt (she's not expected to go to war, but she saw Vari fall to pressure to enlist?). Maybe look up English propaganda during WWI & WWII; there are lot of posters sort of "bullying" young men to sign up. Maybe Una builds up enough guilt that she hopes a conversation with Vari will "cure" her doubts / worries? Eventually she could also realize that true love was the driving motive, under all these more immediate conerns?

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. Montgomery, which I'm reading now, covers the bullying of men to enlist quite vividly, actually. I read a lot about World War I some years ago because their war has a lot of parallels. This is definitely kind of an underlying theme already, I'd say...but it's already been implied that Una kind of likes Varrie in Doll Girl Meets Dead Guy so, that is already kind of there.

[@CorvusCloudburst]

Loved this, very helpful as I work through some frustrations in my own plotting. Thank you!

[@khall3131]

This video kicked my creative brainstorming into gear. I like the approach of writing more freely, then going back to the structure, then back to writing. Side note: I thought you were going to say that Varrie would make his friend's story into a movie! But I love the idea of Una taking up the writing of the biography. And I think you're right, she needed more of a personal goal besides just finding romance. So it ties things up in a neat package.

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

I really really do want them to make movies!! I tried soooo hard to think of any conceivable way to get their hands on film and a camera (this was my favorite part of Legend of Korra...) but there was no way to do it while ALSO keeping the story simple in scope. That would be more of a 2-3 book arc and I have other stuff I want to get to! Undoubtedly this will be an easter egg in future books though...

[@khall3131]

@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor That makes perfect sense.

[@adrianwagarwrites]

Thanks for this Lidiya! I've been stuck at 20,000 words in my Nov writing project and this has inspired me to get back at it.

[@inastaria5075]

I really like hearing people talk about a story, and so this was a very nice video I really enjoyed ❤️❤️ I don't really read books anymore, I don't care for getting a story out of like 50,000+ words. Or if I do get a book I tend to prefer knowing the whole summary of it first (no surprises 👍) so this is probably the only way I'll know what your books are 🙌

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

Interesting! So I should do one of those deep dive "summary of the story" videos someday...

[@inastaria5075]

@lidiyafoxgloveauthor I would love that ❤️❤️I also adored the video on magic systems last month! I'm a worldbuilder first and writer second, so I really connect with your decades spent thinking of your own world ✨ I'm coming up on a decade for my world! (2016!)

[@Endruss2025]

Wow!! I've never read books like this. Will start now. Thank you!!

[@elliegale1845]

Vari could help make a movie for Tarran After Una makes the story! Yes that's a great idea!!

[@ramonarobot]

3:25 I read a book by James Scott Bell called Write Your Novel from the Middle which basically says to start plotting from the middle. According to him, If you know what big realization your characters will have, you can extrapolate what happens before and after that moment. Easier said than done though 🤣😅🥲😭🫠 (Side note: your chair looks comfy af)

[@writingfromthedepths]

Ah! Just what I needed for inspiration / motivation. Writing slump begone! (I hope 🤞🏻)

[@kittystorms]

I'm not sure if you're looking for ideas. Sometimes it sounded like you might be, sometimes not, and a lot of people didn't say anything in the comments with ideas. So...I wrote a few things during the video, but if you're not looking for them, then you can ignore it, of course. XD -- Maybe T goes with U&V back to their home because he secretly wants to get more crystals. Maybe the crystal's power is limited or something? As for the leg, what about animals from swamps? It could be partly animal bones and sinew or something too. Maybe there's a mechanical element or magic, such as charged by a kind of magic bug or special stone that has limited abilities or needs replacing or charging every now-and-again, so it's not as clunky. Or maybe the leg has a sort of magic put on it, but it kind of ends up with a mind of its own, which sometimes contradicts V's own movement preferences, which can be funny but also means he'll want an actual leg in the end (even if he and this leg, -- released into the wild to go off on its own adventures, of course, -- end up great friends in the end). Maybe U thinks she might like T, if he suits her fantasies better, and has to realise she's more into V? She says she'll write T's story, which he's fine with, but then, though she does that, she realises she has another more realistic story and that teaches her about her true feelings about V?

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

I didn't ask for any ideas because I don't want people to waste time trying to help me when there is an 80% chance I won't take any of them, haha, but I don't mind if it is something you enjoy or comes naturally to you. Your first suggestion is actually sort of what the ORIGINAL plot was! It was going to be a crystal heist in the first version, but for many reasons it just wasn't working.... Two is cool but sort of beyond the magic, or vibe of magic, I've established in every other story. Magic can get out of hand so fast, I definitely have a few "off rules" magic bits but I try not to overuse it... But three...actually that COULD be fun to play with... Tarran seems a little more rough and rougish than Una's tastes but she could expand her horizons! On another note I could see Varrie getting a little competitive and seeing Una spend time with Tarran could get him ruffled to ask her out. I hadn't considered a Tarran/Una romantic tension angle, but there is some potential there...

[@kittystorms]

@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor Understandable! A crystal heist sounds fun, but I can see why it doesn't seem to fit with your current plot. Though, it could just be a motivation that he doesn't actually follow through with. Ooh. I'm curious, do you have a very strong structure for your magic system? (Did I miss a video on this?) Like JK Rowling vs Brandon Sanderson? I'm biased, because I'm all for the rogue!

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

@@kittystorms I haven't covered magic yet. For the most part it's broken down into telepaths (which is anyone with Miralem blood but to wildly varying degrees of ability), sorcerers who pretty much just do elemental magic, and then potion makers are the ones who can figure out other spells, like illusions or paralysis or blinding or animating a doll person. All sorts of things are possible but they take development time, and those sorts of spells can usually be stored and shared either as a potion or in a crystal. (Potion makers also can do elemental magic because you have to be tuned into the elements first, although they might not spend as much time training.) I wouldn't say it's a hard magic system, but telepathy and elemental magic and fairly well defined. Potion making is the fuzzy one but I try to really stick to spells that it makes sense for people to spend years developing, possibly with a patron funding their work, knowing that the solution might never even be found but the attempt is worth it.

[@StarlitSeafoam]

I just wanted to say, the idea of a magically self-willed limb that causes mayhem for the MC, but ultimately ends up becoming a friend and then possibly going off on its own adventures has my brain exploding. I adore it so much.

[@kittystorms]

@@StarlitSeafoam Thank you! XD

[@throwbackgaming3867]

This was very interesting to watch, and the story sounds very intriguing. I like your idea of making the Female MC bad at working on the theater and having to spend more time with the ally character. That seems reasonable. I also liked the idea of the ally making a wooden leg for the Male MC and him not wanting to get a dead leg. I think that fits what you said about him. I also thought maybe you could increase the stakes at the beginning by having the Male MC's parents have some contract at the bookstore where if he doesn't show up alive by a specific date, then they gain control of the bookstore. So she goes to find him and to save her dream job. Then maybe something will happen later when the parents finally understand why the bookstore is important to their son. Just some thoughts. Also, I reached my goal for this cozy writing month. I finished writing my 1st draft of book 1 in a new cozy mystery series. It's the rewrite of the book I sent you to review the 1st chapter a while back. About the writer named Jonah. I think feedback helped alot so thanks for that. Also I started writing book 3 in my 1st cozy mystery series. So I wrote alot so far this month. Not sure the exact amount. 😅

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

I do think you're onto something in that I need some stakes with Una and the parents early in the book... Also yay! Good work and thanks for checking in with the cozy challenge!

[@Joyce_BellyButtonPortalPodcast]

Thanks - lots of good writing info and tips!

[@TheZetaKai]

For a great example of a character who lost his leg and had a hard time getting over the trauma of it, check out Nog's story in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, specifically the episode It's Only a Paper Moon. Haunting, poignant, and very relevant to your character's arc.

[@ladybugteeth]

i just found your channel a couple weeks ago and i'm so very glad i did! while i'm a playwright and not a novelist, this was super helpful for me - i'm working on a problem child play of my own. appreciate your thoughts on the process :')

[@TheKoffeeVerse]

I'm going to try plotting / outlining for my next project. I've always been very much a pantser so it's tough.

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

It's worth trying, but it can be hard to go against your process. As you can tell I have somewhat of a hybrid approach.

[@thatgirlintheglasses4780]

I love jumping in then act 2 comes and I'm stuck

[@zrienkersh1475]

This story sounds great!

[@AResurrectedWreck]

Thank you for sharing your process. But why would Vari’s (sp?) decision to keep his prosthetic leg be b/c he’s freaked out? Seems more interesting if his decision ties in with his time with Taran, since Taran’s whole backstory is about convincing people that life is worthwhile even if they’re no longer “perfect”. And isn’t Vari’s time with Taran spent becoming more comfortable with who he wants to be, rather than what society/his parents expect from him? Keeping the prosthetic makes sense with the plot points you’ve already established, and it moves the story along better if Vari’s not just stuck with it b/c he thinks a dead man’s leg is freaky, but b/c he’s worked through and accepted the change in his body and doesn’t see himself as lacking because of it.

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

That is a very good point. I guess I was thinking more from the prospective of these are his choices and the dead leg probably does actually work a little better than a prosthetic since it becomes a "revived" leg, so...probably a little of both realistically? On the other hand, oh! Varrie might become more attuned to the elements during his time with Tarran as well, since Tarran is an elemental sorcerer and Varrie is outside in nature for basically the first time in his life, so he could start to actually vibe with the wooden leg.

[@mariasebastianwrites7359]

This was a fascinating watch. All the best!

[@MevvSG]

As I'm watching this I can't help but think a good way to get Una a stronger motivation would be to enforce her insecurities at the beginning of the book. You said she's just there to take Vari's place while he's gone. She could feel like she isn't even good enough to sell books, let alone become an author by the end!

[@leonidchichibabi2383]

thank you

[@experiFilm]

This is motivating me to work on my script hehe 😊

[@thekazzeo]

The real problem here is that the story so clearly wants to be a love story between Vari and Tarran

[@jessicasblack]

I like the addition of the crystal but it just got dropped out. I feel like maybe that's Tauron's conflict. Like he likes being friends with Vari but he also could get more crystals to heal more people. Vari or Una could figure this out and convince Tauron to help other people by writing his own story. And Vari turns the book into a movie. Or what if your book is the book Una wrote telling Tauron's story and Vari and Una are major characters. I think I just feel like Tauron is the most interesting character. Hearing your description I didn't want to learn more about Una or Vari, I want to know about Tauron.

[@Ashley.Berensen]

I haven’t read any of your books, and loved the beginning you described. I was thinking this would be an interesting read until you got to the movie theater part. You lost me there. 😢 but who knows! Maybe if I read the first book it will make more sense.

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

This does make more sense in the context of the other books (although whether it appeals to you or not is another matter). The basic idea is that this fantasy world once traded with our world in ancient times via a portal, then they shut down the portal due to strife and lost track of it. The antagonists rediscover the portal in the 1890s, slowly but surely modernizing the fantasy world, with both very good and very bad results.

[@Ashley.Berensen]

@ I read webcomics that use portals to another world to summon stuff, but never a book. I’ll have to check it out!

[@multipodderymae]

Maybe I missed something, but why would the sorcerers of Tarran's people be out of commission if they're maimed? Sorcery/magic by definition is normally afforded to those who aren't physical.

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

Someone does ask this in the book. You don't really want a sorcerer on the battlefield shooting fireballs at the wrong target or not being able to see when someone's coming at them. Of course Tarran quite sensibly is advocating for some kind of retraining, battlefield guides, anything besides this brutal older belief. But Lord Jherin & his generals would really prefer to shift toward modern warfare anyway...you can train the common people to use rifles & artillery, and then the leaders wouldn't have to deal with all the long training sorcerers put in (and their greater potential for rebellion). As the war has gone on the sorcerers seem a little too...non-compliant. They would really rather see a world where nearly all magic is secretive and in the hands of leadership.

[@Ponitypon]

14:05 this is so fuun lolol

[@girlypopgay]

Literally thought vari was shacking up with the blind guy 😅

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

Well, so does Una at first, LOL

[@mutahmarriagecounselor2272]

I'm a stay-at-home mom--is it hopeless?

[@elliegale1845]

Hey! I don't think she needs much more ambition. Maybe that's part of her flaw. I think she could have half baked dreams and Vari helps her follow them! Something that would fit in nicely with his goal. Or maybe she just likes bookkeeping and crocheting and that's okay! Also Tarren could leave because CONFLICT he's been found and they're going take his lake House because it's against the rules for him to own property anymore because he should have already killed himself

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

I do like having some characters without huge goals. I'm just not sure it works for Una to be one of them. I did actually consider something like that with Tarran but it's one of those things that would have other side effects and would make the book really long and less cozy...and since I'm already working on the absolute beast of a story that is the Court of the Last Dragon, this one can't get too out of hand!

[@Ponitypon]

I think parents shouldnt allow Varrie to have his theater business in town

[@Ponitypon]

because its been transported by our world the goths are against this, so varrie tries to be a filmmaker and director of movies and Una helps him with transcript based on the books she reads

[@Ponitypon]

Una falls in love with one of the actors and Varrie comes out as gay