An outline is a necessity of writing. When a writer works on a novel the outline is both the road map that tells them where to go to reach their destination and a guidebook to interesting stops along the way. By thinking of an outline as a combination road map and guidebook you can create one that will better serve your storytelling needs.
Start by making the road map. On a sheet of paper draw a line. Mark it one one end with "Chapter One" and on the other end mark "The End". This is the road we will follow to reach our destination. There are a certain number of chapters that we will need to pass through to reach the end of the novel, these are represented by different points of interest along the way. The towns and cities of our road map.
Each of these 'towns' and 'cities' will have approximately three stops for our characters in it. These are the encounters of our story, the things our characters must encounter and pass through to reach their destination.
So your character starts at 'Chapter One', something happens that gets them moving. Something disrupts their life as they know it and sends them on their way toward 'The End'. What happens? What prompts them to shift out of their comfortable position at the start of the story and begin to make their way toward the end of it?
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