Planning a series especially with multiple povs seems so intimidating but you make it look so easy! I definitely need to retry this method when I have a better grasp of my story and subplots
It looks really complicated and the look of it is intimidating but it has turned out to be the most simplistic and thorough outlining method I've tried so far! I hope it works for you when you try it!
That’s so organized. I don’t think I could ever have my book so deeply written down before the first draft. If I write down all the cool things I’m thinking before then, it all just looses its excitement factor.
I'm glad I pantsed the first book, but I was looking for a gist of where the book is going so that's why I decided to give it a rough outline of the major plot points using this method!
This method has always confused me, I think it's because there is so much happening on one sheet but I think I get it now and can see how it would be beneficial.
I saw Kate Cavanaugh give this a try and I've used this for my series ever since! It's a great method and really keeps everything concise and organized. I realized once I got into it that even if I pants all of the first drafts that I'll still need something like this to keep track of the series as a whole.
Totally! I did see Kate's video on this and I believe I mentioned it in my first video trying this where I was outlining the first book but since she has unlisted it because of what JKR has said over the past few years, decided to not mention it again if people couldn't go find that video. I'm glad this method works for you too!
I just finished the video. I'm also planning a fantasy series, and I wi definitely outline using this method. I always outline before writing. Hope DE is doing well, Sara!
So glad I saw this video! I'm attempting Nanowrimo 2023, and was worrying a bit cos my plan isn't fully finalised/ doesn't incorporate in detail everything I've thought putting in the story. But it's great to see that you're on draft 3 and still plotting, revising, and adding ideas to your novel! Really helps me to not stress out so much over it! ^^
1. I love ginger beer! 2. It is better to have the books improve so Book 2 being better than Book 1 is awesome! 3. I'm so excited about your story. Your videos also always inspire me to work on my own stories, so thank you!
Love this! I’m trying this method after having watched your last J.K. Rowling plotting video and I’m about to see whether it makes a difference in my drafting. I can’t believe how many words are in your draft of book 1!
This is such an interesting (but simple) way to outline. I've tried using beat sheets, and they just don't work for me, so maybe this would be a good one to try.
I watched your video from 2019 yesterday, and wanted to try it, but didn’t really understand the columns and stuff, but this video helped me understand it a bit more
This seems like a great outlining method for series! It’s probably a little much for me as my YA contemporaries are all stand-alone books (thus far), but definitely something I would try if I was writing something that required more intensive plotting.
@@SaraLubratt I outline. I have a hodgepodge of systems that work for me. My first step is to create the formatting of the book in Scrivener, then I create scenes - I typically start with one for every 1000 words (though the scenes often get broken-up differently throughout the editing process). And then write a sentence or two about what is happening in each scene. So for NaNo for example I started with 50 scene cards with a few sentences on each to lead me through the drafting process.
I used this method immediately after watching your as well as Kate Caveigh's video regarding this writing method for my NaNoWriMo project as well as for my first book in my 5 book fantasy series. As a matter of fact, I found your as well as Kate's channel only after watching those videos (I am a huge Harry Potter fan and/was a JK Rowling fan. In fact, if not for JK Rowling and the Harry Potter series, I don't think I would have ever gotten into writing, so no complains)
This video was great! I'm planning a fantasy series as well and my outlining process is very similar to this like I really only see a few things about my outlining process that are different from this. I totally want to try color coding though because it seems to work for you! I'm curious as to how long your chapters are because they seem very long but I remember you on a live stream saying your chapters are short so I'm curious as to how long they really are. Great video:)
Thanks Gio! My chapter lengths have gotten longer through drafts but draft 1 they were quite short or very long and now on draft 3 they are much more consistent in length. I'm not sure how many words because I don't have it in front of me right now but most are between 4 and 6 pages in 1.15 spacing on a Word Document.
It has changed a bit since draft one but draft one did follow this outline very closely! But I did make the outline when I was 216,000 words into the story but using this method helped me find the ending of the first book!
I will try this method but instead of chapters I'm using 3 act story structure beats as a timeline. With 3-4 pov's and 3 manor plots throughout the whole series the beats will fall in different places And my (half plotter half) pantser mind can't figure out the beats when I just free wrote the first book
I am covetous of your organization skills. I think this might be a good outlining method to try for my next project, whatever that is. Great job Sara. Maybe it's the pancakes that powered your productivity so well. Pancakes are a super food? yes I think so
Hahaha omg pancakes are a superfood, that's what the scientists need to be talking about, not those blueberries and acai. If you are looking to try a new outlining method for your next writing endeavor, I suggest giving this one a shot!
Using this method right now while watching the video, not least because I am lost at sea over a current chapter, and the end point for my WIP. I really enjoyed seeing how your ideas for Books 2 and 3 developed as a result of this outlining method. It definitely seems as though this works for multi-POV stories. I wonder why the prominence of certain POVs have changed in the subsequent books. Perhaps you needed to write the first 1 before realising their story wasn't over? Great video!
That's awesome! I hope that trying this method out helped you discover some things about your story! Yeah I'm not sure why the prominence of the POVs shifted but I'm just along for the ride!
I’m a pantser, but I “back plan” once first draft is complete. It’s a little like this but I’m not as organised as using a spreadsheet 😂 I just make a TON of notes on scrivener, hand-draw a kind of flowchart with what happens in every scene (which I call a skeleton plot/draft) and try to make it all somehow make sense
@@SaraLubratt not about the outline, about the drafting. i often hear you saying about how the book spend some time on a pov, and then changes, spending some more on another one. i just thought it was interesting bc most of the books i read intersperse the pov, instead of spending a long time on one and then repeting!
@@Диана-я5э1к Ok I understand what you're saying now, thanks for clearing that up. I wrote the first book by writing each point of view by themselves because I wanted to make sure that each POV makes sense on it's own and could be a strong story on its own to ensure that after draft two when I put the POVs together that the story was stronger because each of the POVs were strong on their own. So now it reads like a regular book with alternating POVs for each chapter or so but when I drafted it, I drafted them separately. Does that make sense?
Hey Sara...I havent started writing anything till yet (exept my assignments).. My question was is it possible for any human to imagine like JK ROWLING and put words to that?? ❤❤ Edit : You look cute👀
@@SaraLubratt I thought so. So yesturday downloaded a free plot greed. An hour ago downloaded the free Canva app for plots. I'm using the Plotgrid app inspired by the writer of Harry Potter. My Q is. How to split pages from one page to start a new. And, how to add on chapters. The thing is, when writing I like to see separate sheets. Otherwise how do know when you've from one page to another?
@@SaraLubratt I'm now using the plotgrid app. Does it have a automatic page number you can click on. So you can see where one page ends and another starts? Also how to add on Chapters. As this is a free app.
when ever i am getting really bad gender dysphoria as a closeted genderfluid whos mom just told them that they cant cut their hair anymroe the only thing that does not make me dysphoric i come to your chanel or the try guys thanks
I'm so sorry to hear that. If you ever need to talk about anything, please know I'm here. I'm glad you come to my channel when you seek distraction and comfort. I can't imagine how difficult that is but you are who you are and you need to be true to yourself more than anything else. Please know I'll be sending thoughts and positivity your way.
@@SaraLubratt Absolutely, really enjoyed the video btw. Very helpful. I am writing my own book as well. So thank you this really means a lot. Keep up with the great content 😊
"It's not a huge deal, it's just not ideal"
Felt that too hard
😂
Planning a series especially with multiple povs seems so intimidating but you make it look so easy! I definitely need to retry this method when I have a better grasp of my story and subplots
It looks really complicated and the look of it is intimidating but it has turned out to be the most simplistic and thorough outlining method I've tried so far! I hope it works for you when you try it!
That’s so organized. I don’t think I could ever have my book so deeply written down before the first draft. If I write down all the cool things I’m thinking before then, it all just looses its excitement factor.
I'm glad I pantsed the first book, but I was looking for a gist of where the book is going so that's why I decided to give it a rough outline of the major plot points using this method!
This method has always confused me, I think it's because there is so much happening on one sheet but I think I get it now and can see how it would be beneficial.
Oh awesome! I promise it looks way more complex than it is!
I saw Kate Cavanaugh give this a try and I've used this for my series ever since! It's a great method and really keeps everything concise and organized. I realized once I got into it that even if I pants all of the first drafts that I'll still need something like this to keep track of the series as a whole.
Totally! I did see Kate's video on this and I believe I mentioned it in my first video trying this where I was outlining the first book but since she has unlisted it because of what JKR has said over the past few years, decided to not mention it again if people couldn't go find that video. I'm glad this method works for you too!
I'm always a pantser and never tried outlining.
I think if my creativity is down, I'll definitely try this outlining for novelty.
It seems like a good way to take a step back from a project!
I just finished the video. I'm also planning a fantasy series, and I wi definitely outline using this method. I always outline before writing. Hope DE is doing well, Sara!
Thanks Miguel! I hope this method woks as well for you as it did for me!
Yeah, I just might need to give this a try. I'm a plantser, but lately it seems the pantser half has been taking over more and more XD
Hahaha I feel that.
I love this Sara! 😍 I also love hearing about your project. It is going to be EPIC! Such an awesome way to outline!
I keep thinking I can't get any more excited about my project and then I do something like this and I do!
So glad I saw this video! I'm attempting Nanowrimo 2023, and was worrying a bit cos my plan isn't fully finalised/ doesn't incorporate in detail everything I've thought putting in the story. But it's great to see that you're on draft 3 and still plotting, revising, and adding ideas to your novel! Really helps me to not stress out so much over it! ^^
1. I love ginger beer! 2. It is better to have the books improve so Book 2 being better than Book 1 is awesome! 3. I'm so excited about your story. Your videos also always inspire me to work on my own stories, so thank you!
Aw thank you Zara! I'm glad to hear that it's good to have the books improve (and that makes sense). And right? Ginger beer is so good!
Love this! I’m trying this method after having watched your last J.K. Rowling plotting video and I’m about to see whether it makes a difference in my drafting. I can’t believe how many words are in your draft of book 1!
Yay!! I hope it goes well for you!
I agree that this plotting technique seems really helpful for series with multiple characters. I'll try this out later around Nov/Dec.
Exciting!!
This is such an interesting (but simple) way to outline. I've tried using beat sheets, and they just don't work for me, so maybe this would be a good one to try.
I know people rave about beat sheets but those have never really worked for me so maybe this would work well for you!
I watched your video from 2019 yesterday, and wanted to try it, but didn’t really understand the columns and stuff, but this video helped me understand it a bit more
Ok good! The video from 2019 was one of my first youtube videos so it wasn't super well explained, so I'm glad this one helped explain it better!
How do you plot your subplots? I’m plotting my book right now but I can’t figure out how I should plot out my subplots.
This method helped me with that with the columns on the further right, just things in other subplots I wanted to happen roughly in what chapter
This seems like a great outlining method for series! It’s probably a little much for me as my YA contemporaries are all stand-alone books (thus far), but definitely something I would try if I was writing something that required more intensive plotting.
Do you outline for your YA contemporaries or do you pants them?
@@SaraLubratt I outline. I have a hodgepodge of systems that work for me. My first step is to create the formatting of the book in Scrivener, then I create scenes - I typically start with one for every 1000 words (though the scenes often get broken-up differently throughout the editing process). And then write a sentence or two about what is happening in each scene. So for NaNo for example I started with 50 scene cards with a few sentences on each to lead me through the drafting process.
@@RellyMoring Oh that sounds so cool! I've never heard of that method before!
@@SaraLubratt I made it up as I went to be honest lol. Seems to work well for me though!
@@RellyMoring I think you should make it an official thing! Have you made a video about it because I think it would do well!
You’ve inspired me to try this to take draft one of my whip to draft two! Thanks :)
Yay!! It worked really well for me when I used it to reverse outline book one. You got this!
I used this method immediately after watching your as well as Kate Caveigh's video regarding this writing method for my NaNoWriMo project as well as for my first book in my 5 book fantasy series. As a matter of fact, I found your as well as Kate's channel only after watching those videos (I am a huge Harry Potter fan and/was a JK Rowling fan. In fact, if not for JK Rowling and the Harry Potter series, I don't think I would have ever gotten into writing, so no complains)
Oh that's so cool you found our channels from these videos, thanks for sharing that!
This video was great! I'm planning a fantasy series as well and my outlining process is very similar to this like I really only see a few things about my outlining process that are different from this. I totally want to try color coding though because it seems to work for you! I'm curious as to how long your chapters are because they seem very long but I remember you on a live stream saying your chapters are short so I'm curious as to how long they really are. Great video:)
Thanks Gio! My chapter lengths have gotten longer through drafts but draft 1 they were quite short or very long and now on draft 3 they are much more consistent in length. I'm not sure how many words because I don't have it in front of me right now but most are between 4 and 6 pages in 1.15 spacing on a Word Document.
Really sounds like something I should try to get a better overview of my plot/ plot points. Thanks for making the video!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I found it super beneficial and hope you do too if you choose to give it a shot!
I think I'd be down to try this outlining method for when I rewrite my books into my series. I tend to plot and pants so I guess I'm a plantser.
That's so exciting Kenan! I recommend trying this method!
Yay! Looks like such an interesting outlining method :D
It seems to help me keep everything straight!
Does project DE book 1 follow your outline exactly? Also love the color coding!
It has changed a bit since draft one but draft one did follow this outline very closely! But I did make the outline when I was 216,000 words into the story but using this method helped me find the ending of the first book!
@@SaraLubratt ah ok. Interesting very interesting
I will try this method but instead of chapters I'm using 3 act story structure beats as a timeline. With 3-4 pov's and 3 manor plots throughout the whole series the beats will fall in different places
And my (half plotter half) pantser mind can't figure out the beats when I just free wrote the first book
I definitely need to try this method, at least for my second draft.
I found it so helpful in clearing my head and refocusing! I hope it works well for you!
Lol this makes me want to use this method but it seems so daunting lol I might have to attempt it for my fantasy novel I have waiting in the wings.
I think it's a lot easier than it looks!
Will you do a PART THREE? (that's just a joke but that would be amazing)
Lol I probably will when I get to book 2 😂
I am covetous of your organization skills. I think this might be a good outlining method to try for my next project, whatever that is. Great job Sara. Maybe it's the pancakes that powered your productivity so well. Pancakes are a super food? yes I think so
Hahaha omg pancakes are a superfood, that's what the scientists need to be talking about, not those blueberries and acai. If you are looking to try a new outlining method for your next writing endeavor, I suggest giving this one a shot!
Using this method right now while watching the video, not least because I am lost at sea over a current chapter, and the end point for my WIP. I really enjoyed seeing how your ideas for Books 2 and 3 developed as a result of this outlining method. It definitely seems as though this works for multi-POV stories. I wonder why the prominence of certain POVs have changed in the subsequent books. Perhaps you needed to write the first 1 before realising their story wasn't over? Great video!
That's awesome! I hope that trying this method out helped you discover some things about your story!
Yeah I'm not sure why the prominence of the POVs shifted but I'm just along for the ride!
I’m a pantser, but I “back plan” once first draft is complete. It’s a little like this but I’m not as organised as using a spreadsheet 😂 I just make a TON of notes on scrivener, hand-draw a kind of flowchart with what happens in every scene (which I call a skeleton plot/draft) and try to make it all somehow make sense
Oh wow that sounds complex! But it sounds great!
This is really technical. I like it.
:)
Is the book you were working on published? I'd love to read it!
Not quite yet but I'm working on it and keeping people updated!
What does DE stand for? I remember CBH but I can never find where you say DE 😭
Hahaha I'm so sorry but I've never said what DE means (yet)! I'm hoping to wait until it has a real title and then I can share what it meant!
i'm curious about why and how you break your book into parts according to your pov's. i don't think i've ever seen this before
Do you mean breaking my book into different columns for characters and subplots or saying "part 1" for chapter chunks?
@@SaraLubratt not about the outline, about the drafting. i often hear you saying about how the book spend some time on a pov, and then changes, spending some more on another one. i just thought it was interesting bc most of the books i read
intersperse the pov, instead of spending a long time on one and then repeting!
@@Диана-я5э1к Ok I understand what you're saying now, thanks for clearing that up. I wrote the first book by writing each point of view by themselves because I wanted to make sure that each POV makes sense on it's own and could be a strong story on its own to ensure that after draft two when I put the POVs together that the story was stronger because each of the POVs were strong on their own. So now it reads like a regular book with alternating POVs for each chapter or so but when I drafted it, I drafted them separately. Does that make sense?
@@SaraLubratt Ohh, i get it! That's really interesting and pretty smart too! Thank u for explaining :)
Hey Sara...I havent started writing anything till yet (exept my assignments)..
My question was is it possible for any human to imagine like JK ROWLING and put words to that??
❤❤
Edit : You look cute👀
I think her thought process was interesting to explore!
What app you using for plot gridding?
Excel
@@SaraLubratt I thought so. So yesturday downloaded a free plot greed. An hour ago downloaded the free Canva app for plots.
I'm using the Plotgrid app inspired by the writer of Harry Potter. My Q is. How to split pages from one page to start a new. And, how to add on chapters. The thing is, when writing I like to see separate sheets. Otherwise how do know when you've from one page to another?
@@SaraLubratt I'm now using the plotgrid app. Does it have a automatic page number you can click on. So you can see where one page ends and another starts? Also how to add on Chapters. As this is a free app.
when ever i am getting really bad gender dysphoria as a closeted genderfluid whos mom just told them that they cant cut their hair anymroe the only thing that does not make me dysphoric i come to your chanel or the try guys
thanks
I'm so sorry to hear that. If you ever need to talk about anything, please know I'm here. I'm glad you come to my channel when you seek distraction and comfort. I can't imagine how difficult that is but you are who you are and you need to be true to yourself more than anything else. Please know I'll be sending thoughts and positivity your way.
@@SaraLubratt thank you!
I don’t admire JK Rowling’s views but I admire what she has done and how she put a smile on millions around
I agree. I wish she wouldn't have said some of the things she said but I really enjoy HP and I found this outlining she used to be very helpful
@@SaraLubratt Absolutely, really enjoyed the video btw. Very helpful. I am writing my own book as well. So thank you this really means a lot. Keep up with the great content 😊
@@georgeskate78 Thank you! Happy writing!
Truth has become very unpopular among some people these days. Doesn't change that it is the truth though.