October was very stressful in a lot of ways. I knew it would be, but it took its punches and didn’t pull any. So very lean month as far as writing is concerned.

Dungeons & Dragons: Bard Campaign - Just because it’s more personal and low-priority than other projects, and it involves the involvement of others, this will be the last regular update on this campaign.

D&D Single Adventure - I have two concepts I’m mulling over and trying to pick which one I want to be my first focus. I think I know which, I just need to do it.
Criminal from Birth sequel - Still with editor.

LitRPG book (working title Subscription Life) - Chugging along and still enjoying! Not a lot to say other than the outlining is progressing.
Current chapters in Draft Point Five: 20 (up 2 from last month)
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I’ve also gotten blog posts and writing exercises done, and I’ve got something new coming for all subscribers you’ll see starting later this month!

For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. It was intended as a challenge to writers to write a 50,000-word first draft of a novel in 30 days, specifically in the month of November. That’s 1,667 words a day, if you average it out between the 30 days.

I am not here to discuss the goods or bads of NaNoWriMo, nor to discuss any scandals around its organizers or anything like that. It’s over now, and it was what it was at the time.

This blog post is simply for me to put out my experiences with it, what I took from it, and so on. Any opinions and experiences are my own. I will say upfront that I don’t participate any longer and haven’t for years, but I think you’ll understand why by the end of the post.

I first learned about it in the summer of 2009 and decided I was going to go for it. Knowing my writing habits and tendencies at the time, I knew right away that the word count wouldn’t be the challenge; finishing a story would be. At the time, my finished/unfinished ratio of projects was awful. I did (and still often do) struggle with around the 2/3 - 3/5 sections of writing. I’m great at buildup and setup, and I’m not bad at climaxes, either. But the last push to story crux and the denouement are some of my weaker parts of stories. At the time, I was pretty purely a pantser. That is, I just wrote by the seat of my pants. It wasn’t so much that I wrote myself into corners as I lost interest trying to solve problems rather than cause more.

So I knew going into fall and eventually November that I needed a plan. I needed to try something I hadn’t done before: outlining a project. I would need a map so I didn’t write like 37,000 words and then peter out because I was bored and didn’t know where to go. No, I needed to know where I was going up front.

Long story short, now I’m a huge supporter of outlining. I still allow myself a fair amount of pantsing while doing the writing, but that’s details. I’ve already done a 3-post discourse on my outlining process as it is now, 16 years later, if you’re interested.

Outlining Post 1
Outlining Post 2
Outlining Post 3

Suffice it to say, I’m currently using that method right now, working on the outline for my LitRPG novel, working title Subscription Life.
I digress.

Over the course of the late summer and early fall, I outlined a novel. Come November 1, I started writing it.

I hit the 50,000 word mark on November 9th.

I’m not kidding. I remember it quite vividly, even now. I also recall that there were 3 days I didn’t write at all. I legitimately wrote 50,000 words in 6 actual days. There was still wrapping up to do, some outline left, and I did end up finishing the novel in whole.

That novel was my first published one, Empeddigo. And oh, how I do cringe thinking about it now, but that’s the way with early works. I revised and published it the following year and was poised to NaNo again in 2010.

Over the course of the next couple years, I was a NaNo fiend. I even did NEpMo, which was a random challenge I found in the same vein. That one was to write a 5,000-line epic poem in the month of May. Pretty sure I did that in 2010 as well. That was my second book, The Trials of Hallac. Also pretty cringe, but what are you going to do?

So through 2010, 2011, and 2012 for sure, a lot of my writing life revolved around NaNoWriMo. I went to local write-ins and loved them. The atmosphere was always great, writing sprints were a fun mini-challenge, and it was great to be surrounded by other writers. We’d talk about our projects, hover over our keyboards side by side, and got to know each other a little.
But foremost, it was about the word count.

And that was where it became a problem for me.

I’m VERY driven by numbers, in a lot of ways like I am driven by words. Math is a game. Numbers and words are both toys I use in different ways, but damn do I obsess about them. My drive became in getting higher word counts faster. I made the first week of November a regular staycation so I could just write. I made a big pot of chili the last day or two of October and lived off that while I secluded myself to knock out thousands of words. I strained to break 20,000 words on NOVEMBER FIRST. Never quite made it, but I got close a few times. 10k word days were no stranger to me.

I believe one year, I actually finished NaNo on like day 5. But it got worse. At least twice, I DOUBLE NaNo’d, as they say. Meaning I wrote 100,000 words in 30 days. I even went for a triple NaNo but ended up running out of material. I finished the book draft.

In general, I wouldn’t think such a thing was a problem. I was eating and taking care of hygiene. I went to work on time, did my job, and took care of life outside the word processor.

But I eventually came to the realization that while yes, I was cranking out words like I was running out of time, they weren’t good words. Sure, that’s what editing is for. But damn, was I paring down a LOT. Tons of fluff, unneeded description, rehashing of the same thought or idea, repeated description, meandering conversation. Yes, I know I just did exactly that in the list of things. That’s the point.

I made all those things in search of that ridiculous word count.

I was focused purely on quantity, not on quality.

I could do better, I decided. And that’s when I realized I’d gotten everything I could out of NaNoWriMo. It was great reason to write, but there were also a lot of people who wouldn’t write anything UNLESS it was November, and that wasn’t the best practice. All the wrong lessons there.

I recognized fatigue in myself after that frantic writing, too. Often, I didn’t write another word until the January after, or maybe even February. That was no way to practice a craft.

So I absolutely think there is value in writing challenges like NaNoWriMo. I learned a lot about writing, my own writing tendencies and habits, and how I can function under stress and deadlines. And I did make some amazing words in all that fluff. There was just a lot of the fluff that had to be pulled away. It was the quality I wanted, and if I focused on that, there was no way to hit NaNo for me without being even more stressed. I learned a lot from NaNo, took what I learned, and let it go.
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I used to be a guy who did NaNoWriMo. I outgrew it, and that’s fine. 

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while, and I suppose it’s finally time to do it. I’m sure I won’t express the complexities of my opinion well here, so I have to ask for some grace. Also, I want to point out that my opinions are my own, and I’m a flawed person just like everyone else. I cannot and do not think of everything, so I’m sure there are plenty of nuances of this subject that I am ignorant of.

That all said, here’s my thoughts on AI, especially with regards to writing/creativity in general.
It has a place, but generally speaking, I do not think it is art. That goes for AI-written words and AI images.

I don’t want to turn this into a bitter discourse about how so much energy and water are wasted stealing words and art made by actual people, though that is a major concern of mine. It’s cruelty spawned by capitalism and the self-destructive nature of humanity.

There are applications of AI that I am floored by. The possibility of it helping do things like identify cancer early.

Most of my problems with AI are really problems with capitalist applications. Maybe it can be attributed to my lifelong love of science-fiction. I’ve seen and read so many stories of it being used for altruist things: assisting people in everyday chores and even critical medical or scientific analysis.

My gripes are really those of any creative: our work is being stolen, and soulless derivatives are flooding the world instead. It’s not how we’re supposed to live.

What’s even worse is that people like myself are having our written words and artworks judged as being AI-generated when that’s completely untrue.

I know I’m really only repeating a lot of things that have already been said on the subject, by people much more eloquent than I am.
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More than anything, I want to make it clear that I do not use AI in my works in any capacity. Not for writing, plotting, editing, polishing, cover art, or any other part of my processes. And I never intend to.

Ah, the writing version of the chicken or the egg question, huh? Which one spouts in me first, the characters or the plot? I can answer this in one word:
Plot.
But if I left it there, it wouldn’t be much of a post, would it?
So let me delve into it a little. I kind of tangentially touched on this sort of thing a little when discussing my outlining process, but not in any significant way. I really only discussed coming up with significant story points for plot and characters, as a way to help mesh all the arcs and plot points into a cohesive whole.
I would say that 90% of the time, plot is what strikes me first. Ideas tend to be “what if THIS situation?” And that’s what spawns action from me. It’s usually one of two things that gets the idea into my head: either the initial plot hook or the crux of the conflict. For my current main project (working title Subscription Life), the plot is absolutely what sparked the idea. Had nothing to do with characters. That said, once I started creating the characters to go into the story, the plot ideas molded and reformed some to fit the people that would be in the world of the book.
That’s honestly pretty much how it goes for me. The little notebook I have where I jot down ideas is predominantly plot-hook type ideas. “World where,” type premises, or the basic description of a situation. Sometimes, it might even be something as simple as a line of dialogue or idea for a cool location. Sometimes, it’s elements of worldbuilding that strike me first. I guess in some ways, you could count that as a character, if the world is particularly central to the conflict of the story.
On those occasions that the character is the main inspiration for me, though, it’s pretty much never in a way that really makes the character a formed being, so to speak. It’s flighty, and more often a thought like, “the one person in the world who” kind of idea.
More often, though, the plot idea comes first, followed pretty quickly by the character idea. Like in Starsigns, the concept of a culture where your whole life’s path is determined at a fortune telling was immediately followed by the “what about the person who doesn’t have a fate?”
The whole book sprang from that.
Since it’s my current project, a little deeper insight on this subject as it pertains to that specific project. It might interest you to know that my main protagonist was the last main character for me to actually figure out the plot arc for. To be totally honest, that actually scared me a bit. Once I had the basics of the plot arc, I formed my main team of characters: the protagonist and a trio of friends. The three friends’ character arcs came about really easily for me. I won’t spoil things, but in short, I easily managed to basically flesh out the overarcing whole plot just from those three supporting characters’ story arcs.
Like, the whole story. The climax was set, some subplots and all had their place. But the protag was just… a shadow. A placeholder. How could that make sense? Was the spot I had for this Main Character (MC) really even necessary? If the whole plot made sense with just the three friends, shouldn’t one of them be the MC?
I almost went with that thought. Except for one thing that wouldn’t leave my mind: the trio’s stories lacked a real tie. The plot itself lacked its unifying factor:
The MC.
The story needed her. But if all the main conflicts were resolved with the characters I’d created, how did they need her?
They needed a spectator. But that’s boring. No one likes a protagonist who doesn’t take action. I’ve read books where the MC is reactive, even to the point of everything they do has the reasoning of “well, why not?” Those characters do nothing, offer nothing to the reader. There is no service they provide other than to be a vessel for the world to happen to them.
My protagonist couldn’t be this way. She needed more. She had to be at the center of things, actually taking action. She had to be the final piece of the final conflict, the bit that made all the difference and resolved everything. She had to be the ending.
Once I realized that and found out where she fit at the end, it was actually sort of easy to trace her path back to the beginning.
It was odd, honestly. I’ve never had an ending come together before everything else. But oddly enough, it’s the last half of this book that formed first. Normally, I get the first 2/3 easily and the last 1/3 is harder to plan.
I’m very eager to see how this project shakes out in the end. And I really hope this thought process persists to future projects. It’s actually made it really easy for me.

September has been a month of a lot of insanity in all realms: professional, personal, and beyond. I still got writing done, somehow.
Dungeons & Dragons: Bard Campaign - Session #7 fully planned. We haven’t played session 7 yet. In short, no update.
D&D Single Adventure - No progress, which hurts, but I said in July I was kind of waiting to see how modules run for me so I can get a better grip on what others would expect from a written adventure. I’m three sessions in with my first module one-shot coming at the end of October. I just need to get down to it and write.
Criminal from Birth sequel - Still with editor.
LitRPG book (working title Subscription Life) - Chugging along and still enjoying! Not a lot to say other than the outlining is progressing.
Current chapters in Draft Point Five: 18 (up 10 from last month)
New Short Story (My Stories) - Same as last month. I got some work done on it, but not enough.
I also did write a handful of future blog posts (trying to get and stay ahead) and started on the 10-minute writing exercises. I’ve done three of those already.

I wasn’t wrong about August being a huge change. With the full-time job again and all, time is a crunch, but the great thing is that I do get some time to write there if the shop’s dead and I’ve gotten my inventory projects done for the day. So there has been progress!
Dungeons & Dragons: Bard Campaign - Session #7 fully planned. No new update. We haven’t played session 7 yet. In short, no update.
D&D Single Adventure - No progress, which hurts, but I said last month I was kind of waiting to see how modules run for me so I can get a better grip on what others would expect from a written adventure. My first session is behind me now and the second comes up tomorrow, so I’m getting that exposure I’ve been wanting.
Criminal from Birth sequel - Guess what! I finished the second draft pretty quickly into August! It’s currently with my editor!
LitRPG book (working title Subscription Life) - I am getting SO FREAKING EXCITED about this project. I’ve been through a main overarcing outline, as well as 7-pointed the character arcs of 4 main characters (1 protagonist and 3 supporting characters including a secondary antagonist), and I’m into my full outline now, which is my Draft Point Five that I’ve mentioned before in my outlining series of blog posts. I have a long way to go, but I have a strong sense of the ending of this book, which is a first for me. Not just the actual end, but the climax. That’s not normally something I have figured well. But right now, it’s the details of the first half of the book that are sparse. I have an easy time building up, so I’m really hoping this will all go smoothly!
Current chapters in Draft Point Five: 8
New Short Story (My Stories) - Same as last month. I got some work done on it, but not enough. I kinda got obsessed with Subscription Life.
I did get one writing prompt done in August. Not as much as I wanted, but I also did pick another I plan to write, so there’s that. I need to do more exercises, like I said last month. In fact, I've done one already for today's Patron post!

I’ve been writing for a long time. It was in sixth grade that I remember first really getting into words, so that was around age 11 for me. Seventh grade was when I got really serious about it, and in the thirty years since then, I’ve tried a fair few technologies. I’ll briefly talk my history, but the bulk of this post will be about my current uses.
So back in the 90s (ow), I was just a kid/preteen, so I was really just using pen and paper. I might get a chance to type up something on a basic word processor like Microsoft Word, but it was handwritten all the way. I’m pretty sure most if not all of my writing is long since trashed by now, which sucks, but it’s fine.
By the time I went to college in the early 2000s, I had my own desktop computer, and I switched fully to word processors. That would have been Microsoft Word again, and I was on that for quite some time.
When I graduated college and moved into the workforce, I did a lot more writing in simple word docs, like Word Pad and even in an email browser. Probably not my smartest moves, but in downtime at work, I’d write on my work computer and email myself whatever I’d written. By then, I’d discovered WordPerfect and got very attached to it. I think the only reason I had that was because I’d gotten a new laptop and Microsoft Office suite was unreasonably expensive and I wasn’t needing it, so WordPerfect became my go-to. Again, that lasted a few years.
Then things changed.
This would have been… 2009. It’s hard to say when, honestly, but it was somewhere in that summer or MAYBE early autumn, that I started doing NaNoWriMo. I’m sure I’ll talk about that sometime in another post, but the point is I started seriously outlining and needed tools to better manage that planning. It was also around that time that Groupon started, and I was in that “searching for deals” mindset.
Enter some sort of promotion for like 75% off Scrivener software.
I bought like 3 licenses at the time, thinking that it would last me my next three computers. This program looked like everything I needed.
I was correct, which was great. I still use Scrivener to this day, and I’ll talk about that in a moment. What’s funny is that that first license lasted me a VERY long time. After a few years, I finally did upgrade computers, but when I went to activate my second license key on the new laptop, it didn’t work. Cue contacting support. Idiot me didn’t actually properly redeem the codes I’d purchased, so I was out those other two license keys. Not a ton of money, and long past time to be able to do anything about it, but the great news was Scrivener’s license keys are for HOUSEHOLD/LIFETIME. I only ever needed the one. I could put Scrivener on multiple computers of my own so long as I was primary user/owner, and anyone else in my household are the users.
Well, my cats don’t know how to type, but it’s perfect for little old me.
I still have the support email saved with all my info, so I should never have to worry again. Apparently this license/computer switch happened in early 2019.
So yes, I still use Scrivener as my primary writing software. In fact, I’m typing in Scrivener now. All of my novels published to date have been written in Scrivener. I organize my blog posts in it. I organize my short stories in it. When I was running The Melting Potcast, everything was organized in Scrivener.
Oddly enough though, my Dungeons & Dragons work is organized in Obsidian Notes. I bought a single license for that for D&D, but long term, I might end up just putting D&D in Scrivener too. Time will tell. But Scrivener is definitely my go-to word processor and main writing software. Love it.
As for HOW I use Scrivener… honestly, it’s pretty basic. Folders and files. I don’t really cross-reference or link things in it, but I probably should. For a good decade and a half now, I know I’ve been underutilizing what this software can do. But I’ve been very happy with it.
I’ll say right now that I’m not a paid promoter for Scrivener. I’ve just been a user for a long time. It’s inexpensive and a great tool. If you’re interested, here’s their pricing page.
As a side note, I'm still on the original Scrivener, which stopped getting updates a few years ago. Scrivener 3 is the current supported version.
https://www.literatureandlatte.com/store/scrivener

July did not mess around, and August is about to get hectic, but I'm still afloat. I feel like I really worked on making decent use of my time this month. Anyway, here's what's up:
Dungeons & Dragons: Bard Campaign - Session #7 fully planned. No new update. We haven’t played session 7 yet. In short, no update.
D&D Single Adventure - No progress, which hurts, but I'm prepping for my first pro DMing session. I think once I start seeing how modules really work, I'll be better set up to really write my own.
Criminal from Birth sequel - This was where most of my effort went. I got a good deal of time spent on this, all things considered. Second Draft Status: 35 of 37 chapters edited. (5 since last update.) Only two left! Then it's off to my editor. Third draft will be once they're done with it.
LitRPG book (working title Subscription: Life) - Bare bones outline is pretty well done, but there will be a good bit more detail to add as I start developing characters. The prologue is actually already a paragraph long, so there are words to this project. The meat of the story is going to need to be more outlined. The prologue is solid enough for me to have started writing, so I'm thrilled!
New Short Story (My Stories) - I got some work done on it this month! Really trying to finish this one so I can share it, but I didn't quite make it this month.

I need to make some short writing exercises happen. It's been a bit.

A month to write wherever I want, huh? What’s funny is I don’t necessarily dream of writing in other places, or fantasizing about my ideal writing place. I’m such a creature of habit and disassociation that I can write anywhere, as long as I have my writing file in front of me. Laptop, desktop, doesn’t matter. I just need a word file.

Hell, I’ve written by sending myself emails before. I’ve also written bits and pieces in the bathroom on my phone. Frankly, I need to start doing that again.

But that’s beside the point.

The point for me is that I’m not overly concerned about where I write. For a lot of people, the expected answers will be places like:

• Beaches, Mountains, Riversides - wherever a nature view will suit their temperament.
• Museums, Art Galleries - where inspiration is only a few steps away.
• Coffee Houses/Cafes, Busy Plazas, Tourist Locations - where people-watching is abundant
• Totally Secluded Place - where there are zero distractions

I totally see the draw of all the usual answers, and to be fair, my gut response is going to be in that first and fourth category. Probably a secluded mountain cabin with a view. Maybe a stream nearby, of possible.

While I would absolutely love being in that kind of place and situation, assuming my needs would be met for a month via grocery delivery or whatever, I don’t feel like it would do anything for my writing. Sure, I would revel in being steps away from a gorgeous view, but like I said, my writing happens wherever I am, regardless of location.

The biggest draw about this question for me is the promise of a month to just write. The time is what I need, not an ideal location. That would make the biggest difference. Frankly, being in a place I really want to be might be more of a distraction, at least at first until I got used to being where I was.

I guess what I’m saying through all this is that I’m not one of those creatives who has specific wants or needs, or who dreams about certain atmosphere for that ideal creative juice flow. Some people have a routine to get their brains in gear, and that’s fine. The point is to do the making. 

For me, can I just have a fully all-expenses paid month at home, complete with housekeeping and a good cook, so I can focus on writing? 

Thanks!

P. S. - I mean, I’ll take that month in a mountain cabin with good weather and a view if the offer is on the table. Thanks again!

This is the final part of my series of posts on my outline process. I call this Draft Point Five, because by the end, I end up with a thorough map to my story that can function as a sort of half-first draft. Less an outline, more of a sketch.

Anyway, so what we’ve ended up with after the last post is a whole lot of bullet points detailing the arcs of the main plot and probably a lot of characters. These bullet points have been organized into a comprehensive road map of the plot. Now we’re going to flesh things out a bit, make this road map a whole lot better. If our bullet points are the basic directions, we’re going to turn this into a full live-GPS tracking, to keep with that metaphor.

For an example of how this grows, we’ll use an old outline I was working on for a YA dystopia novel I’ll probably never finish. It’ll at least offer some insight into the process.

For this book, I ended up with this for my 7-point outline:

Hook- July 19. Mal's sister leaves him to go to the institution as she's supposed to. It's time for her to have her ruling emotion removed. Mal is now left completely alone, at age 14.

PT1- Mal's tracker goes off (on May 2), marking him as one day truant. But it shouldn't go off for another year. He runs. He's caught and is taken to the institution.

P1- Maybe having Anticipation gone isn't so bad... until he ends up in danger, perhaps in a physical aptitude exercise. Probably a situation involving Avis, where she gets the better of him. Badness in their rivalry. Really sucks to have it removed.
MP- You know what, if they're going to make me an adult a year early, then son of a gun, I'm going to be one. Accepts he can't stop what they did to him. No escaping, so can only move forward.
P2- Assignments disappear- all that's left are military and ONE other posting.

PT2- Learns he's had not one, but 2 emotions removed, Anticipation and Fear. Suspects Lachlan, lowest point. Mal depressed, nothing is going right. Badness with Avis, Baron, Joy, Lachlan, etc. Not having Fear ends up saving the day. DETAILS!

Res- Has to have something to do with anticipation. Maybe the last line of the novel is "In just a few more months, my year will be up and I'll get my first assignment. I'll be free of Dr. Wilkinson then. Four months. I can wait." Don't have him reach his next birthday yet. The paperwork/ policy change that makes him stay at the institution for another year needs to be the inciting incident of Book 2!

Yeah, this was planned to be the first book of a trilogy, and I was planning out the whole trilogy’s road map, hence the Book 2 reference. But anyway, this covered the basic plot. I did write out interpersonal conflicts between characters and expanded those a bit to make 3 to 7 conflict arc bullet points for those character conflicts. When assigning them to separate overall plot points, I color coded them for each character to make keeping track easier. So each of my 7 main points had a list of character points in them. I’d write them out with a number for that conflict’s order in its own arc.
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Then it’s a matter of logically trying to combine plot points into chapters. Keeping it to one or two major moments in a chapter outline keeps me grounded and moving forward, while keeping me from trying to cram too many things into one scene or section. The first eleven chapters, which was about a third of the finished plan. So this takes us roughly through PT1 and partway into the P1 area of our whole arc. 

Below is the text from above, lacking the color coding.
1- Mal tries to prove he's man enough to care for himself and fails. Some sort of stunt in front of sister and her friends, all a year older than him. Joy views [his failure] as him trying to escape being left alone, actually considers trying to dodge takers and not report when it's her time.

2- July 19. Mal's sister leaves him to go to the institution as she's supposed to. It's time for her to have her ruling emotion removed. Mal is now left completely alone, at age 14. Kirk falsifies Joy's results (unknown to her) to make Fear the one required to be removed.

3- World building- see the world through a suddenly-alone Mal's eyes. Suddenly pays more attention to what's going on, updates on the war, maybe hoping for glimpses of his parents. Mention of the McIlwains and/or Avis's birth parents. Keep sight on Anticipation, see his heightened susceptibility to it.

4- PT1- Mal's tracker goes off (on May 2), marking him as one day truant. But it shouldn't go off for another year. He runs. He's caught and is taken to the institution.

5- Arrives at the institution. Immediate teasing of Mal because he's "just a kid" and is definitely whining like one. Baron is a part of this, though a small part. When he appears at the institute, Joy views it again as a form of trying to remain dependent. Can she never be free of him? It's a double-edges sword for her and seems a bit of abandonment for him. He doesn't get the welcome from her he expects. Baron tries to get her attention before Mal ever shows us, so he's shunned when we first meet him. Then he learns Mal is her brother.

6- Begin physical training. Explanation of job board and expectation that all will be required to serve military at some point due to war efforts and must be in peak physical condition. Majority of military jobs are physical rather than administrative or technical, so they can expect to be fighting.

7- Assessment of emotions. Finds out his results- Anticipation, Joy, Trust, Surprise, Anger (After the events of Book 1, this moves up into the foremost slot.), Sadness, Disgust, Fear. Lachlan assigned as his counselor and releases these results to him. Only after Mal starts turning more to Lachlan, first as his counselor, does Joy start to see Lachlan as a threat.

8- Joy's emotion removal. Baron leaves Avis's company to befriend Mal because he wants to get closer to Joy.

9- Baron resents Lachlan's authority. She's called him down for things before, issues in group sessions that he disrupts. Avis undermines Lachlan in group and/or counsels others rather than telling them to seek an actual counselor. Becomes friends with Baron. Baron befriends Mal, but Mal's attempts to get sympathy and attention from her end up getting him shunned again. He realizes their relationship isn't what he thought. Who has more guts contest. (Baron and Avis)

10- Avis's emotion removal.

11- Baron's emotion removal. Baron distrusts Kirk for being authority. Just doesn't like him.
Pay special attention to chapters 5 and 9. Those in particular have multiple colors (I hope I can maintain that in the online form - I did via a snapshot so yay!) showing where character bullet points overlapped. Those are points of greater tension, just by nature of having more colors in them, so it’s a bit easy to tell at a glance if something is going to be complicated or high emotion. Don’t want to make things too complex all the time, right?

For this particular project, that’s as far as I went in outlining. But in the years since I’ve worked on this, my outlines have gotten even more to a half-draft situation. Now, I’ll usually take those colorful charts (I call them sprinkle charts because they end up so vibrant they make me think of cake sprinkles) and expand a bit further for each chapter. If I come up with a snippet of conversation or description that might be important, I’ll include that as well. For example, the first chapter of a recently-back-burnered project looks like this at this final draft stage:

Crafting Final exam
In preparation for their enchantment assessment, which will pave the way for their pairings and the rest of their lives, each student must make an item to be used in those assessments. It need not be overly fancy or finely made. This is only a tiny part of the test. Function, sturdiness, etc is more important than appearance or decoration. These newly-made items will be gathered and become part of the final enchantment assessment.

No, you will not see the item you made in your assessment. Items will be drawn randomly, but yours will be removed if it happens to be drawn. Draws are done by the staff before the test, so it is 100% random. So no trying to prime something or pre-enchant it in hopes to give yourself an edge, or to sabotage someone specific. You’re more likely to help or harm someone unintended if you do such.

Whitt is a jeweler and makes some sort of pendant. No gems, simply cast and carved. As such, he’s the first one finished, as others are trying to be more showy, making earrings (having to make a pair) or bracelets or full necklaces, or just anything that’s more time consuming and labor-intensive. Whitt walks out seeing [FRIEND] making an elaborate hair net, but his work is all the gem captures with wire. The chain (the same chain he used to hang his pendant) is freely available to use.

This already is longer, for just being one chapter. It’s roughly as long as the whole first 5 chapters of the other example’s sprinkle chart. It’s got background situational details for me to reference, rules for the world so I’m set up well in context, and character information. I even use my [NOTE TO SELF] trick, where I don’t have a detail at the moment, so I just put in brackets in all caps what I need, so I can just move on and fill the blanks later. Brackets are easy to search for without getting extra results, since they’re rarely used in my fiction. In this case, I need a friend’s name. Until I can be bothered to name the friend, they are simply [FRIEND].

But what about chapter outlines later on, where I don’t need world setup details? Well, by then, we’re into the meat of the story. Those can get even longer! This is just a few chapters later in the same story.

6. The Pairing
Huge murmurs, uproar, etc. Friend is the one who blurts out so Whitt gets it. “Someone actually BOUGHT the top spot? That had to cost [Value]!”

That explains it. But no one knows who. Guard isn’t a noble surname. A bastard? Did someone seriously buy the spot for a BASTARD? Even prince Florent didn’t get his position advanced. He’s sitting around like 13 or 14 in a row.

Olivine stands up from her place in the crowd, looking a tiny bit sheepish, then seems to steel herself. In a clear voice, she states, “I choose Whithan Ramsey.”

Whitt’s stomach drops, but he stands. “Whithan Ramsey, Delver, Paired to Olivine Guard. Please proceed to the scribe. Second pairing selection. Borealis Gladthall.”

Whitt doesn’t manage to comprehend the sounds going on as Bori makes his choice (Nevi Miller). He makes his way to the scribe for the finalization, including the signing of their contract and the exchange of their gifts.

Olivine stares pointedly at the scribe, not at Whitt, and he wonders if he’s gotten someone who will see him as little more than a pet. When they are instructed to face one another and present each other with their gifts, Whitt realizes Olivine isn’t going to have any appreciation for the boyhood treasure he brought. Sure enough, she looks very confused, but says nothing. She presents him with [INDICATOR OF HER DESIRE FOR INDEPENDENCE] but he takes it as a sign that she sees him as property, or something similar. He’s a possession. A pet, at best. How much worse could it be?

Or this, which is from well later, in the P1 section of the outline.

22. Status Quo?
Meeting with Shepherd, called in because Wilde is returned (this needs to be quick. Did she come on the same train as Holloway?)

Holloway is also there for this. After they heard about how Whitt’s attempted poaching by Prince Clay, they insisted any formal action against Whitt, they be there to witness, so when Whitt and Olivine are called before Shepherd and Wilde, Holloway is there.

[PROF WILDE NEEDS TO BR BROUGHT IN SOON FOR CHASTISEMENT WHEN SHE RETURNS. SHE ACTUALLY ASSESSES LIV AND MAYBE REMEMBERS HER MOTHER, ALLOWS HER ACCESS TO THE STUDIO, BUT ONLY UNDER HER PERSONAL SUPERVISION.]

It’s in this whole bit that Holloway finds out that Whitt and Olivine figured out breaking objects intentionally, and they’re not the only ones. Nevi knows. Secrets don’t stay secret if more than one person knows about it. You, Whitt, HAD to know, as you’re directly part of the secret. But your crafter, and this… Nevi? Who else knows?

What about Holloway’s noble?

Once dismissed, Wilde actually tells Liv she’s eager to have her in studio. Another set of eyes, hands, and opinions are always welcome. This openness makes Whitt, Liv, AND Holloway uncomfortable.

Holloway tries to dismiss Liv, but Whitt needs to pull the same line Holloway did, something along the lines of “we’re in this together. Anything you say to me will reach her ears anyway. Save me a step.”

Holloway takes them to their office, which Whitt has never been to before. Needs to be stark, sterile, like no one ever goes there. No works in progress, no papers, notes, any of that. No reference books, art, plants, nothing. But Holloway at least looks marginally comfortable.

“I distinctly recall telling you not to inform anyone of the nature of our affinity.” Pause. “I’m assuming she knows everything.” Liv shoots back, “If I didn’t, I would certainly be asking now.”
Holloway blushes a bit at the foible, but recovers. “So how many other people have you been spreading this information to?”

Whitt says he figures his noble should be able to know his full abilities and limitations. It only makes sense. Doesn’t your noble know what you can and can’t do?

LEARN THE HORRIBLE FATE OF HOLLOWAY’S NOBLE. Incapacitated? Vegetable? Dead? What’s the deal here? Their noble has to be some sort of vegetable, being kept alive only by some specialized Tasked item that serves as life support. Also thinking maybe Holloway is in love with him/her/them?

So in short, Yes, Holloway’s noble knows, but only because they’ve told them while unconscious or incapacitated. Not like they can say or do anything about it. But I only told them after they could absolutely keep the secret.

Whitt - well, we’re not like that. We’re partners, even when we can both talk. You’re going to have to accept the fact that Olivine knows.
Holloway, clearly angry, dismisses them.
That could have gone better.

I map out ideas, brainstorming some. Ask myself questions that I’ll need to answer when I really write. I have bits of conversation to start off with, everything.

When outlines of chapters get to that size and level of detail, it becomes clearer why I call this stage Draft Point Five. An outline can easily get into the 10s of 1000s of words, which is comparable to a novella or children’s novel. Loads of info, and a very strong picture of the whole story overall.

But it’s doing this that helps me pinpoint places where I’ll get stuck or struggle. For me, that’s usually around the 70% part in a story, heading towards wrapping up. But rather than finding out that I’m stuck or need to rework something early on, after putting in dozens of hours and 50000 words, I’ve only put in maybe half a dozen hours and 12000 words. I can more easily rework things when I don’t have too much sunk into what turned out to be a problem. I can find and address issues with a purpose, rather than feeling overwhelmed with ALL THE CHANGES I’LL HAVE TO MAKE. I’ve set myself up for easier changes that won’t crush me later on.

This is so powerful for morale for me. It makes my first real drafts cleaner and easier. Once I do have a full working draft and sit down to write, each chapter is its own road map, with clear signs pointing me to the end goal.

That’s pretty much my outlining process all told. Early prep and problem-solving to save my sanity down the road. And I find I very much enjoy outlining now, as I get to discover more of the story up front and give myself things to look forward to, rather than it being a mystery with the lingering “Am I going to write myself into a corner?” dread that I so often ran into before I started outlining.
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I hope this is helpful, even a little. Find what works for you!