Progress update and how I do outlines

Hey everyone,

As you might have seen on the main page, the outline has reached 100%. So I wanted to do a quick update on this and share some info on my process on doing an outline for a chapter.

I start off with looking at the end goal of this chapter. Where does the main character have to be at the end of the chapter and where is the character now? From there I start to roughly plot a course for the chapter and separate it into sections. In the case of chapter 2, it is separated into 3 sections. Each section can be of different length depending on how much it needs.

As a next step I consider everything that has happened before,and how it might contribute to the chapter at hand. For example: How do the endings from chapter 1 affect chapter 2? Will they change completely how chapter 2 goes, or just affect the beginning of the chapter?

Following this, I start to figure out what locations are needed for this chapter. Looking at the end of chapter 1, the dormitory will definitely be one of the locations that are relevant for me when doing the actual writing.

After this, I tend to check the outline of the characters, to see what is reasonable for them to do. How would they react? What would they do depending on the circumstance? This is still on a rough basis, so that I can better outline the chapter.

Next step is I write what happens in each section in detail, meaning I write out the flow. This does not include the actual dialog, but it shows me where the story will go. As this is a branching story it also shows me what branches are there going to be. In this step the whole chapter takes its form, and this will then be my guide in writing.

After all of the steps above, I then have a clearer picture on what this chapter is about, where I want it to go and  can start the writing process.

One important thing for me when outlining is, that while doing the actual writing, stuff can get added to the story, if the story needs it. Outlining covers most bases but there is always the possibility of coming up with ideas while doing the actual writing.

I hope this gave you some good insight on how I do outlines.

Next step for me is now to do all the actual writing, and once that is done,  I will move on to rendering all CGs. The reason for that is, that sometimes I jump back to earlier scenes while writing and change them a bit because it fits the story better. Doing the Cgs before, would mean I did them for nothing, or I have to see if I can fit them somewhere else.

See you in the next devlog.