If you’re like me, then you’ve probably read hundreds of books on how to write amazing novels. You’ve nodded your head whenever a new epiphany lit up the light bulb above your head, and you highlighted every new idea you wanted to put to work in your own books. But chances are good you also forgot half those epiphanies and highlights in between reading those how-to books and sitting down to work on your own creations. That’s why workbooks can be such a fabulous tool for actually implementing all those important ideas in your writing.
As most of you know I am the author of the internationally published how-to books Outlining Your Novel and Structuring Your Novel. Over the years, I’ve been thrilled to hear from many of you who have used the principles in these books to realize your dreams of writing and publishing great books. I’ve also been tickled to hear that many of you have highlighted the heck out of the books and read them over and over–sometimes every time you start a new novel!
But that got me to thinking: Surely there’s a way to make it easier for us (yeah, I reference my own books too!) to remember all this stuff and put it into action when planning, writing, and revising our stories.
Introducing the Reader-Requested Outlining Your Novel Workbook and Structuring Your Novel Workbook
And then what should pop into my inbox but an email from reader Jim Berning who wondered if I had ever considered adapting Outlining Your Novel and Structuring Your Novel into workbooks.
My first thought? Duh! Why didn’t I think of that?
So with much thanks to Jim and many others who have helped see these books to fruition, I’m super-excited to be able to offer you the Outlining Your Novel Workbook and the Structuring Your Novel Workbook.
Outlining Your Novel showed you how to embrace outlines in a way that makes the writing process fun, inspiring, and easy. Structuring Your Novel showed you how to create stories with strong and compelling plot structure. Now it’s time to put those lessons to use! Containing hundreds of incisive questions and imagination-revving exercises, these accessible and streamlined workbooks will empower you to create powerful outlines, effective structures, and outstanding novels.
The Outlining Your Novel Workbook
Learn how to make your first draft easy!
Building upon the principles you’ve already learned, the Outlining Your Novel Workbook presents a guided approach to getting the bones of your story down on paper, identifying plot holes, and brainstorming exciting new possibilities.
It will show you how to:
- Create your own personalized outlining process
- Brainstorm premise and plot ideas
- Discover your characters
- Choose and create the right settings
- Organize your scenes
The Structuring Your Novel Workbook
Structuring Your Novel Workbook (affiliate link)
Discover the proven blueprint for stories that sell!
The Structuring Your Novel Workbook shows you how to write solid first drafts, identify and fix plot problems, and produce consistently good stories.
It will help you:
- Implement a strong three-act structure
- Time your acts and your plot points
- Unleash your unique and personal vision for your story
- Identify common structural weaknesses and flip them around into stunning strengths
- Eliminate saggy middles by discovering your story’s “centerpiece”
- And so much more!
Grab Your Copies and Start Outlining and Structuring Your Novel Today!
The workbooks are available in two formats. If you opt for the paperbacks, you can write your answers to the questions right into the books.
But I was also determined to offer them as e-books (Kindle and Epub), since I knew the digital versions would end up being a more cost-efficient option for many of you. The digital versions include all the same questions and exercises as the paperback format, allowing you to brainstorm and write your answers in a notebook or on the computer (which makes the workbook totally reusable!).
Grab your copies right now and start writing your best book today!
Win Your Own Copy!
Oh, what’s a book launch without prizes? You know me: I can’t resist the opportunity for a giveaway! For the rest of the week, you have the opportunity to win one of six print book bundles:
Grand Prize Winner: Outlining Your Novel, Structuring Your Novel, Outlining Your Novel Workbook, Structuring Your Novel Workbook, and Jane Eyre: Writer’s Digest Annotated Classic
Winner #2: Outlining Your Novel Workbook and Structuring Your Novel Workbook
Winner #3: Structuring Your Novel and Structuring Your Novel Workbook
Winner #4: Outlining Your Novel and Outlining Your Novel Workbook
Winner #5: Outlining Your Novel and Structuring Your Novel
Winner #6: Jane Eyre: The Writer’s Digest Annotated Classic and Dracula: The Writer’s Digest Annotated Classic
Top 10 Writing Posts of 2022
What Do You Want Me to Write About?
Top 10 Writing Posts of 2021
Merry Christmas, Wordplayers!
About K.M. Weiland | @KMWeiland
Best of luck! Looks like a great idea.
Oh my goodness!!!! I’ve been waiting for these to come out, and told myself I would splurge and buy them when they did. And I must say, you have perfect timing. I just wrote ‘FINIS’ on my first draft of my first novel yesterday, and was looking for the perfect way to celebrate! I’m excited to see how these can help with my next big project while I wait for my first draft to cool off before the first round of editing. =D Congratulations on the launch!
Really excited about the workbooks!
Timing is perfect. I’m just now trying to work through an outline for a novel that’s in a genre with which I am not comfortable. But I’m trying to stretch my wings and this would help me on every level.
I love giveaways so much!
I’m already a fan of the Structuring Your Novel book. Can’t wait to dig into the workbook!
Congrats and best of luck.
OMG I’m so excited! I’m already a huge fan of the books. Can’t wait ’til payday, maybe I can get my hands on the workbooks! Thanks for providing such awesome resources! 🙂
Structuring Your Novel book has its place on my desk. Your workbooks have arrived at the perfect time for my two stories flushing around in my brain simply waiting and pushing for organizational-know how on how to let them step through the door and do their things.
Hi. I’ve read Outlining Your Novel and attended a Structuring Your Novel webinar. The ideas are great and I’m sure workbooks will help make it easier. But it’s confusing to me how the two relate – do they work together, one after the other? Or is it more, choose the one that suits you best? In either case, best of luck with your launch.
They can stand alone, but ultimately the principles in both work hand in hand. Outlining Your Novel is more about brainstorming and organizing ideas. It covers broader story principles like discovering your characters and setting and figuring out your plot.
Structuring Your Novel is about the nitty-gritty of story, scene, and sentence structure.
If you plan to read both eventually, I recommend starting with Outlining, since it’s more foundational. But if you’re only going to read one, I recommend Structuring, since its principles are ultimately more crucial to successful storytelling.
I have your book Structuring Your Novel – it came highly recommended at my first writers’ conference last year. The workbook will be awesome! Being a newbie to the writing world, especially fiction, I need all the help I can get!
I like to work with a very vague outline when writing my novel and I’m always reminding myself to be open to the endless possibilities for the story and to not be afraid of the unconscious and the intuit nuances that make the novel special and unique. I used to force myself to stick to an outline in an exact manner and it crushed my creativity and more stories were lack luster but with the newfound freedom, I find my stories more compelling but I still need to work on getting with plotting and overall structure.
I’ve had a similar experience to Charlotte with my approach – I used to be a complete outliner, with every scene planned out ahead of time, and that helped me at first, but then I started to feel like my stories were losing some of that authenticity that comes from seat-of-the-pants writing. So I finally let myself loosen up, and now my favorite stories are the ones that I had vaguely planned in the big picture. That allowed me to be more free with the characters, letting them guide the plot more. And since I studied story structure so carefully early on in my writing, it has become somewhat intuitive for me, so I can write seat-of-the-pants while still having a decent first draft.
I’m so excited about the new workbooks! Even though I do a lot of “planning,” I really struggle with structure/outlining and have heard great things about these books.
Thank you for all your helpful posts! I’ve learned that I need to work extra-hard at plotting, and am always searching for ways to strengthen my plots.
Congrats on the launch of your workbooks!
This sounds great. The workbooks sound like a helpful addition.
Thank you! And the timing couldn’t be better for me personally.
So, how do we enter to win?
Sheryl
I love that you have made workbooks for these!!!
I saw this post in my inbox this morning and immediately went to Amazon to purchase the workbooks. These are EXACTLY what I need right now!
Oh my gosh, Katie. I’m SO excited for these workbooks! They’re at the top of my Christmas list :). Congrats on getting them out into the world!
I would love to win these notebooks. This blog is so resourceful. I use the Mindjets app to organize and outline my story ideas. Also, for character and scene inspirational photos, I use the Trello App.
I need to win this BIIIIGGG Time!!!!
Too weird!! I was just thinking yesterday how I would love to have a workbook version of Outlining My Novel, and here it is!! Can’t wait to get my own copy. But I hope I win!!!
That’s so exciting! I loved both books, and I can’t wait to see what the workbooks look like!
As a pantser, I am always looking for ways to improve my plotting. Characters can be difficult to rein in if you don’t have a plot “fence” to keep them in. So, I’ve been looking forward to these tools. Mercy knows I need them! Love the ePub/mobi idea, too. Extra thanks for those.
PS: I don’t tweet or fb, so don’t forget to enter me in the contest. 😉
I’m looking forward to seeing these workbooks and would love to win one, but I can’t seem to pull up the twitter address of my tweet for the entry form. I did tweet, @pengrinin. 🙂
The workbooks are great ideas. I have been reading many books to get different opinions on what will work for me and get me the best possible story/novel. These work books would be perfect to help me get myself organized and help me finish my first one.
The outlining book helped me make sense of an idea and turn it into a working story that’s nearly complete. I picked up tons of books to help me do that, and none of them provided the spark I needed until Outlining Your Novel. I thought I was a full-blown pantser, but that book helped me realize I’m a hybrid. I’m so excited for the workbook!
I’m excited for these! Mapping and structuring my story is not really a strong suit of mine! lol I am always character driven and want to learn to structure better!! 😀
Workbooks–great idea. Thanks for the giveaway too~
Thanks for offering such a wonderful giveaway!
Thanks for the opportunity to enter to win your fabulous books (I already own a couple of them). Congratulations too on your continued success. Great to see!
I’ve read both Outlining Your Novel and Structuring Your Novel, and I think these workbooks are one great way to apply that knowledge and aid me in the writing process. Thank you for these!
Love love your books and love the site!!
I’m still new to outlining, but I find what helped me most is to write down as much as I can of my sTory then try to Outline plot and character ach after I have a pretty good idea of where I’m going.
These workbooks make a lot of sense. I know many readers of the underlying books have agreed with with the process. But at the end many asked themselves, “Now What?” There’s their answer.
I’m not one for structuring—I usually let my readers take me on the adventure! But I do keep a “style guide” of my book to keep track of name spellings, and any changes I’ve made to my plot so I can go back and change certain scenes if necessary. I hear Scrivener has some good organization tips. I hope to hear more of your tips, though!
Congratulations on your launch(es)!
I have been looking forward to your workbooks. & very impressive detail.
Jan
Congratulations on the book launches!
Thanks for offering us all the chance to win copies in your giveaway. Good luck everyone!
I definitely think the idea of having the workbooks in digital format is great as they then do become reusable plus it will stop a certain husband from moaning about me having acquired yet more books!
The best way to outline a novel is to outline it by scenes as if you were creating a play, movie or drama of some kind because a novel is a drama of some kind. It’s the drama that often keeps us reading.
Congrats on the launch. And this is a great giveaway. Thanks.
I bought your two books on writing and they were very enlightening. The workbooks should be a good assist as I work my way through the first novel.
Congratulations.
Yay! This is exciting! I have been waiting for these workbooks 😀 I’m excited to get copies of these 😀 (hopefully soon)
and Thanks for the giveaway! Congrats on your launch of these books 😀
This is awesome news. Both will be on my shelf shortly. And thank you for being so considerate with a giveaway.
Fantastic. If I don’t win, I will still be buying! I literally just popped over here to let you know how useful I’ve been finding ‘Outline’. And I’m on my second read, too!
Ooo! These workbooks look like a wonderful addition to my budding novelist’s homeschool writing course. Thank you!
Wooo Hooo!!! Thank you so much K.M for creating these workbooks!!! Your other books Outlining Your Novel and Structuring Your Novel are awesome resources. Hope I win one of the prizes, but I will support your awesome work either way 🙂
These look really great!! Planning = not my forte.. I’ll definitely be picking up a copy after Christmas as a present to myself.
Great advice for writers. Thanks!
Great news! 😀
Wishing you all the best…! Congrats and look forward to your latest!
I’ve already bought your writing books, but it would be nice to get a copy of the workbooks. Thanks!
Looking forward to work with the workbooks 😉 Your book “Structuring your novel” was a great help so far! Thanks!
I’m just getting started, so this is perfect!
Great giveaway!
If the books are as well written as the summary, they’ll be fabulous! I felt as if you’d been spying on me as I read through the post, with the “if you’re like me…” LOL
I’m a combo outliner/discovery writer but I couldn’t have finished NaNo without your techniques! Thanks a bundle 🙂
Thanks for the giveaway!
“Share your best tricks for outlining and structuring your stories!”
I’m just an aspiring author, so I don’t really have any tricks…
My process involves blasting out basically an entire chapter that I have in my head (inspired by a variety of sources; sermons, movies, random experiences), saving it, and letting the story grow in my head. Sometimes I come back to it, sometimes I don’t. Every once in a while, I’ll make a bullet point of the main events, but that’s about it.
I’ve read a few how-to-outline books; still don’t have a set outline process that works just yet. 😛
Hope to win a prize pack!
God bless! 🙂
-CrazyRead
Side comment:
Does it matter if I use a different name to enter the giveaway than the one I’m using here? I wasn’t sure and wanted to clarify…
Nope, doesn’t make any difference at all. Good luck in the drawing!
Plotting workbooks are a brilliant idea, and there’s no one I’d rather see write them. Very excited to get my hands on these!
When I get stuck on a scene, I usually write out another scene to keep my juices flowing. Usually helps me to get unstuck.
I already have your books and am excite by the publication of the workbooks. Thanks for all your work.
Entered! (But don’t use Twitter so can’t do those entries, darn it…!) Money is tight right now so may have to put these books on my wish list, LOL.
“Share your best tricks for outlining and structuring your stories!” You’re kidding, right? 😉 I’ve never been an outliner or a plotter when writing, and I’ve been writing on-and-off for over 40 years (since 7th grade). I tend to start with an idea, a character, or a scene, and go from there. I will get an idea for a scene or a conversation and have to write it down, then as I’m working on a novel, I will plug that scene/conversation in where it should go.
Hmm…maybe that’s why I don’t have anything published…because I’m not structured… But right now am revising a novel for which I received a synopsis request well over a year ago.
I outline using your methods, complete with spiral notebooks and colored highlighters. Then I flesh out/research items highlighted and keep going until – the antagonist hijacks my story and I have to start all over again. That’s how it happened this time! Congrats on the workbooks!
Congratulations!
I have Structuring Your Novel as an ebook and it is fantastic. I have learned so much from it.
I am an outliner, but I know it is only the foundation for how the story may play out. I like to brainstorm ideas, different scenarios and to keep the perspective fresh, I like to look a the scene from different points of view. I like to have the story develop organically and not necessarily stick to the path of the initial outline.
I tend to use chapter heading for my outlines and I outline based on the chapter headings with sub-heading per section within each chapter. Loved your book on outlines though. It came in really useful for this typical pantser! 🙂
Exciting! This looks much more effective than my sticky note version of outlining.
This is all great news, Katie!! Congratulations on getting these really helpful products out and into peoples hands. 😀
This giveaway thing is amazing, I hope I win your books 🙂
I’m glad to see all the success you have with your books, you’re a great author and I hope you continue writing more books to help us with our novels or current projects. Thanks for all you’ve done for the writing community.
Ever since I found you (I’m not sure how or where) I’ve been absorbing all this knowledge you have to offer. I’ve co-written a series that’s been really well received and now I’m onto my own series, which is a much different process than jumping in with someone else, so your posts and advice have been super helpful. One thing I do when working on a new projects is start a new notebook. In it I sketch, put notes and ideas, and put everything else in there that helps me stay focused and relates to my story, like research, character images, sayings or random dialogue for later, and so on. That’s something that helps me get thoughts out of my head and in turn helps me remember and reference for later. It’s proving extremely helpful.
I’m always torn between setting up complex structures before writing, and pushing ahead with the narrative before locating a structure and revising to fit it. Hoping these prizes will help me out.
I love you blog! Thanks so much for the opportunity to win some wonderful books 🙂
This is awesome! I’ve read several of your novels and a lot of your blog posts, but have yet to dig into any of your writing craft books! My loss, I’m sure. Adding them to my list.
I loved reading both of your how to books, and I can’t wait to try out the workbook versions. This will be extremely helpful in keeping track of all the components of my novel. Thank you!
The books look wonderful! Thank you for all the help you offer to writers.
I loved the outlining book and would love to have a copy of the workbook, especially since it is digital. 🙂
Thanks for creating them!!!
I am really looking forward to reading these.
These get me pumped to start a new novel. Too bad I must rewrite, revise and edit two completed manuscripts before I’m allowed to even consider a new story.
Which means…the books will be here by the time the brainstorming begins. Yes!
I’m a pantser so I’ll be interested to see what this is all about
I’ve tried loglines for outlining, but I never got very far with them. Your workbooks look like they could be just the thing.
I’m looking forward to both workbooks, hopefully it will help with motivation too!
So exciting!
Will have to pick one of these up come payday.
Sounds great. I learned none of this in school, so it’ll be nice to have it all in once place
These look great! Congrats!! Can’t wait to see them!
Super excited for the workbooks!
Hi, I recently downloaded your Scrivener template. Looking forward to using it after NaNoWriMo to wrangle that rough draft into a novel. Here’s hoping I can win some books and workbooks to go with that template.
Happy noveling! Cheers!
I need an outline (with no fear of I deviate a little), an evocative playlist to get the words flowing, and Scrivener (not sure how my scattered, writer-brain functioned before this program)!
Thanks for hosting the giveaway, Katie!
The first time I was properly introduced to outline and structure was while I was surfing your blog. 🙂 I did some research and found a couple methods of outlining that I liked at first, but none of them seemed to work very well, in the end. Then one day, I stumbled upon an article that was full of pictures of famous author’s handwritten outlines. J.K. Rowling’s outline for the fifth book in the Harry Potter series caught my eye. It was simple and easy to understand, without leaving too much to chance. I tried outlining my next book in her style (about 6 months ago) and found that it worked really well.
I’ve read Structuring Your Novel, and really loved it. It helped me understand how to tell a story more effectively.
Ever since then, I’ve been dying to read Outlining Your Novel, because, even though I’ve found a method that works pretty well, I still could go a long way with outlining.
Thanks for the giveaway; it’s amazing!
Cheers,
Lizzie 🙂
I’m really looking forward to these workbooks.
I own Structuring Your Novel and would love to have the workbook.
I think the most helpful thing I’ve learned about outlining and structuring is you can’t rely on the history to be the main point of the book (I write historical fiction). Also, some parts of the Snowflake method have been very useful.
Thank you for doing the giveaway! These books look great!
My favorite structuring moment was probably reading your character arc series and using that to trace the strong and weak points in my own MC’s journey. A huge reassurance, and it kept me from questioning my whole project. I was on the right track and just needed a few tweaks.
As far as structuring, I have a basic idea of where I’m going. I generally plan out all the plots and then let the actual plot incidents come as fancy strikes. But I keep a big Word doc with inspiration, conversation, possible scenes. And I also back it up now and again!! Losing plans is almost worse than losing the writing. 🙂
Congratulations on this wonderful new release, Ms. Weiland! I can’t wait to start using the workbooks. Thank-you for all your hard work to help us fellow writers out.
~Schuyler
http://www.ladybibliophile.blogspot.com
These all sound great!! Cant wait to read them
Want to win! I keep telling people to follow. Because everything Weiland is AWESOME!
Congratulations to me! You can have a part in it too by the way.
I am finally on the downward sprint of my first ever novel’s first ever draft. Was making plans to make this occasion a festive to remember.
Now, I have found my way.
I have my teeths on that first prize of yours. If you don’t give that to me……
Well I will have to make my father do that 😉
Thank you for the opportunity and good luck to everyone who is participating.
A. Gulden
Thanks for the giveaway opportunity! One of my favorite tips for outlining pertains to characters. Sometimes I would find myself thinking of a minor character too long instead of paying closer attention to a major character. Then I got a tip to put my characters in a pyramid with the antagonist & protagonist being at the top point. When I began to see the layers of character importance to my story then I could work more efficiently while developing them. 🙂
Brilliant competition for some brilliant books! Very best wishes for the launch 🙂
I need to outline when it comes to past events in my book. I need to keep track of what happened in the past so it connects with the present in my book.
I’m working very hard on a major project. I would love to have your help via these books so that i don’t wander off into the underbrush of plotlessness.
I already have the books, but the workbooks look like a great tool for implementation.
I found out that somehow I can’t work with charts and the like when developing scenes and characters, so I look forward to trying a new approach.
Thanks for the giveaway I am always eager to learn more on outlining and structure.
I have purchased several of Katie’s books via the Kindle and they are well thought out and fun to read. Her Novel Writing guides are great as well. I have a couple of them as well. I think the workbooks will be fan freakin’ tastic.
Brewbaker
The books look fabulous! Congratulations on the release.
These look fantastic! Great idea for helping writers map out their books in an interactive way.
I have the books already – all I need are the new workbooks …. should I wait? 🙂
I’m beginning my first novel and have found your website and your book “Structuring Your Novel” incredibly helpful! Thank you so much for helping newbie authors-in-the-making like me find our way!
After being a total pantser for most of my writing life, I’ve succumbed to the necessity of more planning and organizing before I begin—if for nothing else than because it makes the REWRITE less time consuming. 🙂 As a pantser, the rewrite took almost as long as writing the first draft, making me hate the darn thing before I could really finish it. Seeing what other folks do has been helpful. Looking forward to the workbooks. 🙂
I can’t wait to read your workbooks. I’m so happy that they are in the form of paperback and ebooks!
For me, outlining has been THE key to remaining sane during Nanowrimo. But to have a book that helps with the plot holes and characters, too?
Paint me excited!!!!
Talia
I am very excited about the workbooks!! Both books are great so I know the workbooks will be.
So awesome and came out just in time to give myself a birthday present. Ordered both from Amazon. Very stoked. Thank you!
This is pure evil! 19 days into my first NaNoWriMo and you release these! The tears I shed are the tears of sadness. Now where did I hide my credit card…
I’m so excited for the workbooks! I have the Kindle version of Outlining Your Novel and Structuring Your Novel—now I have to decided which version for the workbooks. Thanks for being so generous with your knowledge 🙂
As a failed panster, I decided I needed both your Outlining and Structure books, and found them both immeasureably helpful! (And the Scrivener course, too, which I also bought). Thanks for continuing to provide such awesome resources!
Brilliant!
I do have both the “original” books (and the annotated Jane Eyre, which is excellent) and I’m a fan of both structure and outlines, no matter how tight. In fact the tighter they are, the more creative I feel I can be with the story (like having a safety net).
My tip?
Treat your outlines in the same way as a draft: dump out a rough one first and don’t sweat it. Then use “Structuring Your Novel” to make sure you story has all the elements that are traditionally found in the best stories.
Make a few more passes and re-jig the outline.
I also like to make notes on the goal/conflict for each scene prior to writing it.
And remember, not everyone “pants” like Stephen King (that sounds weird), so give yourself permission to write to an outline and a structure!
I am always amazed by how much you accomplish: I listen to the podcast faithfully (love it) and aside from new content you also teach courses and write how-tos (obviously! 🙂 I’m very interested in the outline and structure novels – that would be new for me but I think would make a huge difference in my process), and also write novels.
Thanks for always being so generous: with your knowledge and your time.
Yeah! Thanks to Jim for the workbooks idea. And thanks to you for writing it!
Thanks KM for the great contest. Good luck with the book launch.
John
This is so awesome! Thanks.
By the way, I like to use mind mapping when I first begin to outline because every idea is just so raw like a big blob without structure. The mind map helps me record every idea on paper or on screen so I can organize them later.
Read and LOVED both books. And got both Kindle and paperback versions (paperback so I can pass around)
And also, downloaded my kindle notes and made my own workbook and it helped me complete my first draft.
So excited about your workbooks – got them both on Kindle yesterday and briefly glanced through them last night – love it.
I still have some plot holes and structure problems and I can’t wait to dive into those.
LOVE IT!
Can’t wait to own the workbooks!
Thanks for writing them, K.M.
I’ve definitely enjoyed the books and welcome the workbook format for easier brainstorming sessions!
Both of these books sound fantastic, and especially the workbook format. When I plot a novel I usually know a few plot points, how the novel is going to end and maybe a few extra bits that I know need to be in there. And then I write and it normally all goes out the window and I end up with something much more satisfying. But the bare bones remain. Maybe in a different place that I had originally intended, or are pushed back into a planned sequel, and things also tend to happen twice or even thrice in a first draft because I write and go “oh, that would work so much better here!”. Ultimately, I write by the seat of my pants, letting the characters take me where they want to go and letting them do what they feel like doing. Of course, I steer them in the right direction when I have to but they’re the stars of the novel, not me. Who am I to repress their desires, their hopes and dreams? I’m just the vessel through which they get to tell their story.
Thank you for the giveaway! It would be nice to add those workbooks to my collection 🙂
I am the worst outliner in the world! Every time I sit down to outline, I end up writing instead. I have so many half-finished outlines, and they mostly include scenes I’ve already written. Lol! Every time I get an idea for a new scene, I have to write the whole stinkin’ thing down or it’s gone! I cannot WAIT to get these workbooks and get better at this whole outlining thing. 🙂 (That being said, the first time I read Outlining Your Novel, I immediately sat down and outlined an entire trilogy I had been having so much trouble making the pieces fit together. I know outlining is invaluable, I just haven’t been able to do it since that first time!) 🙂
I’ve mostly used the Snowflake Method, but it’s not quite right for me. Looking forward to seeing your method!
Hoping to win the workbooks! I am about to start writing my first novel.
This is so cool! I can’t even begin to express how excited I am! I’ve been struggling with my writing, and my writing is losing, which means I’m losing, too. I hope I win (I never do, but there’s a first time for everything!).
Excellent idea. And thanks for the giveaway opportunity.
Thank you for this give-away.. I can use ALL the help I can get. I tend to get lost whilst story plotting. 🙂
I’m not sure I have any best tips and tricks. I’m still in the gathering tips and tricks stage. 🙂 Your books have been a goldmine for me. Thank you! One thing I know I need to always keep in mind is goal, motivation, and conflict. I tend to know this intuitively about my characters, but I sometimes forget to put it on the page.
This is an awesome giveaway. Thank you for doing this!
This is such a simple but great idea. It only makes me wonder why didn’t anyone think of this sooner?
I loved your books and am SO excited for the workbooks! I’ve been recommending both OYN and SYN to all my writer friends. 🙂
My tip for outlining? I’m a visual person, so I love putting up paper (poster paper or similar) and mapping out the major plot points, then adding sticky notes for scenes (and moving them around) as needed.
Thanks for the giveaway, and congrats on the new workbooks!
Your books are a huge help and I’m so happy that you now have workbooks to go with them! I’ve found that starting out with a short story helps best for me. I’m less intimidated by smaller projects at this point in my writing career. If I start small then I can work my way up to the bigger picture. Plus, I may find that it just works better as a short story than it would an entire book. 🙂
Making information that much handier via workbook, what’s not to love?! :>
I haven’t read Structuring Your Novel yet, but I really enjoyed Outlining Your Novel (I need to buy a copy of both of them). Also, this blog is incredible!
My novel outlines are only in my head. My novels always evolve differently than I think they will, so other than a few jotted notes to remind me of things I want to include, so far, I’ve gone outline free. I’m proud of all the books you’ve written and all the things you’ve accomplished. Way to go – fellow Nebraskan!
Are there other ways beyond Amazon to get the physical book? The postage to Australia is more than the book itself!
Hi Chris – I’m also in Australia and share the same problem. I’m sure eventually they’ll popup on Book Depository (see link to one of Katie’s original books below), since they’re owned by Amazon. That will make it cheaper! Perhaps she could ask them to add the new ones? I’d love to have them in paperback, too.
http://www.bookdepository.com/Structuring-Your-Novel-Weiland/9780985780401
Hi Robert – Haha, that’s exactly where I got my copy from! And (admittedly) a gift for this Christmas of the same book. I was about to grab both the book and the work book, but I’ll wait until it shows up on BD. Thanks for the reply. Fingers crossed it gets over to other formats soon!
Hey Chris (and anyone else in this neck of the woods) – Katie’s marvelous workbooks are on BD now:
http://www.bookdepository.com/Structuring-Your-Novel-Workbook/9780985780432
http://www.bookdepository.com/Outlining-Your-Novel-Workbook-Weiland/9780985780425
(I just ordered mine from there, so I don’t know what on earth I’ll do if I win. Probably gift them to someone here!)
Yay! Thanks for letting everyone know, Robert!
Looks like the Kindle versions, at any rate, are both available on the Australian Amazon site: http://www.amazon.com.au/Structuring-Your-Novel-Workbook-Hands–ebook/dp/B00P72KYWA/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416608873&sr=8-1&keywords=k.m.+weiland
http://www.amazon.com.au/Outlining-Novel-Workbook-Step—Step-ebook/dp/B00P72KQI2/ref=sr_1_2_twi_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416608873&sr=8-2&keywords=k.m.+weiland
Haha, I may have already purchased them 😉 I’m terrible, I usually end up with the physical for when I’m at home and the kindle for when I’m away. Thanks for all the great work, btw! It’s brilliant.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying it! Hopefully, the print versions will show up in your neck of the woods soon!
Very excited about these books!
My husband and I are doing a mini writer’s retreat on the day before Thanksgiving. From 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., we will be in a little lodge with a fireplace and no Internet. I’m taking Outlining and Structuring and both workbooks on my iPad. Hoping to get a lot done.
My favourite outlining and editing tool is Scrivener. You can set up a template in Scrivener that incorporates all of your favourite structure and outline advice, questions and tips from the books. Tada! Words of wisdom, right there when you need them!
What an excellent haul of informative books. Hope I win the giveaway.
Great looking books – congrats on the launch!
For newbie writers like myself the best trick is to learn from people like you, K.
Thank you Ms. Weiland for all the effort you put forth for helping people like me. I have studied your writing lessons thoroughly and tried to implement into my own writing. I feel like I have grown as a writer just by following you and reading your stuff. Thank you again. I am excited to delve into your workbooks.
This does sound interesting. I go about plotting in what I suspect is a very inefficient manner.
I received “Outlining Your Novel” and, “Structuring Your Novel” from a good friend of mine, and really enjoyed reading them! Looking forward to being able to do the workbooks 🙂 In today’s world a lot of people get hung up on “me, me, me, me.”, taking from the systems, but giving nothing back. It’s awesome to see people like yourself, working so actively to mentor the coming generation of writers. As a novice writer myself, I can definitely say that we all really appreciate it! Keep up the awesome work! 🙂
Outlining is the way to go, especially with colored pens and highlighters to keep track of plot and character arcs.
I love both Outlining Your Novel and Structuring Your Novel. Both of my copies are dog-eared and highlighted. 🙂 Can’t wait for the workbooks…hoping I’ll win them!
Thanks so much for making these e-books as well! While I’ll get the physical copies in the future (because, physical books rule), with Christmas coming up money is a little tight so this is great!
Can’t believe it! I ordered your workbooks 48 hours ago and here they are in my hands. Amazon must be practicing for the Christmas rush. Keep up your good work. I enjoy your blog too.
Congrats on the workbook launch, such a great idea!
I have tried outlining books in the past and ended up pantsing. I think these would be a great help! The workbooks are such a great idea!
Love the books and hope to win the workbooks
I find that I outline best on notebook paper. The lines and space help me make sense of things. I can’t outline on the computer at all.
Outlining is something I’m still working on. I don’t know what works best for me, so I’m always trying new (to me) things.
Thank you for providing so many options for me to try!
Love this giveaway!
Oh my goodness! What a fantabulous giveaway! =D
Wow! These look amazing and I bet they would be incredibly helpful!
You have a wonderful blog. I’ve printed out Creating Unforgettable Characters.
I so enjoy reading all the information you impart.
I’ve been on your email list for some time now.
Thanks.
I am a beginner (only trying my hand in writing), but I hope your book will help you learn to ourline and structure my novel (right now they are a mess:-)
Thank you so much for this giveaway.
“Structuring Your Novel” is one of my all-time favourite books on the writing craft and I refer to it all the time.
For outlining my book, honestly, I’m just in the beginning stages of my first book. I had originally started off with some basic plotting and then started writing, thinking I could plot as I went (pantsing it), BUT I seriously cannot function like that. I’m a generally organized person so this pantsing thing doesn’t work for me. I’m going to have to go through and get a general outline for everything before I start. Which… is why I’m super interested in your new workbooks. I already have the two how to outline and how to structure, but I think I would love the workbooks too!
What a wonderful idea to make workbooks to go with these! I can’t wait to put these to use!
I suck at outlining — which is why I hope to win the workbooks hahaha! 🙂
I have read so many of your articles–they have helped me very much in my own writing. This is a great giveaway 🙂 Keep up the amazing (and helpful) work!
Holy cow, what a collection of prizes! I’m still in the early stages of learning all of this stuff and I feel like I need them all.
Wow! What amazing prizes! Thank you for all your hard work! I really enjoyed both the books! Can’t wait to do them again with work books to go along!
Words of encouragement behind every cover. Thank you for putting these novels together.
I’m a newbie at fiction, as well as your site — but I love both and look forward to visiting here on a regular basis. Fingers crossed for the giveaway! Thanks…
The workbook sounds like a great idea. You’re right about forgetting half the ideas when it comes time to write.
My plot-development strategy consists of having my dad brainstorm, and using all his good ideas. The more generally applicable point is that discussing a story with people who have more and broader real-world experience can be very beneficial.
I would also like to point out that the giveaway is dramatically biased against those who don’t have Twitter.
Loved the book so am super excited to grab the workbook and put down some ideas! Congrats on the release.
I’ve only dabbled in fiction writing; non-fiction seems to come more easily to me, but that requires structure too. I do my actual writing on the computer, but brainstorming feels more natural with pen & paper, so I keep a small spiral notebook handy for that purpose. I’ll usually have one topic per page and list notes under each topic. Not very efficient, but it helps my brain work 😉
Normally, I like to do a basic outline and leave enough holes in the plot so I still have room for spur of the moment creative genius. I also like to write up character profiles as I write; that way, I’m building characters as I go but still being able to have a list for reference if I need it.
-Jessica P.
My best tips for outlining – I tend to do more of a brainstorming session where I start with one thing and then just spider out from there. At least with first draft as I’m more of a see-where-this-goes kind at times…then once I have a better understanding of what I’m trying to write, I can go back and do some notes. I have to admit, I’m not the best at outlining – it’s a struggle for me.
My favorite outlining trick is to find that one spot you know has to be in the story and work from there. The beginning will lead to that point and end will fulfill that point. Then make the character’s journey twist and turn showing both success and failure.
I have to say the template for Scrivener made setting up my WIP so much easier. Then adding the outlining book on top made confirming the decisions so much easier. Even now as I’m doing some shifting and rethinking as the themes and the secondary characters have taken form, the same principles apply so it is much easier to execute. I’d still love to win the rest of the set though. Especially the new workbooks.
I learn so much from your posts, I can only imagine how much better your books and workbooks would be!
Okay, I must be honest. My best tips for outlining and structuring a story, hire someone to do it for me. I’ll get brave one day and do my own, I keep telling myself.
This would help me so much!
I’m a big fan and I’ve never commented. That’s crazy!
My outline tips are to follow your advice. Hah! I love your structure in Structuring Your Novel, so I like to get those major plot points down. I also love your Plotting Character Arc series, and plot all of that for all of my major characters. It’s made a big difference in this new WIP!
Fantastic giveaway! Woohoo!
One can never have too many writing books. Looks interesting.
I used Structuring Your Novel to help write my latest manuscript (highly recommend it!) and would love to have the workbook to help with the one I am currently pre-plotting.
This! I’ve been wanting these outline workbooks ever since I grabbed my own copies of Outlining and Structuring. Seriously! Cannot wait to get my own copies! (If I don’t win the raffle that is…hehehe!)
Well done!
I’ve bought them for my Tablet, but I’m going to have to go for a paperback version of the workbook, ‘cos it won’t let me open the book and the workbook at the same time and jump back and forth. That’s okay though, I’m a tactile type of person and that will work better for me. What I’ve read of the workbook, has made me very excited. I sat in a café this morning reading it over coffee and raisin toast and I was bouncing up and down (albeit internally) 😀
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the workbook! If you have Kindle for PC, you could open one book there and the other on your tablet.
Now why didn’t I think of that? I keep forgetting about my Kindle for PC. ~sigh~ head for thinkin’ feet for dancin’ 🙂
I now have both the workbooks – thanks Santa! – and am sitting here thinking ‘which one first?’ Way up above in a post so long ago it seems frightening, I think you said they work hand-in-hand – with “Outlining” being the more basic. So I’m going to start with that one, and then move on to “Structure”. Would that be a good course of action?
(I have tried NaNo for 2 years now – 1st I completed it, then I thought it had no structure or purpose and certainly no end – so the 2nd year (last year) I tried again and failed. Hopefully these workbooks will help me get the jumble of thoughts and herds of plot-bunnies under control!)
Yep, excellent course of action! Outlining leads right into Structuring, so I recommend doing them in that order. I hope you find them both useful!