Here's a quote from James Patterson on outlining: "I’m a fanatic about outlining. It’s gonna make whatever you’re writing better, you’ll have fewer false starts, and you’ll take a shorter amount of time. I write them over and over again. You read my outline and it’s like reading a book; you really get the story, even though it’s condensed. Each chapter will have about a paragraph devoted to it. But you’re gonna get the scene, and you’re gonna get the sense of what makes the scene work."

https://www.fastcompany.com/3029052/worlds-best-selling-author-james-patterson-on-how-to-write-an-unputdownable-story

It's fairly clear that James Patterson's approach to outlining is the polar opposite of Steven Pressfield's foolscap method. [K.M. Weiland's flexible outline approach more closely approximates James Patterson's and so I will address that topic later in the course.]

Okay, are you ready for a massive outline? Is that the direction you want to go? Why not?

If you take Steven Pressfield's advice, it's better to start with a scaled-down [very scaled down] outline and then dive into a James Patterson mega-outline.

I'd love to see at least a portion of what you generate. I do like Patterson's emphasis on generating lots of scenes. It helps me visualize the action before I even start Draft #1.

Please share! Go!

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“What seems ordinary to you may be extraordinary to others.” – Kareem Taylor of Headnod Music on the reason you need to stop that inner voice saying, “You’re not special.”