Outlining and Plotting: Why Both Are Essential for Writers

Jacquelyn Lee
Jun 27
6 min read

How Structure Keeps Your Nonfiction Organized and Your Fiction Moving

Have you ever gotten three chapters into a project and realized you missed something foundational at the start? That is what writing without a structure feels like. One step forward, three steps back, because you built something on top of a gap you did not know was there.

Nonfiction books typically follow an outline, while fiction relies on a plot. Outlining and plotting are nearly the same thing; the distinction hinges on your genre. Outlining is about how you arrange your content. Plotting is about what happens. Whether you are a plotter or a pantser, you will still need to organize your manuscript at some point.

If you lean toward the pantser side, you might write your entire first draft before you dive into any kind of organization. But when you come back to that draft after a break, you will almost certainly find plot holes and massive gaps. Writing without a plan does not save you time. It just shifts that heavy, time-consuming structural work into the revision stage, meaning you will spend twice as long cleaning up the mess later.

This blog will help you map out your nonfiction topics and lock down your fiction beats, so you can stop taking one step forward and three steps back.

NONFICTION WRITERS: OUTLINING IS ESSENTIAL

As nonfiction writers, we often have a mindset that follows a certain pattern. An order of specific steps. An organized structure. And when it all comes together, it makes sense. Something clicks. You recognize you have a consistent thread spread across your topics, and it feels like the book was always supposed to look exactly like that.

Without an order, you start to feel like something is missing. You may become confused, not knowing what to do next. And after that, you start feeling like you need to go back a step. One step forward, three steps back, because you missed something a critical step the first time around.

Outlining your nonfiction book is what keeps that from happening. It acts as a guide against rambling. When we get excited to share what we know, it is incredibly easy to lose track of where we are going. A solid outline helps your reader see you as an expert from the first page, and that you earn their trust before you ask them to take action.

There are people who can tell you the exact order of events in a story they have read or watched one time. For me, it is a different story each time I remember it. For the longest time, with my own writing, I would craft a new order each time . . . until I started outlining with intention, and everything changed.

As E.L. Doctorow once put it, “Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” An intentional outline gives you those headlights.

FICTION WRITERS: PLOTTING IS ESSENTIAL

For the fiction writer, plotting is what moves your characters forward. Your characters are the core of the story, and the things that happen to them need to connect directly to who they are on the inside. The most important plot points are the ones where a character is challenged and must make a choice, because those decisions change everything that comes after.

Knowing what to put into your story is hard. Without a plan, you will find yourself adding scenes just to fill space or developing a storyline. A plotting framework reminds you that not every idea you brainstorm belongs in the final manuscript. It helps you stay focused on what moves the story.

Take any movie. Disney, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Romance. They all follow some version of a common structure, moving through specific highs and lows. If you are looking at specific genre mechanics, like plotting a romance from hook to happy ever after, my Story Structure Workbooks give you a visual, concrete way to lay out those beats. Whether you prefer to calculate your pacing milestones automatically using the interactive spreadsheet or map them out by hand using the printable version, these tools serve as a guide rather than a foolproof guarantee. They help you organize your scenes so you can treat your story like it happened in real life, making it realistic enough for your readers to follow right along.

Whether you are a plotter, a pantser, or somewhere in between, plotting has real benefits and some genuine drawbacks:

BENEFITS: A structure gives you a guide for your first draft. It keeps your beats in the right areas and gives readers what they expect from your genre.
DRAWBACKS: It can feel rigid. The beat order gets overwhelming. I worked out of sequence on my own projects more than once, and it cost me time every single time.
SOMETHING FEELS OFF: That happens. Give yourself variance when you need it. Not everything has to fit the structure perfectly.

Plotting is not about controlling your story. It is about knowing where your characters are going so you can bring their story to life. A solid structure gives you a clear destination while leaving room for those vital creative surprises along the journey.

WHEN TO BEND THE RULES

There is no one-size-fits-all to writing a novel. Indie authors are often a little divergent, and there is nothing wrong with that. You can create your own methods, combine existing structures, or approach your manuscript in a way that works for you specifically.

That said, a few things are non-negotiable regardless of how you approach your structure:

SPELLING: Unless you are deliberately spelling something wrong for emphasis, a pun, or a distinct character voice.
GRAMMAR: Unless you are writing dialogue for a character where imperfect grammar is part of who they are.
PUNCTUATION: Punctuation is not optional. It tells your reader how to hear your sentences, and it stays no matter what else you bend.

TOOLS TO HELP YOU GET ORGANIZED

Here are three tools I have used personally:

PLOTTR: AI-free, built specifically for writers who want to organize their scenes and subplots visually. It has a library of built-in story structure templates, which is what the companion workbook for this blog series is based on. It is not the most modern-looking tool, but it is solid where it counts.
SCRIVENER: Probably the most widely used writing tool out there. It keeps your manuscript files, research notes, character sketches, and chapters organized in one workspace. If you are working on a large project and have ideas for the future, this is worth the investment.
SCAPPLE: A visual brainstorming tool and sister app to Scrivener. Great for writers who think visually before they start outlining.

TOOL	FREE TRIAL	PRICING	NOTES
Plottr	Yes	Free tier available	Yearly from $60 \| Lifetime from $150
Plottr Pro	Yes	$9.99/month	Yearly $99 \| Lifetime $599
Plottr Pro + Community	Yes	$14.99/month	Yearly $129 \| Lifetime $649
Scrivener (Mac/Windows)	30 days	$59.99 one-time	No subscription required
Scrivener (iOS)	30 days	$23.00 one-time	Mobile version
Scapple	30 days	$20.99 one-time	Sister app to Scrivener

BUILD THE PLAN, THEN TRUST THE WRITING

There is a pattern I have to follow with everything I do. When I get out of that structured plan, everything gets messed up. Whether I am writing nonfiction or fiction, having that structure keeps me focused on what order things should go in.

Ready to find your own structure? You can grab my FREE Story Structure Reference Guide to get a quick overview of 20 different Story Structures. It includes scene cards, descriptions, and writing prompts to guide you along.

If you want to take your organization further, check out my Story Structure Workbook (Printable) on my KIT store to map your book by hand, or pick up my Story Structure Workbook (Interactive Excel Spreadsheet) to lay out your scenes digitally.