Why Every Book Needs an Outline and How to Write One

A good outline is your secret weapon to create a successful nonfiction book.

But for some writers, the thought of writing an outline is less than appealing.  Mention the word “outline” and they’re reminded of the outlines we had to write in school with Roman numerals.  

Why is it important to write an outline before starting on your nonfiction book?

Picture this: you’re lost.

You’re in the middle of writing your nonfiction book, and suddenly feel like you don’t know where you’re going. You’ve been going from one idea to the next, and you can’t remember where you started or the overall purpose of your narrative.

If you’ve ever felt like that,  bad news: your readers will feel it, too.

Figuratively speaking, you should have a map to guide you—an outline. An outline helps you know where you came from and where you’re going with your writing, preventing you and your readers from getting lost.

A nonfiction book outline also serves to map the reader’s journey, giving your audience a cohesive and compelling reading experience. Writers know that books aren’t just sources of information, they’re mediums of learning and entertainment, and if we want to be successful,  we should treat them as such.

For example, imagine a medical book talking about pathologies of the central nervous system in chapter one and about neurons in chapter six. Poorly organized information affects writing in all fields and at all levels, but it’s preventable. That’s why an outline is so crucial.

But an outline isn’t just a helpful tool for organizing your thoughts and ideas. It can also serve as a roadmap for the entire writing process. By creating an outline, you have a clear idea of what information you need to include in your piece to effectively communicate your message.

You can use your outline as a reference point to make sure you’re covering all of the necessary material and to ensure that your work is well-balanced and comprehensive. It can also help you identify any gaps in your knowledge or areas that need further research, allowing you to address these issues before you start writing.

Ultimately, an outline is a crucial tool for any writer looking to craft a compelling and engaging piece of writing. By mapping out the readers’ journey you can guide them through your writing in a way that is clear, engaging, and enjoyable.

How does an outline help with the book-writing process?

There are times when you’re just not in the mood. You may not feel inspired to write an introduction or the first chapter of your book and instead want to jump into the nitty gritty of your subject. But that won’t be possible unless you have an outline. 

If you start writing what you want to write without an outline, you could end up with a chaotic compilation of ideas that you don’t know how to structure into cohesive nonfiction text structures.

Without an outline, you’re likely to vacillate between inspiration and organization without a clear idea of the overall structure of your book. This will probably force you to start in the beginning regardless of whether you feel inspired to write the first idea or not, which could rob you of your motivation.

But if you do have an outline, you can start at the end or start on your favorite chapter, fully write it, and still have everything organized enough for you to work on your introduction or your first chapter later.

An outline is especially helpful if you’re writing a book about a complex subject or one that provides vast information about a specific topic. In both cases, an outline helps you avoid feeling overwhelmed by the task size by cutting down the information into small pieces.

If you only focus on one piece at a time, you can progress faster than if you try to approach all of the information at once.

Finally, an outline makes it easier to proofread, edit, and change things once you have the first draft of your book. This is because you can read one piece at a time, perfect it, and then go to the next one.

Your outline will also help keep the main ideas in your book organized and available for reference as you edit so that you don’t inadvertently omit or repeat a crucial point.

But all of this is only possible if you add enough details to your outline. 

How detailed should an outline be and what information should it contain?

Easy answer: it depends.

For those who plan to write an extensive book or who will be tackling a broad and complex subject, it can be helpful to put more details into the outline. 

That means a summary of the book, a table of contents, a description of the key points in each chapter, key takeaways from your book, and the quotes, references, or illustrations you will put in each chapter.

A more detailed nonfiction book outline template can help you better understand the scope of your project and ensure that you don’t miss any important points or information.

On the other hand, if you’re working on a shorter project or a more straightforward subject, you may not need as much detail in your outline. You might only need a table of contents and a bulleted list of the points you want to make in each chapter.

 A more concise outline can still be effective in helping you organize your thoughts and ideas and can be a useful reference as you work on your writing.

If you have specific points you want to include or ideas about what you want to do with your book and don’t want to leave them out, write all of them in your outline, even if it doesn’t fit with what you’d expect of a “traditional” outline.

3 Three outline formats and how to write them.

Here are three examples of outlines that can serve as templates for your ideas and easy explanations of how to  write them:

Long outline:

• I. Introduction
  • Background information on the topic
  • Book Summary
  • Overview of main points
• II. Body 
  • A. Main point 1
  • Supporting detail 1

• Supporting detail 2
• Supporting detail 3
• B. Main point 2
  • Supporting detail 1
  • Supporting detail 2
  • Supporting detail 3
• C. Main point 3
• Supporting detail 1
• Supporting detail 2
• Supporting detail 3

• III. Conclusion
• Recap of main points
• Implications of the topic
• Future directions for research

How to write it:

Begin by identifying the main points and supporting details you want to include in your writing. These will form the structure of your outline.

Arrange the key ideas and supporting details in a way that makes sense to you. You might want to group similar ideas, or you might want to outline the points in chronological order.

In your outline, use headings (“Introduction”) and subheadings (“Main point”) to label the different parts. This will give you a general view of the structure of your writing, making it easier to refer back to specific points later.

Include any additional elements such as quotes, references, or illustrations that you plan to include in your writing.

Finally, use bullet points or numbers to list out the different points and details in your outline. This will make it easier to see the relationships between different pieces of information and how they fit together

Short outline:

• I. Introduction
  • Brief background information on the topic
  • Overview of main points
•  II. Body
  • Main point 1
  • Main point 2
  • Main point 3
• III. Conclusion
  • Recap of main points
  • Final thoughts on the topic

How to write it:

As with the long outline, you must first identify the main points you want to include in your writing. Then, organize them into a logical structure.

You can organize your points by dividing your information into levels of understanding, putting the most basic information about your subject first and the more complex second. You could also organize it by the level of relevance or popularity of each point within your book.

Use the simple Introduction-Body-Conclusion model to differentiate the sections and put your prioritized points into each one. 

Mid-length outline:

• I. Introduction

• Background information on the topic
• Thesis statement
• Overview of main points
• II. Body 
  • A. Main point 1

• Supporting detail 1
• Supporting detail 2
• B. Main point 2

• Supporting detail 1
• Supporting detail 2
• Supporting detail 3
• C. Main point 3

• Supporting detail 1
• Supporting detail 2
• III. Conclusion

• Recap of main points
• Implications of the topic
• Final thoughts on the topic

How to write it:

Start by presenting the major points and supplementary facts you intend to include in your writing. These will constitute the organization of your outline.

Then, organize the main points and supporting details using the headings and subheadings according to the level of complexity or importance, as you see fit. This will help you see the overall structure of your writing and make it easier to refer to specific points later on.

Instead of using generic language like “details about this company” or “explain that this subject practice has been around for a long time,” use the bullet points or numbers to outline what you want to emphasize and the supporting details that you want to include. 

This way, you can make sure you write what you want to write and preserve the personality of your writing throughout the process.

Final Takeaways

Writing an outline for your nonfiction book can be a valuable tool for helping you organize your thoughts and ideas, stay focused and on track, and ensure that your writing is coherent and well-structured.

Whether you’re working on a long or short book or a complex or straightforward subject, an outline can provide a roadmap for your writing and help you stay organized and motivated.

That being said, it’s important to remember that writing an outline is just one step in the book-writing process. It can be helpful to work with a professional editor or ghostwriter to refine your outline and develop it into a full-fledged book.

A ghostwriter can help you bring your ideas to life and turn your outline into a polished and engaging final product. If you’re considering writing a nonfiction book but don’t have the time or expertise to do it yourself, hiring a ghostwriter may be a good option to consider.