How to outline a nonfiction book

Before you outline

An outline organizes an idea; it cannot create one. Before you start, you should be able to write down three things in a sentence each: who the one reader is, the promise (where they start and where they finish), and the idea in one sentence. Put the promise at the top of the outline. Every chapter will be checked against it.

The Scribe Method's chapter on creating your book outline describes a three-step process and the aim: a roadmap that guides the writing without locking you into every detail. The steps below follow it, with our notes.

Step 1: brainstorm the chapters

Decide what each chapter will cover. The chapter's rule is that each chapter should center on one cohesive idea, explored fully. It suggests three ways to get the list out of your head:

• The workshop. If you were teaching this as a day-long workshop, what would the sessions be? Each session is a candidate chapter.
• Teach the book. Imagine explaining the whole thing to your ideal reader, step by step, and write down each step and each question they would ask.
• What needs to be said. List every major idea the book must contain, in any order, briefly.

Keep a "parking lot", the chapter's term, for good ideas that do not fit. Some will find a home later. Some are the next book.

This step is where a would-be book most often turns out to be an article. If, after honest brainstorming, you have three solid chapter ideas and a lot of padding, the idea needs to grow or narrow before you write. The book idea starter asks for a rough chapter list for exactly this reason.

Step 2: build a table of contents that sells

Now arrange the chapters in a logical order and give each one a thesis: one or two sentences that capture its key takeaway. The Scribe Method's example pairs a chapter title that makes a claim with a subtitle, such as "Skills Are Overrated: Why Behavior Matters More".

Why "a table of contents that sells"? Because readers see it before they buy. Amazon's KDP help says the "Read sample" preview is automatically enabled when you publish (KDP help), and the contents page sits at the front of most samples. A browsing reader who reads your chapter titles is deciding whether the book delivers its promise.

Compare two contents pages for the same book:

The second version tells the reader what each chapter will do for them, and the order tells a story: from the day of the promotion to the end of the first year. Topic labels make the reader guess.

Choose an order that matches how the reader experiences the problem. Common orders for nonfiction:

• Sequence: the steps in the order the reader takes them.
• Problem then solution: why the usual approach fails, then the better way, then how to apply it.
• Building blocks: each chapter relies on the one before it.
• Timeline: for story-led books, the order events happened or the order that best reveals them.

If you have more than about a dozen chapters, consider grouping them into parts. The Scribe Method's chapter on book chapters describes parts as optional groupings of related chapters, most useful in books with many chapters.

Step 3: plan each chapter

For each chapter, the outline chapter uses three headings:

1. Chapter hook: how it opens. A personal story, a historical anecdote, a surprising fact or a question, chosen to pull the reader in emotionally.
2. Thesis statement: what the chapter teaches or argues, matching the contents page.
3. Supporting content: key points, evidence and examples, in the order that builds the case.

Keep it high-level: bullet points and short descriptions, not paragraphs. Detail comes when you write. If you cannot write a one-sentence thesis for a chapter, it is not a chapter yet; it is a topic. Our printable outline worksheet has a box for each part.

How many chapters, and how long

Short books can work. Gui Costin's story on scribemedia.com describes his two books at 65 pages each ("Each, Thin, Full Punch"). Length should follow the promise, not a target page count.

The introduction and conclusion

Outline these too; they are the most-read and most-skimmed pages in the book. The Scribe Method's chapter on outlining the introduction gives an order: hook the reader, describe the reader's pain, show the transformation, tell them what they will learn, establish your credibility briefly, optionally set expectations, and end with a call to read on. Notice how much of that is your reader profile and your promise. If those are clear, the introduction nearly outlines itself.

The conclusion should return to the promise: here is where you started, here is where you are now, here is what to do next.

What most people get wrong

• Stitching together old material. Michel Falcon's story on scribemedia.com describes being advised to expand his top dozen blog posts into a book, and the result being a disjointed mess. A book needs one promise and an order that builds; posts can be raw material once the outline exists.
• Copying another book's structure. The same story describes a second attempt modeled on a book he admired, which stalled after a chapter or two. Comps are for finding your difference, not your template. (He finished the book later with help; his story lists $250K, "revenue generated by the book", which is one author's result, not a typical one.)
• Chapter titles that are topics. "Communication" is a topic. "The one-to-one that replaces ten meetings" is a chapter.
• Saving the best for last. Readers judge the book by the first chapters. Put a strong, useful chapter early.
• Outlining in too much detail. A 40-page outline is a draft in disguise, and it is hard to change. Stay at bullet points.
• Never checking against the promise. Read each chapter thesis and ask: does this move my reader from before to after? If not, cut it or park it.

Scribe Media, which makes this site, sells Scribe Compass ($5,000, scribemedia.com/pricing), in which a book coach works with you on a professional table of contents and a chapter-by-chapter roadmap. The three steps above are the same ones you can do on your own.