My Secret Weapon To Creating A Thorough Book Outline Is An AI Tool You Can Use For Free

In case you missed last week’s newsletter, then you may not know that I am taking on two ambitious writing projects at once. Both are on pace to be completed by the end of this month, and I’m sharing behind the scenes of the writing process today.

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The first project, simply titled Writing Project #1, is a series of short stories featuring the family introduced in my children’s book, Little Mr. Fix It Assists With The To-Do List. The series is for kids ages 5-9 and is my way of addressing a gap in the available selection of chapter books for advanced readers like my son, who’s 7 years old. Advanced readers in this age group want age-appropriate subject matter in chapter books with topics that they can relate to. These are stories that may have fewer illustrations than traditional picture books, but avoid introducing preteen issues that are prevalent in young adult fiction, where you can find plenty of chapter books with minimal illustrations.

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The other project, which as you probably already guessed is called Writing Project #2, is a nonfiction book about avoiding costly mistakes when buying new construction homes. Though I’m excited about both projects, this nonfiction book is a true reflection on experiences I’ve had serving home buyers since 2010. Since June of 2025 commemorates my 15 year-anniversary as a licensed Realtor, it seems like an excellent time to write this book. Plus, doing this allows me to introduce nonfiction book publishing as the latest genre we’ll support at my company, which means my team and I will be positioned to have an impact in a refreshing new way.

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Clearly, the nonfiction book will take longer to write, but I believe I’ve cracked the code to shortening the time horizon for completing the first draft of the manuscript because I started with a thorough book outline.

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What can an outline do for you?

Have you ever learned how to cook from someone that prepared meals mainly from scratch? The person who taught me how to cook, my grandfather, rarely wrote any of his recipes down. He had a method, of course, curated over many years of using tried and true ingredients and seasonings that never disappointed. Because he knew each of the steps by memory, he never wrote down recipes. If I wanted to know all the details, I had to write those on my own. But I had to calibrate them, most of the time. While I only cooked for 1-3 people at a time, my grandfather was accustomed to preparing large meals for our family; a nod to his days as a Cook on the U. S. S. New Orleans during World War II.

Learning how to cook from my grandfather was not a “by the book” experience. He would say things like “add a pinch here,” or “keep adding milk until it’s the way you want it,” instead of “use a teaspoon of cinnamon,” or “pour in one cup of sweetened condensed milk.” What my grandfather gave me was sort of like an outline of what he had committed to baking and preparing for decades, and that’s all it took for me to fill in the details as needed.

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With an overview of the subjects you want to write about and a sketch of what you want to write about in each chapter, you can create an outline that give your book its structure. The cohesive flow of one thought leading to the next can be visible with an outline in ways that free-flowing words simply cannot achieve because writing a nonfiction book isn't the same as recounting a historic event or creating a fictional story. The outline is what provides sequencing and you cannot expect that to magically fall out of your ideas on its own, no matter how well you know a subject. If the outline is like your guardrails, then the content of each chapter is basically you managing to stay within the lines on the road. Can you avoid swerving off task without parameters? Maybe. Would I recommend it? Definitely not.

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My secret weapon for creating a book outline that makes ideas flow with ease

Because I started with a boss of an outline, there is no question in my mind about what to write. The order of what I want to introduce is clearly laid out in the table of contents, the topics and summaries for each chapter are distinct, and which personal stories and experiences to weave in has been made obvious. For this amazingly simple outline, I have ChatGPT to thank.

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Though I will not use AI to write my entire book, you may choose to. The time it'll help you save with more than you may know, especially if you’re not a trained or experience writer. Writing isn’t just something that I love to do, it’s something that I have been immersed in for years and because of this, I write exceptionally well. To this note, combatting a blank screen is rarely an issue for me, but I realize how common it is for lots of people and you may be included in that number. All is not lost, though, if you've already exhausted your budget for subscription-based software tools for the month. ChatGPT is a free tool that can be used by anyone willing to learn how to use it and train it to understand your voice.

For clients, however, my team and I will use AI for more than just the outline because it vastly reduces the amount of time to get your manuscript from the first draft to the editor. it even allows you to spark ideas for audience targeting, identifying the right partners, and developing substance to support your content marketing plans. And let’s face it, you don’t need to take 6-12 months to release a nonfiction book fully loaded and ready for launch, so working with AI tools is one way to expedite the writing and marketing portions of the publishing process.

If you’ve committed to finally writing that book you’ve put on the back burner for far too long, then use this free AI tool today to create a powerful outline as your starting point. When it’s time to tell your story, my team and I can help with what comes next to publish and launch your books. Message me directly to talk about next steps.