Outlining Outlining And Furthermore, Outlining

Today we are spending the day with the outlines of a couple of projects. When I was a younger, lazier Aki I didn't tend to do much in the way out outlines and tended to just let my projects grow in whatever direction they saw fit. These days, however, I like to think I'm a wiser Aki and have learned the merits of a good, but flexible outline.
Nothing works for everything and there's a good chance that what works for me won't work for even most people, but this is my blog and I'm going to share my method for outlining.
Start simple, have a vague idea of what you want to have happen and write that down.
"But Aki," I hear you cry, "surely I don't need to write down the basic premise of the book I'm working on before I outline it"
Yes, you do. You will get up to make tea and it will be gone forever. Write it down in three different places.
Then decide how you want your work to be divided. With Diary I knew I wanted to tell and apocalypse story in three parts so I treated each section like its own novella. With most books, this is just going to be by chapter.
Start with Chapter 1 and have an extra document for brainstorming, the brainstorming doc contains everything, your cool idea for the middle, the gripping hook that came to you in the shower, spare characters, everything. Your outline starts with chapter 1. Figure out the main action for chapter 1 and jot that down, leave yourself enough wiggle room to add things while you're actually writing it but make sure it's detailed enough that you have a clear map of where you're going. Then do chapter 2, building from what you've written in chapter 1. I like to start with five things per chapter, but again, mileage may vary.
When you're done with your outline, keep it close, tinker with it, if you see places to add foreshadowing jot that down. Go in and change things as you see fit.
And that's Aki's quick and dirty guide to outlining.