so im writing a book and i know an extremely detailed outline is crucuial. I am just having some issues on how to format the outline, any ideas? thanks!

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Here are some sites I found: http://fiction-plots-pacing.suite101.com/article.cfm/do_you_need_a_plot_outline http://www.writeandpublishyourbook.com/

Personally, I find that I try to write detailed outlines first, and then I always depart from them. As long as you're okay with making changes as you go and letting the story happen how it needs to, keeping an outline probably won't frustrate you too much, but it can definitely hinder you if you're anything like me. That aside, I found a book called The Story Architect, I think. It's amazing. It breaks down every kind of plot that exists, and it tells you what you need in each part of your story, what questions you should answer as you go, and how to improve the pacing of your story. I read it in about a day, but it's more of a primer, a handbook to consult for each new novel/story. As far as a basic breakdown goes, most traditional novels and movies follow a 3-act or 3-part process. They can further be broken down as beginning, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, denouement/ending. The climax and everything after tends to happen in the last third, so the rising action has to build tension and stretch for some time to create the buildup resulting in the climax. Good luck!

What I did was I got a piece of paper and drew out boxes (I did as many boxes as there were definite chapters). Then, inside them, I wrote the titles of the chapters or word(s) that would remind me of what I was going to write about in those chapters. After that, I typed out fuller, more detailed descriptions of those chapters. But that is just me. I hope I helped. GOOD LUCK!!!