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To create a TOC for a memoir, try these methods:

 Create a timeline.  Draw a line with the start date and end date of you’re the
period about which you plan to write; begin placing dates on the line that indicate
major events you want to include in your story. Then organize these into chapters.
 Plot vignettes you plan to write on a story board. Once you have organized them
in chronological order, identified themes, and considered the narrative arc, write
your TOC.
 Create an outline. List the events you plan to include, and then organize them
logically with lesser events “under” more important events. (In all these cases, add
in flashbacks in appropriate places.)
 Organize your memories into topics of interest.
 Make a list of 10-15 significant moments of meaning, turning points, in your life,
and relate them to your themes; locate them on a timeline. Write each turning point
in a scene, creating chapters from these core stories.

To create a TOC for fiction, try these methods:

 Profile your characters. Give them back stories and motivations, so you get to
know them before you set them within the dramatic or comedic arc of your
creation. Then outline your story line. Place the scenes you plan to include on that
story line (like a time line) with your characters. Consider how the themes of your
novel play out on that story line and where the dramatic arcs occur. Then break this
down into chapters and create a TOC.
 Create a story board. Break this down into chapters and then a TOC.
 Number the lines of a sheet of notebook paper and put a word by each one that
best represents what you want to happen in each chapter. That becomes the chapter
title. Then make notes about specific events that will occur in that chapter a well.
 Use an Excel spreadsheet to block out chapters and the scenes within them. Move
events around as necessary. (You can also write biographies of characters as part of
this exercise.) Then create a TOC.

Do you use another method to create a TOC? If so, leave tell me about it in a comment.

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