Story bible vs outline: what belongs in each?
Story bibles and outlines solve different problems. Combining them into one giant document often makes both harder to use.
A story bible records what is true about your fictional world; an outline records what happens and in what narrative order.
A story bible is reference
Use a story bible for stable or canonical information: characters, locations, organizations, terminology, world rules, relationships, chronology, important objects, and established facts.
Its job is to answer continuity questions.
An outline is sequence
Use an outline for narrative movement: acts, chapters, scenes, plot points, beats, reveals, reversals, and planned progression.
Its job is to answer what happens next and why.
Connect them without duplicating them
A chapter in the outline can reference a location from the story bible instead of copying the location description into the chapter note. A reveal can connect to the character or clue it affects.
Quilly follows this model by keeping story entities separate from Story Builder while allowing them to connect.
Put the idea to work in your draft
Good planning should reduce uncertainty and make the next writing decision easier. Use these steps to turn the ideas above into something concrete without adding unnecessary process.
Decide what this idea changes in your specific story before adding more detail.
Connect it to the chapter, character, event, plot point, or relationship it actually affects.
Write down the before-and-after state so the narrative consequence is easy to see during revision.
Use only as much structure as helps you make the next writing decision; stop before the planning becomes a second draft.