My writing friend,Laura, recommended this helpful book about outlining. It’s basically an easy-to-read but thorough tutorial on how to plan out a novel without having to write out an entire draft just to figure out your story. 

There are chapters on the misconceptions about outlining, different types of outlines, and how outlining can help you plot better.  There's also a couple chapters on outlining and character building and outlining and setting.  Now I’m excited to start planning a new story so I can try out these techniques.