Some writers architect and outline their novels like they’re building the Sistine Chapel. Some fly by the seat of their pants like they’re riding a bucking bronco. And some, of course, do both like they’re… um… riding a bucking bronco within the Sistine Chapel?
Do you outline?
And more importantly for those of you who do: how do you outline?
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Art: Artemisia Building the Mausolaeum by Simon Vouet
I’m in the middle. I outline–using the hero’s journey as my loose guide–but it’s an organic document that changes as I go along and get to know the characters better.
My process is decidedly low tech, involving posterboard and sticky notes.
I find outlines invaluable for charting a course for first drafts of novels, for helping me complete those drafts in a reasonable time frame, and for revising. (I rethink outlines as I move through drafts, because the story evolves as I write it.) In the absence of such advance planning, I once spent 12 years writing and revising a novel, which I vow to never do again.
I consider myself a plotter and outlined my first 3 books so extensively, they were more like handwritten first drafts, sans setting and dialog. Made it so easy to churn out the story once I sat down at computer. Unfortunately, I was too eager to get started on my 4th and only marginally outlined the story, which has brought me to a grinding halt too many times to count. I now regret not taking the time to flush out all the important details and timeline that would make it easier and faster for me to write. I thought devouring then utilizing books on structuring plot and laying out signposts would benefit me, but it’s only served to throw roadblocks in my way. I’ll never make that mistake again.
Outline? Not for me. First, I’m of the age when outlining was taught and required in school, leading me to see writing as a chore rather than a joy. Second, when I begin a story, my main characters (all of them, actually) are not yet three-dimensional. They become flesh (I hope) only through finding their own stories, reacting, changing, experiencing the unexpected. The way I look at it, it’s not my story, it’s their’s. Also, it’s more fun this way. If I were building a skyscraper, I’d worry.
I use Microsoft Excel. Each row represents a scene. They are color-coded by which character has the POV in that scene. It’s detailed. Without that outline, I get lost.
I’m a bit embarrassed to say I don’t outline, but somehow the story still comes out right. I’ve thought about this and maybe I outline in my head. Or not. As with SK Figler I hated outlining in school figuring that by the time I did it I could have written most of the story in rough draft form. So am I outlining anyway, using a rough draft as an outline?
I’m more planner than pantser. I plan the overall story, then acts or parts, set-pieces, bits of dialogue etc. etc. But I stay open to further inspiration right to the very end and after.
Irving Stone’s novel ‘THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY’ and the movie based on it tell the story of the decoration of the Sistine Chapel, among other things. The plans changed a lot! No bronco riding, though…
And a nice choice of painting! Artemisia’s ancestor-in-law and namesake was memorably played by Eva Green in ‘300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE’. THAT Artemisia wasn’t so creative…
I architect-write the plot and creative-write the scenes and characters. It gets tricky when a character wants to step aside the global story, but it’s only the difficult characters that make trouble. Most of the rest are typically well-behaved. Mostly.
I tried to outline, but it strangled the life out of the feeling that brought the story to me. Now my white board is for my wife’s cool doodles.
I used to never outline, but ended up writing in circles until I learned to start with a basic plan. My ‘outline’ is the written equivalent of a five-year-old hyped up on sugar explaining her favorite movie. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough to keep me on track. 😉
I absolutely do. My day job is in systems development, and my books are a lot like project plans at the beginning; with imminent releases fleshed out in much more detail than later releases, although there’s definitely a high-level project plan for the entire series.
I stumbled across an awesome freeware mind-mapping tool called Freemind (the logo is a butterfly) and it’s perfect for chucking down all manner of things, and for planning out chapters and scenes.
It’s also pretty easy to see the entire series at various levels (by collapsing or expanding the structure) and where to put downstream consequences of things that happen in the book I’m working on at the moment.
No outlining in the strict sense of the word. When I do write, I often print out completed pages for further editing, so in an odd way, I have an outline in that I have a semi-complete reference manual. If I should get lost or stuck, I can always refer to the hard copy in order to either unstuck or found.
I’ve occasionally done a short bullet point outline in order to map out the remaining points I need to touch upon at a particular point in the novel.
NOW I do: in reverse. Once upon a time here in Canada there was a commercial for a oil filter (for the car): in it, the mechanic said: “You can pay may now or you can pay may later,” — meaning, their filter cost more than others but without it you would face costly repairs down the line. My first nine middle grade sports novels I wrote with no outline, minimal revision — and reasonable reviews. I had a contract for the tenth book, wrote deliciously half way through it, then stalled. It was the I realized that I had no plan, did not know where I was going, and had had no story. I never did finish it. That’s when I began a long overdue learning process: about character and story arcs, drowning darlings — and outlining other projects with some promise. Trust me, outlining in reverse is tough, you have more darlings to drown, and may end up realizing that the story does not hang together whatever you do. So: outline if you dare; or write that first draft, and re-write, and re-write, and re-write; you can torture yourself with an outline now, or you can torture yourself with ten re-writes later. Your choice.
‘Measure twice and cut once!’ as carpenters say. Or ‘Be prepared!’ as Boy Scouts used to say.
I go through a few stages of outlining (adding more detail each time) before I start to write. During my first draft, as the story changes from my original plan, I make another outline to stay on track.
I find that not outlining before I start a draft causes me to lose the plot of my story, and I’m wandering too much till I lose the story entirely. An outline helps me to own my story and gives me directions through the plot points and on through to the end.
John T Shea nailed it, though many of us perhaps have to build a few wobbly birdhouses on the fly to be convinced.
I’m convinced; I need at least a loose outline to avoid scrapping a whole lot of work. BUT. Let’s back up and someone blog about what you can do BEFORE you outline? One needs IDEAS! So we’re back to free-writing and back to tossing work out and…Yeh. I’d like to hear what you seasoned writers do to identify an idea WORTH developing into a plot, and then what? You don’t just sit down cold and list plot points? Or DO you? =D
I’m aways seeking and collecting inspirations in the form of articles and picture and my own thoughts. I’ve built up hundreds of potential setpieces, characters, and notions down through the years, enough for far more stories than I’m likely to write myself, even though I always put every good thing that will fit into whatever I’m writing, as if that’s all I’ll ever write.
Ideas ARE important, vital in fact, but the devil is in the details in completing a whole story for the reader. I don’t free-write scenes in advance of a general outline, although some writers find that useful. I suppose any collection of ideas for a given story can be seen as a kind of outline for that story. The ingredients and the recipe can overlap in cooking up a literary feast.
I used to never outline (I tended to write in order back then). Then I outlined before I did anything and it took much longer to finish writing, because I would get caught up in ideas. I don’t enjoy the writing process as much if I outline first. School has ruined outlining for me (as it has ruined many other things for me). To sit down to outline before I write, is just an assignment, lacking joy. It makes me feel disconnected when I am focusing more on ideas than story. Still, outlining is useful.
I don’t like to write ideas down. I like to keep them in my head, and let them brew. When I’ve developed the idea in my head to the point where my mind keeps wandering to it, and the characters won’t stop telling me their story, that’s when I write. I write all that is rushing to get out of my head. When the rush slows and I begin to think about what else I should write, that’s when I outline. Outlining after I’ve started writing helps me to see what is missing and what needs to be cut. It allows me to listen to the more talkative characters and see if their stories fit into the outline, or if that character is, perhaps, in the wrong story, or more important a character than I had thought.
My outlining tools of choice are a few marker boards and index cards. The marker board is the bigger picture and the index cards are more detailed. I like to store the index cards in a way that allows me to see them, and move them as needed (like a photo album or something else with a lot of clear index card-sized pockets). I like keeping the cards mobile, because I like to write notes on them after I’ve written the scene they suggest. If you need a break, it helps to be able to put them away and not see them. And, sometimes it helps to take them with me and get out of my office for a bit.
That’s the method to my madness.
I’m working on my first book. Some people suggested outlines, others said to write and see where the characters take you. I tried both. My new motto is… “The only place you get without a plan, is lost.”
Only when a publisher asks for an outline. And some do, indeed, ask. It’s usually a chapter by chapter outline. But frankly, I never stick to an outline. I’ve never, ever met a character yet who could stand that kind of restriction. 🙂
When I initially get an idea I write a vague outline. I use the basic plot triangle as a guideline. That first outline isn’t set in stone and usually would change as my characters developed. The outline just made it easier for me to organize my ideas. I am generally a pretty disorganized person, so I will do whatever I can to work around that.
I guess that means I ride broncos in the Sistine Chapel. I usually write a one page synopsis (sometimes two), of my stories in a notebook. I read them periodically, and make adjustments from time to time. Sometimes I rewrite them entirely. I read them again before starting on a project, and then refer to it as little as possible while working on the project. When finished I read it again before working on the next draft. Scenes and scenarios that no longer fit and left off, and ones that I can still include I usually add on somewhere. Like others, I need a way for my characters to grow and react to situations to become three dimensional.