Actual Outline Complete


Not long ago I crowed about figuring out the direction I was going to take in writing an outline for an upcoming book. Now, I've actually completed the outline for book one of the three book trilogy, plus I finished the (much briefer) story arc for books two and three.

I've never been too big a fan of outlines. I've always felt better writing as I go along, trusting that everything will turn out well in the end. But sometimes outlines are demanded.

Strangely, when asked to submit an outline, a part of me that is much more anal than you'd expect if you knew me drives me to write a complete several page outline in numbered chapters hitting every plot point. This practice places pressure on me to come up with essentially the entire novel in a relatively short period (I have traditionally given myself a week to do this, taking the whole period off from game design).

It's taken awhile, but I've learned two really nice things about doing outlines this way when writing my previous four books. First, when the time comes to actually write, I can put more effort into putting evocative words on the page without worrying whether everything will tie together in the end--I've already done all that heavy lifting when I wrote the chapter-by-chapter outline. Second and more importantly, I know that I can veer wildly from the outline if a new character or idea bubbles up during the writing phase, and adjust the outline on the fly. This second part is really important, because as I initially noted, I really have never liked outlines--I always felt that they walled me in, requiring that I adhere to pre-set limitations. Thankfully, I've learned that doesn't have to be true.


Posted: Thu - January 11, 2007 at 06:18 PM          

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