A Lesson Learned from NaNo.

pconsidine · Dec 1, 2006

(I know this has been discussed elsewhere, but my forum searches only turned up posts hinting at the topic, not the actual topic, so forgive the redundancy.)

For the second time, I signed up to write 50,000 words in a month. For the first time, I actually did it (and with 35 minutes to spare). Right now, I'm feeling pretty good about myself. I didn't think I could ever do that much focused writing in that amount of time and now I know that I can.

But I've discovered something about the way that I work that troubles me.

Last year, I had about 15,000 words written before I got stuck. Eventually, I had a breakthrough and churned out about 22,000 words in the last four days.

This year, I started writing literary fiction, wound up swerving into horror thriller, decided I hated that and got stuck, then started another literary fiction with a whole different POV character. The saving grace of it was that this time, I counted all those false starts toward my 50K.

I have tried outlining previously, but whenever I do that, I can't muster even the slightest interest in writing the thing. It seems that it's the thrill of discovery through writing that gets me going. But I can't help but feel that there's got to be a way to do it without spending 15,000-35,000 words chasing down blind alleys.

I've read some of Uncle Jim's posts and they seem to say that it's possible to write the way that I like to without wasting so much time, so here's my question:

HOW?

No - seriously. How?

Snitchcat · Dec 1, 2006

Have you tried writing the last scene first then 'outlining as you go'? I used to write without an outline. The best way I found to stay focused was to write the ideal last scene first, then as I wrote, I'd plan a few steps ahead. When I got to a stopping point, I planned the next lot of scenes.

That worked for me, up to a point. (Then life became too busy.)

The method that works for me now: outlining as first draft. Basically, I write the points I want to cover, then if the scene strikes me, I write that, then it's back to the point form. Amongst the lot are worldbuilding and character notes. Sounds chaotic, but it works for me. You might try it if you think it'll help.

Only thing with my outline/draft method: I must know the characters fully before I get to the story, else my story is rather messed up.

Hope my rambling helped a little; if not, disregard. (^_^)

JeanneTGC · Dec 1, 2006

I don't outline at all. And I do mean at ALL. I can't stand it -- it drains all my creativity away.

I usually have the full story arc in my mind, or the scene, or the character/s. I sit down and I write. I don't mind the blind alleys, if you will -- most of them I will use somewhere else, either in that same work, or in another one. And the practice is, IMHO, never a waste of time.

I tend to start at the beginning, write on through the middle, and to the end. I know plenty who skip around. There are times I'll see a scene in my mind and write it down so I don't lose it, then leave it alone, sometimes for months or more. I did that with one scene that ended up being the basis for the fantasy novel I'm currently shopping to agents.

There is NOTHING wrong with starting something, hitting a point where you're out of ideas for that WIP, and then moving on to something else. When that happens to me, I know that my sub-conscious has spotted something wrong, and until my conscious mind can figure out what that is, I need to work on something else.

It's whatever works for YOU. Only you know what motivates you, how to keep going, and how the words flow best onto the page for you. Everyone else can offer suggestions or say what they do, but in the wee dark hours when you're staring at the computer screen or the pad of paper, it's all about how you create best.

steveg144 · Dec 1, 2006

Snitchcat said:
The method that works for me now: outlining as first draft.

That's my plan for NaNo 2007. My NaNo 2005 was a disorganized mess, and I do believe I wound up having to do two more revision cycles than were necessary if I'd simply outlined the novel before I started instead of just core-dumping the story into Word. For 2007, I plan to have an index card for each chapter, with a few lines of notes on the content, and have the index cards in order on Nov 1. When the starting gun is fired, I can start peeling those bad boys off the stack, and when the last card is done, so am I.

scarletpeaches · Dec 1, 2006

Perhaps outlining in your head, not writing it on paper? That way you can think the story through, see if it works, without using up your creative juices doing what writers should do - and that's write.

BruceJ · Dec 1, 2006

JeanneTGC said:
I don't outline at all. And I do mean at ALL. I can't stand it -- it drains all my creativity away.

I usually have the full story arc in my mind, or the scene, or the character/s. I sit down and I write. I don't mind the blind alleys, if you will -- most of them I will use somewhere else, either in that same work, or in another one. And the practice is, IMHO, never a waste of time.

I tend to start at the beginning, write on through the middle, and to the end. I know plenty who skip around. There are times I'll see a scene in my mind and write it down so I don't lose it, then leave it alone, sometimes for months or more. I did that with one scene that ended up being the basis for the fantasy novel I'm currently shopping to agents.

There is NOTHING wrong with starting something, hitting a point where you're out of ideas for that WIP, and then moving on to something else. When that happens to me, I know that my sub-conscious has spotted something wrong, and until my conscious mind can figure out what that is, I need to work on something else.

It's whatever works for YOU. Only you know what motivates you, how to keep going, and how the words flow best onto the page for you. Everyone else can offer suggestions or say what they do, but in the wee dark hours when you're staring at the computer screen or the pad of paper, it's all about how you create best.

Jeane, we're two peas out of the same pod...except for you being Catwoman and all.

This is exactly the way I write. At first I thought I was just disorganized (and that's probably true, too) but trying to lay out my approach in advance somehow drains some of the joy from the project. Maybe as I get into longer works, I'll see the value in outlining.

I also skip around and write scenes I know will be coming up as the ideas occur to me. Then I stitch them into the story line as I get to them. Breaks some of the monotony and the occasional block, too.

Glad to see somebody else does this. Thanks.

Julie Worth · Dec 1, 2006

I've written a handful of novels now, and every one of them was blank page, and most of them were fun to write. Particularly for thrillers, where I drop a character into the worst possible situations, so horribly impossible that I have no clue how she's going to extricate herself, but she always does. And I figure it's the way God does it, so it's worth emulating.

JeanneTGC · Dec 1, 2006

BruceJ said:
Jeane, we're two peas out of the same pod...except for you being Catwoman and all. This is exactly the way I write. At first I thought I was just disorganized (and that's probably true, too) but trying to lay out my approach in advance somehow drains some of the joy from the project. Maybe as I get into longer works, I'll see the value in outlining.

I also skip around and write scenes I know will be coming up as the ideas occur to me. Then I stitch them into the story line as I get to them. Breaks some of the monotony and the occasional block, too.

Glad to see somebody else does this. Thanks.

A soul brother!

I write long novels, as well as shorts, novellas and humorous essays. It's the same for me no matter what. Like Julie, it's a blank page and then, voila, the words start coming.

I think there are more like us out there, too, than we may know of. Non-Outliners of the World Unite!

pconsidine · Dec 1, 2006

JeanneTGC said:
I think there are more like us out there, too, than we may know of. Non-Outliners of the World Unite!

We would, but we just can't get it together.

icerose · Dec 1, 2006

I do a combination. Before I start writing a picture evolves in my head, I can see the characters, the scene, I can feel it, I can taste it and the words just form. When this happens I rarely throw anything I write in that state away because it's so tangible it ends up being just what the story needs. When I get stuck, that's when I outline. I do a very basic outline such as:

-- Marcy goes to school
-- Kids laugh, bad moment
-- Marcy runs away
-- Stick in the bush - magical snake - wishes
"What do you wish for, sad child?"
Marcy dries her tears and looks into the serpent's ruby eyes. "I wish all the mean kids would turn to stone."
"As you wish, but if you change your mind I can be found in the golden fortress."
"No, I want them all to pay."
-- Kids turn to stone
-- Marcy regrets
-- on to the golden fortress

Type of outlining. (I know the story example sucks) It keeps my creativity really open, gives me a game plan and directional, points to think about, then I can later go in and if I think of a section, I can fill it in without sacrificing those bulleted points or losing my place.

Each to their own. You have to find what works for you.

Dave.C.Robinson · Dec 1, 2006

I outline a little (a small text file with necessary notes including little bits about characters I need to remember) and then just write. Once I get about half way through a novel I start doing a scene by scene breakdowns, but only one chapter at a time. I'll outline finish chapter 12 and outline chapter 13. I also keep my text file going and change things as I need to. I certainly don't stick to it.

I will also reorganize the work in the revision process.

anodyne · Dec 1, 2006

Buy a typewriter.

sfecphory · Dec 1, 2006

Those aren't blind alleys, those are options to work from later. I'm sure you aren't writing as if your first draft will be your final one. If you are, stop thinking that way. Write and write. When you find you're stuck put that work aside for a while. Come back to it later, and read it. You'll find all those blind alleys speaking to you and reopening in ways you couldn't have imagined before. I have a novel which is about to be submitted by an agent. I wrote it in roughly six months. Those six months were not six months in a row. They were six months crammed into about five years. I'd write, get stuck, put it away. Months later I'd go back, pick it up, work a while, put it away. In between I worked on short stories, another novel, a screenplay.

I never outline, I have a few scenes in my head and a voice and I go. Eventually I get somewhere. I guess my advice is view your fits and starts as fertile beginnings, not stalled endings. From the sound of it you've got three novels in the work right now (thanks to NaNo).

crazynance · Dec 1, 2006

I tried to outline, I did; no really! I DID! but then the characters got up and ran away on their own adventure. I was so busy catching up with them, I dropped my outline!

J.S Greer · Dec 3, 2006

crazynance said:
I tried to outline, I did; no really! I DID! but then the characters got up and ran away on their own adventure. I was so busy catching up with them, I dropped my outline!

Outlines can change; theyre only to establish structure. I use a step outline and it helps alot. It keeps track of my plot points, big and small, and reminds me where im going, although I already know this.

Just adjust the outline as the characters themselves change.

icerose · Dec 3, 2006

J.S Greer said:
Outlines can change; theyre only to establish structure. I use a step outline and it helps alot. It keeps track of my plot points, big and small, and reminds me where im going, although I already know this.

Just adjust the outline as the characters themselves change.

That's what I do. I also use my outline to keep track of names, plot holes, features I describe so in the first section I don't have my MC with black hair and then suddenly in the next section she has red. I graph out what has been solved, what needs to be solved and so forth. It keeps a whole lot of rereading time.

spacejock2 · Dec 3, 2006

I hate outlines too. I just write and throw away stuff later.

My writing style is a bit like shooting a documentary: Start with a rough idea, film a pile of footage, then splice the best bits into a narrative. Sometimes the focus doesn't come out until you've cut and re-cut the pieces, and sometimes it never goes together properly.

Yes, it's wasteful. The alternative is to create a detailed outline and natty little bios for all your characters, which to me is a bit like going mountain climbing in a strait jacket.

The point is, if you find writing to an outline is like typing exercise, then don't do it. I know my best writing occurs when I just let myself go, and if I don't use that particular piece in one book it might very well find its way into another.

ChaosTitan · Dec 3, 2006

J.S Greer said:
Outlines can change; theyre only to establish structure.

Precisely, and this is how I use outlines. Going into NaNo this year, my co-writer and I had about three pages of plot points, in a somewhat linear order. Not specific chapters, but definite beats that needed hitting, events that needed to occur, and an eventual ending (or near enough, since it will likely change once we get there).

This type of outlining helps us, because we know our characters. We can get into their head, write them, and yet still be surprised by their actions. We know the universe, and its ins and outs, but are always learning something new about it. It's just a different way of writing, I suppose.

And this tentative outline (Bullet Point Method?) has helped us write 82,500 words since November 1st, and we're trucking at full speed toward the climax (in another five or six chapters, I'd wager).

In any discussion that debates outlines, someone always has to say this: Find what works for you, and do it.

Sage · Dec 3, 2006

I very rarely write out an outline, but I always know where my story is going in advance. That knowledge can be in the form of, "This is the conflict, & this is the solution, but as for what happens in between, I don't know," or in the form of, "First the MC does this, then that, & then that... oh, but can't forget they have to have this conversation (& so on)." Of course, there's always room for change, but for the most part, I know where it's going, which really helps with setting up things as I go along. The closest I have to written down outlines is when I used to brainstorm with my friend over IM, & then saved the conversations so I wouldn't forget anything I came up with.

J.S Greer · Dec 3, 2006

Sage said:
I very rarely write out an outline, but I always know where my story is going in advance. That knowledge can be in the form of, "This is the conflict, & this is the solution, but as for what happens in between, I don't know," or in the form of, "First the MC does this, then that, & then that... oh, but can't forget they have to have this conversation (& so on)." Of course, there's always room for change, but for the most part, I know where it's going, which really helps with setting up things as I go along. The closest I have to written down outlines is when I used to brainstorm with my friend over IM, & then saved the conversations so I wouldn't forget anything I came up with.

I use bullet points.

I think its impossible, for me at least, to store everything in my head. If I get an idea, ill make a quick note. I dont get too detailed, unless I have an exact scene pop into my head.

Its like a safety net more than anything. You can walk the tightrope without it there, but its nice to know you have it just in case.

BruceJ · Dec 4, 2006

The closest I've come to outlining, I suppose, is creating a timeline. My story is 8-9 C. BC and activities and characters have to jibe with actual events. Their ages have to make sense with what they're doing and there has to be internal consistency between characters (family orders, etc.). The timeline (in MS Excel) only chronicles ages with major events in the series. Don't think this is much of an outline, but it's the closest I've come. In fact, I don't think I've referred to it lately. Excuse me a moment, would you...

PeeDee · Dec 4, 2006

I neither outline, nor timeline, nor plot. I don't have character notes.

Mostly, I have an idea. The idea sits in my head until something about it gets me excited, and then all sorts of ideas start appearing and piling up in my head for that same idea. If I'm really excited and I want to start writing it, but I can't start the fiction yet (perhaps I haven't got a character yet; perhaps I haven't got any scenes) then I'll scribble a half-page of notes that talks to myself about the story. Even then, I usually throw it away.

I used to be terrified of forgetting the bits in my head before I got there in the story. I've long since realized that if it's important and really good (even if it's minor) then I generally remember it. If I forget it, I'll never notice, and something else will have come along to take its place.

A Lesson Learned from NaNo.

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