Outlining Versus Writing

I don't outline. I don't see the point because when I start writing, it all turns out differently anyway. I sometimes have preconceived ideas about where the story's heading, but often it ends up very differently to what I imagined at the start. It's also not at all unusual for me to start a story with only a vague idea or a main character in a situation. I do some mental outlining, usually as ideas occur to me while I'm writing, but I have to write each scene before I figure out any of the finer details for the scene. And sometimes the minor details of where I'm currently at in a story necessitate changes in major details later on so my ideas of where the story's going change.

bearilou said:

Me, too. That's why using the outline list is not what I do when I outline.

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Amen! Preach it, Piggy! I wouldn't outline if that was the method I thought I had to use either. That's more suited for academic work anyway and not fiction.

Layla Nahar said:

I start writing when I have a person and a situation to write about. When I get stuck I write to myself in a separate doc about the problems I'm trying to sort out.

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I do the same. Right now I have about ten thousand words of nothing but problem solving.

By the time I start something I've already thought about it for a while--mostly the characters, who they are, their backstory, what they need to come to terms with, etc. I'm not someone who only gets to know their characters through writing about them. And by the time I start I have an idea of what their emotional arcs will be, where I want them to get, and, in general time, what needs to happen to get them there. So then I consider the whole in a sort of three act structure, with something significant happening between each "act" that changes the course of things to some degree. Before I start I need to know what those significant events will be, to ground my structure. One I have those, though, I take it one "act" at a time, putting together a basic outline only for my current one. I usually take a couple days to think through things that can happen, ways they might fit together, the impacts they might have, how they drive things towards the next plot point, how they shape the emotional arc, and then I make an outline for that part. It's not too detailed, for each chapter mostly just place, an action or two of the characters', a couple things they say to each other, what those thing make them think and feel. I do one for each chapter up of the act, but they get vaguer the farther I go ("Alex confronts Laura, who reveals her past"), to be refined as I get closer. All of it is totally changeable. If a scene goes a different direction, and it feels right, cool, I'll go and change the course of successive scenes building on it. Sometimes I note this in the outline and sometime I don't bother. I don't even look at it that much. Once I get to the next act I repeat the process. Invariably, things will have come up during the writing I didn't consider at the start, which I can then work into the next part. So I suppose I go back and forth between the writing and outlining too. I couldn't do a full outline before starting, but I couldn't go without one. So it's something like driving in the dark, but with high beams.

I don't outline. I know how it's going to end, and sort of know how it's going to start, plus some "premise" that must go in the book. For example, in my most current paranormal romance, I know it's going to have a happy ending before much soul searching, and the male and female protagonists must not fall in love a the first sight. That essentially gives me six chapters of rough "outline" (three for beginning and three for the end). Then I know there are some elements that must go in the book to create "obstacles" and much "growth" for the female protagonist in order for the happy ending. These make for another six or seven chapters minimum. All of these are in my head, not on a piece of paper. The "how," "where," and "what" details are developed as I write.

I write the title. I write the middle parts. I write THE END. I don't know what's gonna happen until it happens on the page. And then I'm like, "Ooh! I did not see that coming!"

When I write screenplays I didn't outline as I generally had a clear direction I wanted to go. With my first novel I didn't outline and ended up with about 120k words, a lot of it false starts, meandering thoughts, etc. In the end it took me just as long to edit it as it did to write it, cutting out 40k words.

For my current novel I have it outlined enough to (hopefully) avoid the false starts and keep me focused so I don't have to spend nearly as long editing.

If you like outlining, like I do, just keep it flexible. Sometimes you may have to finish your first draft entirely before you know exactly what you have so you can make the changes you need to make.

Outlining takes upfront time to alleviate some editing (such as when writing oneself into a corner). Pantsing gets a first draft quicker, but often require more editing. Which is better or faster? Meh. I'd like to think the two approaches even out in the end.

Try both and see which one works best for you.

-cb

I've actually found that outlining (at least generally) makes my first drafts go faster. When I know what I'm going to write, it's easier to keep going. Of course, I also like the flexibility pantsing offers. I'm so conflicted. I can't decide how much of an outliner or pantser I am.

This has to be one of those "whatever works for you" questions. There is no right or wrong way to write. Some are pure pantsers, some are pure outliners and most of us are somewhere in between.

I tend to work with a mixture of pantsing and outlining, with a few "click" moments thrown in for good measure. A "click" moment for me is when I suddenly realise how something is going to happen or how the book is going to end. Sometimes the click moment comes before I have put pen to paper. Sometimes I will get half way through a book before I know how it is going to finish. However it happens, there will always come a point when it clicks and I know how the rest of the book pans out. Then I write to that outline. Then go back in the edit to retrofit the beginning to the ending.

Very few people are strict outliners or strict improvisers. Most of us are some combination of the two. And DIFFERENT combinations.

One of my favorite writers, Lois McMaster Bujold, outlines about three chapters ahead, writes them, revises them, then ponders where the story could go from there. She says she enjoys discovering her story and would be unable to write if she did not have the excitement of discovery.

Another author, John D. McDonald, famous mystery and occasional sci-fi and fantasy writer, said he outlines the first third of each book in detail, the second third loosely, and the last third not at all. When the characters take over at the one-third point and begin writing their story themselves he knows he has a successful book on his hands.

And there are dozens of other combinations of the two extreme approaches. All of them work for the people who use them.

The most important thing is to do what works for you as an individual.

For me, that's a rough outline so I know approximately what's going on - at least on a chapter level. I use Scrivener so my outlining process relies heavily on its functionality. I use the "project notes" field as my general outline, but that's very rough (it worked out to 344 words for a 50,000 word novel I just finished).

I also use the scene synopsis for more notes, whether as an aide memoire or just a statement of something that needs to happen in a given scene.

I don't suggest anyone else has to follow this method, but it's what works for me and that's why I use it.

I never used to outline. I ran over ideas endlessly in my head, and eventually they'd reach a point where they were right and then I'd write them down. But one day I sat down to a story I'd set on the back burner for a while, and realized I had no idea what I'd meant to happen next. None. I'd forgotten completely. I still have that half-story sitting there in my files, staring at me accusingly. I still can't remember what I meant to do, and I keep drawing a total blank on how to finish it, I have no ideas.

Now I at least jot down some notes about how the plot should go. I also have started making little notes about any interesting ideas I had about scenes, dialogue, or other details, just so I don't forget them!