Outlining

An outline is an organizational device. I have the basic parts of a story as the main outline topics. Within the main topics, are what I have planned. As the story goes, I restructure as needed, choosing better, more accurate and "shaplier" fiction to tell the story. Often I throw out huge chunks. The first outline is usually just a map to proceed. I am telling the story of a girl who... (etc.). The story parts pertain to the structure you will use. (Three part dramatic structure, or other structure you might be interested in trying.)

Each part of the structure contains only certain things-- that shoots down a lot of wandering around right there. When you brainstorm a plot while writing, you are writing organically. You shouldn't plot so tightly that there is no room to grow or change a story, but you should plot tightly enough to keep you on your track.

I usually start with an ending in mind, but generally throw it away after a while.

You write "material" until you have enough "material" to begin developing the story. This is where you begin to pick and chose. write a lot of material, keep some, but understand you will throw some out too. That's why you write messy to begin with.

That's all I have.

Sometimes if I feel a story of mine isn't flowing correctly, I'll outline it after the first draft. Helps me spot the rough spots.

I've never outlined a story before the rough draft though. Just feels too constrictive to me.

I almost always outline. That said, I do most of my brainstorming before I outline -- I know the rough shape of what I want to do before I sit down to iron things out. But with that rough shape in mind, I try to block out the basic structure of the book, breaking it down into smaller and more defined pieces as I go. Sometimes I stop at a rougher outline; sometimes I go down to an extremely detailed one.

Basically, you find your high points, figure out how you should connect them, then get a look at your pacing and character arcs so you can develop them further.

I don't know if that was helpful, but it's what I do!

I find I crash and burn unless I outline. Although I do general brainstorming before the outline, the story's pretty vague. The outline (obviously) defines the story so that when I'm writing it, I actually know where I'm going and what needs to be said. I also feel that outlining enables me to see any hole-y areas in the plot before I start to write, and the scenes feel like they flow together better and in a more cohesive order.

And I outline very extensively. My fingers fly faster and although the outline takes longer, the first draft goes a lot quicker.

Not everything works for everyone, though. Give outlining a try, but don't force it if it seems to dry you up or just not work. Sometimes plain old freewriting can be best.

I'm a big fan of the old outline. I like to know where my story is going and it helps me keep track. If I find myself floundering while writing, referring back to the outline often helps me get back on track. I usually do a huge outline, in great detail. I don't always stick exactly to it, of course, the story can wander off in unpredictable directions but outlines work well for me in general.

Clare

I always seem to start with a character, someone who just speaks to me. I let the character have his/her way for a while, and then I start jotting down my ideas on a plot graph (typical initial incident, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, along with a bunch of scribbled ideas for sub-plots, etc.) Then I start writing with a general idea of what I'm writing: "OK, now I'm going to write the scene where the ex-husband comes back and almost kills her." I know the basic idea behind the scene, and I think I know how it's going to end. However, quite often in the writing of the scene, my characters do something unexpected, and then I run with that, adjusting my "outline" and my ideas about where the story is going based off of that. For instance, in my last novel, (not yet published, so what do I know?) the main character suddenly had some chemistry with another character and started falling in love. This was NOT on the outline, but who am I to stand in their way?

I do not outline extensively. As I write fantasy, I do basic world building to begin the story, write simple character profiles including background and then scribble notes and things I need to remember as I go along. Building as I go along is easiest for me or else I get bogged down in the details and attempting to infodump.

I've never outlined.

Sometimes, before I shut down for the night, I will write a brief idea - or even a sentence or snippet of dialogue - about where I intend to go next. I guess this is a form of outlining.

But I've never laid out a plot on paper.

I always outline extensively before writing. I know exactly how the story is going to begin and end before I put a single word on paper, and I don't find it constrictive at all. For myself, writing isn't being able to come up with plot and characters on the fly, its the presentation of the story, the ability to tell it with the proper language. I guess you could say I break it up into two stages, The story creating and the story telling.

I have a rough idea of how I want to start and where I end up. Under the last chapter I'm working on I keep a list of ideas to incorporate for the following chapters: a new location, a dangerous moment, a betrayal of trust, a sudden insight. It's a small nudge for the characters and the plot twists in case I'm not tormenting them enough.

I usually have an idea for several of the scenes that will go into the story. As I brainstorm I'll write them down hodge-podge.

Once I start writing, I'll write down the order of the scenes,usually a story arc at a time, often with more scenes crammed in between the lines or arrows or numbers pointing here and there.

It's nothing I would dignify with the term "outline," but I have to count myself in with the people who do some sort of notetaking or written planning before or as I write.

--Q

Outlining has never worked for me. Though not for lack of trying--I think I must have tried every form there is because I wanted to make the plot development easier and less time consuming. But I when I try an outline, I might as well throw it away when I'm done because when I make first contact with the story, I end up not using a single thing from it.

So, I develop my hook first, then write a query-style summary of the story, have a couple of ideas of scenes, and jump into the story from there. In spite of this, it still takes a first draft for me to figure out what the story is about and who the bad guys are.

I couldn't write without an outline. I might write the first chapter based solely on the premise, but before I go on to chapter two, I have to have the whole thing planned. I start with a simple point outline, then plan out the scenes, writing a paragraph about each one.

Unfortunately (or fortunately -- depending on how you look at it) the characters do not always obey the outline I create. Sometimes they move faster -- making me omit whole scenes. Sometime they baulk at what I want them to do -- making me write extra scenes around them. Sometimes they throw an unexpected wrench in my plans -- making me redo my whole stupid outline.

scheherazade said:

Do you outline your stories? If you do, how do you use the outlining process to brainstorm a plot?

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I always start with a character and maybe a very vague idea. Index cards help me brainstorm what's going to happen. I usually sit on the couch as it's more relaxing, then I number a bunch of cards. I write two sentences per card. Here's an example of one.

Caden gets an urgent message from her cousin Lissa.

Lissa tells her that Stewart -Lissa's brother- is dead, murdered.

Then I move to the next card and keep going. Once I feel I can't think of anymore I go back to the first card and flip it over and expand on those two sentences. It's sort of a free flow brainstorming for me.

Most of my stories/book ideas start out with a "what would happen if...?" sort of moment.

With my novel, I did a cursory outline using a 5 act format -- ie, what did I see as the main point of each act, and what would be the end state of each act in terms of where the characters stood in terms of the overarching plot. Then I broke down each act into five chapters, and did the same thing -- who would the POV character be, and what important fact would the character be left with at the end of the chapter.

As I wrote, I refined my initial ideas -- the 5 act format is still there, but slightly altered from its original incarnation. As part of the 2nd drafting process, I printed out blank calendars for the three months over which the story takes place, and then marked down the events that occured in each chapter. That let me see where I was trying to cram too much, or where I had huge unreasonable gaps in time. A little anal, but very useful -- it showed me which holes needed to be closed.

My next WIP I've got completely outlined in a similar fashion -- each chapter "main point" has been delineated.

When an idea for a story or novel first occurs to me, I write it down in my Red Book of Plot Bunnies. The Bunny will be named, for easy identification, then transferred to a Word document "Bunny Hutch," where all the Bunnies intermingle and grow and mature and, Bunny-like, spawn baby Plot Bunnies.

Eventually I'll reach into the Hutch and pull out a Bunny for development. At this point, I start freewriting, fast fast fast, just spilling whatever comes to mind, asking questions, answering them, asking more, until I see the Bunny has been thoroughly pulverised and purified by the power of the Imagination and reborn as a basic Plot Skeleton.

Next I take the Plot Skeleton out of all the remaining Bunny bits and clean it up and start layering flesh onto it. The flesh-layering process is what produces my working outline. This outline tends to grow, in effect, to a very rough first draft, complete with fully dramatized scenes and dialogue. The working "outline" for my current WIP was 192 pages, single-spaced. Your outline length will vary, depending on how close to a draft it becomes over time. If a page or two is long enough for you, go for it.

I do outline writing in present tense -- for some reason, this signals my Inner Editor to shut up and mind his friggin' business, this is just doodling, nothing he needs to worry about. The last thing you want in the development and outlining process is an Inner Editor objecting to the necessary lunacy.

Once you have the working outline, don't fall in love with it. As you write the first draft, magic happens and things change. You'll want to explore new paths the outline could never have imagined. This is fine. Go ahead and explore, secure in the knowledge that the faithful outline is still there, ready to rescue you if you get lost.

scheherazade said:

Do you outline your stories? If you do, how do you use the outlining process to brainstorm a plot?

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I'm not sure why but I can't commit an outline to paper without losing interest in the story. It's as if I feel I've already written it. I do all my planning in my head although I'll jot down a line or two concerning key scenes and where I want to place them.
I'm sure those who outline can help you out on this.
Linnea

For the most part I don't outline. I did so, once, and the story got written much faster, but it also felt rather stale and forced to me. So nowadays it takes me longer to write, but it's a lot more fun. (And maybe the fact that my stories regularly run over a hundred chapters helps account for the passage of time. )

Using the outlining process to brainstorm a plot...? I've never done that, for me it's the other way around. Hm. I think I see what you mean in that, toward the end of my stories, I jot down a quick list of major events I know must happen before the story ends, just so I don't leave something out; and often, doing this can help tie up a few more plot points that aren't resolved yet. I did this recently to try to resolve a few major issues that have been niggling at me all along. So in this way, outlining (even in a very quick, rough way) can help brainstorm a few more key plot points. But seeing as that's the only time I use it, when most of the main plot is already in place, I'm afraid I haven't any real advice. If I were to sit down and try to plot out and outline a story from beginning to end, before writing it, I'd never get it done! And to try outlining before I even have the plot at least generally settled in my mind seems backwards to me. That's just my opinion though, I'm sure there are others equally valid.

Sorry, totally missed the brainstorming part. I usually have a fairly good idea where the plot is going (any time an idea comes to me, whether it be a short story, a scene with familiar characters or a full novel idea, I quickly type it up and put it in my spare ideas folder so I can refer back to it).

If I'm struggling, I like to just scribble on large sheets of paper. Make charts linking people and ideas, write down anything that inspires you and let it fester in your subconscious until it all comes together. This usually works for me. Sometimes it's about finding what works for you.

Clare

I outline everything. You can always change an outline as you go and think up new stuff. I use ywriter 4 to track my outline and keep it handy while writing.

Some outlining methods and kits:

The Novel Writing Kit - James V. Smith (Book, and Outlining forms in various rip off tablets, follows methods in Writers Little Helper)
Book in a Month - Victoria Lynn Schmidt (Spiral Bound hard cover, includes forms, forms available online plus an support email list)
First Draft in 30 Days -Karen Wiesner (Book, includes forms)

I prefer FDi30 personally. All gave me workable outlines but I like the method in this book the best. All of these methods are similar.

Outlining allows me to brainstorm and get it all down. If things change as I write....I can easily insert it into the outline as I go.

There are so many methods to use with outlining:

Brainstorming - writing out random ideas on a blank piece of paper
Character bios - history of relevant characters as in depth as you like ( a bit like a c.v.)
Mind mapping - starting from a central theme or character and connecting others themes, dialogs, characters etc. to it (associate x to y)
Abstracts - 300 words or less summary of what you propose to do( usually used by academics)
Research Proposals - My favourite kind of 'outline' which I have adapted from my MA dissertation experience. It all starts with -

1) Working Title
2) Abstract (trying to sell the work and what is the novel trying to achieve in 300 words or less)
3) Methods and Themes ( How I am going to achieve my purpose i.e. what is the genre, what voice am I using, how many characters, what are the settings, what is the target audience, what themes will be discussed, what research will I pursue and what are the potential setbacks)
5) Working Chapters (This also includes an expected word count. At this stage I try to work out potentail number of chapters and chapter titles/outlines. What themes will be discussed where, when will characters be introduced, the beginning, middle and end start here.)
6) Working Characters (Who, what, where and why as well as how of each and every person - however insignificant featured in the novel. Why are they there and how do they relate to one another and the overall purpose of the story?)
7) Conclusion (Is the endeavor feasible and what are the potential success and failures? And asking the most important questions ever: DOES IT FIT? DOES IT FIT? DOES IT FIT? Everything must work how you want it to from characters to themes, to plot and layout.)
7) Further Reading (Essential: read similar material to the one you wish to produce. Look at characters, themes and construction).

Which do I use? I use all of the above.

I also like the idea of interviewing individual characters and I guess that would go into research methods.

Just in case it needs to be mentioned: Outlining in this context does NOT mean that I. A. 1. a. thing you learned in school. It can, if that works for you, but it certainly isn't necessary. There are dozens of methods you can try:

• Write a summary of each scene* on an index card, color-coded by POV or plotline or location (color-coding rocks!), and spread them out on your living room floor while you shuffle them into the right order
• Write a summary of each scene on a sticky-note, also color-coded, and stick them up on the wall above your writing desk
• Set up a notebook
• Create a spreadsheet with one row for each scene and various details across the columns
• Use mind-mapping software (such as FreeMind)
• Use any one of several software products specially developed for writers
• And more

*I don't mean to imply that an outline must be detailed down to the scene level. Many people prefer to keep it general--planning only the beginning, the ending, and a few key events along the way--but the more structured methods are useful if you do plan in that much detail.

I write outlines, but I don't call them that. I always call them "Goofs." A goof is much more likely to be filled with frivolous, useless things than a very serious-sounding "outline."

But that's just my brain.

The best thing about outlines, IMO, is that they can be a very short first draft. You work out the characters, settings, plot events in 10-15k words (or whatever) and have a chance to iron out some problems.

That doesn't mean you won't get better ideas later, because you will. And it doesn't mean you won't have big, hairy screwups that you didn't catch that first time. But that's what first drafts are for.

I find that if I don't outline the rough idea of where the plot is going, I have no incentive to press on with the writing. If the story doesn't yet exist, I don't feel any disappointment in letting it stay unwritten.