Do literary writers outline or wing it?

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gettingby

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I'm curious to know more about the process of other literary writers. I've gone to quite a few panel discussions and talks with some great writers who shared their process. It seems like a lot don't really plan or outline with short stories, but some do only for novels. Still, I was a little surprised to hear that many of them just write. Some of them talk about finishing short stories very quickly after thinking about them for a while, but not necessarily planning them out. They just think about it until they feel ready to write it, and then bam, a story produced in a day. Others talk about short stories coming out in a handful of writing sessions and not needing much work. I get that these are accomplished writers. But how far off is your process compared to theirs? Are literary writers more likely to skip an outline and just write?

I know my information comes from a small sampling, but I'm always curious about how other people write. And, especially, literary writers. I would love to hear from you guys on this.
 

shadowwalker

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I think if you look around the forum, you'll discover that no matter what kind of writing one does, each writer has their own method. It's the old "there's no right way or wrong way - only the way that works for you".
 

gettingby

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I think if you look around the forum, you'll discover that no matter what kind of writing one does, each writer has their own method. It's the old "there's no right way or wrong way - only the way that works for you".

So, what way works for you? I know that everyone has their own process and does what works for them. But there seems to be a pattern from what I see. I could see how it might be easier for literary writers to avoid planning and plotting, especially with short stories, as opposed to a genre writer who might be world-building and things like that. What has surprised me is how quickly some literary writers produce short works without knowing exactly where they are going with it until they've gone there. Some of them can make it sound so easy. But I know it's not. Or maybe it is for them and that's why they publish all the time.
 

tariqshwa

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i usually begin off the cuff, provoked my some inspiration, and just try to get the thing out as fast as possible. then i revise for a billion years, which may or may not involve some form of outline. it really depends on the story. i oftentimes end up inventing a new process for each piece. whatever works!
 

Jamesaritchie

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Literary or genre makes no difference at all. I know considerably more genre novel writers who don't plan, plot, or outline than I know those who do. Same with literary fiction.

William Saroyan got his big break by writing and submitting a short story a day for a month. Not much time for outlining there.

My experience, in fact, is that writers who outline, be it literary or genre, take longer to write novels, and need considerably more drafts. Many seem to assume that outlines always work, can always be followed successfully, but this isn't true. Even those who use outlines to write wonderful stories very often have to change the outline several times during the writing process, and often have to abandon it and start over.

It just isn't always as easy as writing an outline, and then following it with no snags.

Literary or genre, it seems to be easier and faster for many writers when they have no clue where they're going. A lot easier, and a lot faster. The truly prolific writers almost always write this way.

My experience with writing, and with reading slush, it that having something to say is the hard part, and the slow part. If you have this, I think it is easy to write a short story, or a novel, fast, and without knowing where you're going. If you don't have this, it's a Herculean struggle, whatever method you use.

Even "world-building" as a slow, separate activity is something talked about more by new writers than selling pros. Most of the genre writers I know or read about build the world as they write, and do so just as fast as the rest of the story.

There's only one right way to write, and that's the way that works for you. The must be a thousand wrong ways to write, and that's all the ways that don't work for you.

It shouldn't take all that long to realize whether a way is or isn't working. When it isn't, you have to decide whether it's because the method is wrong, or whether you have nothing to say, or lack the talent to say something well enough.

I do know completely changing methods can sometimes work wonders. Too many use the method they do because they think they're supposed to, or because they don't see how a different method could work, even when the one they use isn't working, either.

Sometimes, as Ray Bradbury said, you have to jump off the cliff and build your wings on the way down.
 

Booklover199

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I always have a loose outline. I know where I want to go with the story, but I can change little points and add things at any time.
 

Calder

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I outline in great detail, but am always aware that, as I write, ideas may come which necessitate changes. So, I suppose I'm a flexible detailed outliner. When I get an idea I think it through from beginning to end. If, in a story, you're guiding your reader on a journey, I can only function if I know where I'm going. Some writers know where they start and where they will end, but "wing it" getting between the two. Me, I even plan the coffee-stops. As the French say chacun a son gout.
 

VegAthLes

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My WIP is rather involved, so I outlined not only the current book, but am/will outline the companion books, as well. Since everything is interconnected, outlining helps me keep everything organized, cohesive, and avoid problems.
 
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