I’ve read
that Charles Dickens never knew what would happen as he wrote. Have you ever
seen how big his books are? And everything connects with each other. I think
that’s amazing and it proves you don’t need to outline every single thought
that contributes to the plot. However, I also believe that it depends on the
writer, because there are writers who have the story in their heads from
beginning to end and make it work too.
I’m
definitely a wing-it-person myself, I try to outline as much as I can, but it
doesn’t seem to work for me. It’s like the story is already there, all I need
to do is write. So that’s what I do. I just write. It starts with a basic idea,
then the characters (sometimes the other way around) and then the words just
flow onto the paper. Alright, it’s not always that easy, but for a first draft
I just tell myself to keep going, writing for the sake of writing. Then I can
always edit later on. Plus, by forcing yourself to write you usually come up
with great ideas. At least, that’s the case with me. Of course I do take a
little break sometimes to assess different plot turns and see which will work
best, but once I know which direction I want to head in I’m good to go. And
when I find that I have no idea which way to go, that’s where I just write the
first thing that comes to mind and usually that sparks great ideas later on.
Pressure can be a good thing,
I’ve learned. If you’re stuck it’s also a good idea to write the ending, or a
future scene so that you know what you’re writing towards.
The cons of outlining are that there is no room for creativity, you’ve already thought about which scene goes where and after hard work you’ve come up with the perfect full circle, but what if you discover something along the way? Oh, what is that? Another character just popped up? No, that can’t happen because it’s not planned. But it can happen, because in the imagination anything can happen. Writing is a creative endeavour and no matter how perfectly planned the story is, you still never know until you actually write. You might also get tunnel vision and at some point lose track of the big picture because you’re so focussed on what your outline told you to write that it might take you a while to notice that it’s not working. I’ve heard stories of writers that had an outline and started writing, but then realised something wasn’t working and they weren’t sure what. It could be something in the plot that looked good on paper but just isn’t right, or it could be the lack of soul. Sometimes, because you don’t have a clear goal, you go places that you wouldn’t have discovered otherwise. Something that doesn’t necessarily contribute to what you had in mind, but does in fact benefit the soul of the story in some way.
The pros of
no outline are therefore that you have more freedom. You’ve packed your bags
and are ready for the road trip of a lifetime. You know roughly in which
direction you go, but anything is still possible. Predicting what lies ahead
can’t always be done and sometimes you need to react on something along the
way, something that’s unpredictable. Let’s just stick to the driving metaphor
and say that there’s a road block, then you need to find a way around it at
that moment and who knows where that might lead to? And that can be a good
thing. You have room for creativity and you find that your original idea may
lead you to a completely new and better idea.
The cons of
no outline are that you can get lost along the way. Without a clear destination
you might end up driving in circles. If you don’t at least know what you’re
trying to say and what you’re writing for, it’s hard to determine what should
be written in the first place. A book needs some structure in order to make
sense, so it’s good to have some things planned, even if it’s just one scene at
the end and one in the middle.
What works
for me is the middle ground. Somewhere between plotting like a villain and
winging it like a politician that was just caught cheating. However, it is up
to the writer. Everybody has their own system and what works for me, won’t work
for them and vice versa. So which are you? Plotter? Winger? Or plonger?
As I was telling you, I am a plotter extraordinaire, haha. This is my process:
ReplyDeleteI begin with the germ of an idea. It let it sit and grow for a few days before I start writing, and then I freewrite, figuring out the world, characters, etc. Usually I have an idea of what the climax is going to be by this point. When I have a character, I do a LOCK (Lead, Objective, Conflict, Knockout)
The LOCK essentially allows me to get to know my character and to figure out exactly what their role in the story is and what their motivations are. I do one for the protagonist and antagonist at minimum, since their conflict drives the story.
Once the LOCK is done, I draw a line on a sheet of paper and divide it into three sections, Acts 1-3. The division between each act is a "Doorway of No Return" to borrow James Scott Bell's phrase (His book is Plot and Structure and it's great!). The doorways are the transitions between acts. I use this diagram to figure out my inciting incident, 1st and 2nd doorway, and climax.
Once I've done that, it's time to break out note cards. On each note card, I write out the setting, what happense in the scene, who is in conflict, their conflict lock (their contradicting objectives)and the resolution. I also make notes about injuries, talismans, objects, etc.
I start with the inciting incident, first doorway, etc, and then fill in the gaps. Typically I have about 30 note cards. I usually plan each one to become a chapter, but that doesn't always happen.
Then once THAT is done, it's time for a summary outline, where I try to bring all the notecards together and smooth out logical inconsistencies. I add more details at this point and add depth. The summary chapter outline is what I work from come time to write.
So there you are. It's elaborate, but it works haha
Thanks for sharing this, Andrew! I know it will definitely help me and I'll try it out with my next story (and possibly the rest of them). I also love any excuse to use note cards. :)
DeleteI think creativity is where the argument for pantsers vs. outliners really gets into trouble. The pantsers -- and I'm one -- thinks that an outline has no room for creativity. But the outliner says that it does have room for it. It's really more about the different processes and how they work, and it's hard to see how the other person sees it because of our perceptions. As a pantser, I can't see how I can even come up with an outline without writing it first. I also find outlines very sequential, even though outliners have vehemently told me they aren't. But that's their experience, not mine.
ReplyDeleteMy process: On the next new book, I'm going to do some broad research on the setting before I start writing. I'm experimenting with visual notes. For the story, it'll still be mostly the same: start writing.
Thanks for your comment, Linda! It's interesting to see how different writers write their stories! :)
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