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Why do I bother? Already, on chapter 4 of my novel I started drifting away from my outline. Now, on chapter 6, I may have to scrap the whole thing and redo it.
Posts: 3567 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
No, no, no! The finished product is the novel, not the outline. If you stick to your outline rigidly, you'll ruin the story. It could be that your outline wasn't thought out well enough, or that you are enhancing the outline without knowing it, or that you outlined the wrong story.
For me, the only time a novel should follow an outline rigidly is if you are writing the noveliztion of a movie.
Scrapping your work is your choice, but please don't do it just because you strayed from your outline. That is something OSC stressed very heavily to us during Uncle Orson's Writing Class.
Part of the problem is probably that you don't yet know how much outlining you require. Everyone is different, and different kinds of projects require different outlining. My novels are outlined in my head, but the screenplay I'm working on is going to be very rigidly outlined because other people will be involved in plot decisions. The actual screenplay will be nothing more than fleshing out a very complete skeleton. But, I'd kill myself if I had to write novels that way.
[This message has been edited by Spaceman (edited July 07, 2005).]
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Hmmm...by "thing" I meant the outline, not the novel.
Sometimes I think I can write and then I make obvious errors of clarity like that one LOL. Oh well, these message boards don't go through the rigorous editing processess my novels do. Maybe they should...
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Self editing here requires self control. I shoot from the hip far too often. It can make for lively discussion but it also gets people upset and makes me look stupid or like an ass.
As for outlining, you might try the way I do it for novels. I think of the climax, what absolutely HAS to happen. I think of several plot points in the story that I consider mandatory. I find a starting point. I start the novel and let the characters lead me to the major plot points on the way to the climax. All of that is in my head and it works pretty well for me.
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It's worth redoing your outline as the story changes. That lets you see the overall shape of this version of your story. One problem with revising novels is that you still have all the various older bits floating about in your head, so you can think that you've got stuff in there (or cut stuff out) which you haven't.
That is the point of the outline, to track the structure, not to dictate it.
posted
I recently read an interview with an author (don't remember who) who said that he only outlines the major scenes that happen in the novel. He doesn't figure out how the characters get there until he starts writing.
Posts: 24 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
There are a lot of people who don't outline until working on the first revision (even then, they may not refer to it as an "outline").
Posts: 8322 | Registered: Aug 1999
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Hmm. I must be the odd one. I don't outline. I have an idea of where I want to go with my story, and then I simply write myself there. A formal, written outline seems ... restrictive to me. I'd never follow it and it would be a waste of my time to write one up. Maybe if an editor needs one, I'll write one when the book is done. Posts: 2026 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
I believe in outlining. The outline will change through the progression of the story as new ideas crop up, but then it is easy enough to change. Most 'new ideas' are basically enhancements instead of deviations. When the story starts to deviate there is something wrong with the story plot line or the chosen characters.
Posts: 575 | Registered: Dec 2003
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This may be obvious to everyone who DOES outlining, but I'm sincerely wanting to know: what benefits do you feel that outlining gives you? When I write, I have a nebulous idea of where I'm going and some sort of clue on how I'm getting there. I write and discover the details along the way. I might have a mental outline of the major stops along the way, but I don't write it down in the same way that I used to outline reports for teachers in school.
I'm just curious to learn how outlining helps some of you in the creative process.
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For me, an outline allows me to work out the story without a) having to actually write it and b) getting hung up on the expression. And then when it's time to write, I can focus on the expression, and not worry about whether the larger story elements are falling into place or not.
By divorcing these two layers (what happens, and how it's presented) and working with them separately, I'm able to focus on one thing at a time. Form and presentation require different ways of thinking, for me.
Sometimes all I have is the general shape of what needs to go in a spot. ("For some reason, Megan's date with Reginald doesn't go well.") And then when I get there in the story, the details present themselves. ("Reginald picks his nose at dinner, and constantly talks about his mother.")
The outline remains flexible and if I get to a particular point and suddenly everything changes, so be it. If that happens, I'll stop and revise the outline, though.
I have also gone through long phases where I did only the vaguest planning, and phases where I've done full-on obsessive planning. This is a nice middle ground for me.
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and it usually needs to be written down, not just mental, because I'm accustomed to thinking via typing now. There's a large tactile element to the way I think.
Posts: 1750 | Registered: Oct 2004
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Now that I think of it, I lied when I said I don't outline. I do outline in certain instances. The most important case is when I come up with a plot but I know I won't get to it for a long time. The outline serves as a memory device for me.
I've got a novel that I plotted about five years ago on a white board that hasn't been erased since then. I transferred the outline to index cards a few months ago, color coded by story line. Now it's in a drawer waiting for the one I'm working on now to get finished.
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