The pros and cons of Outline vs Organic
When I wrote my first book, Awakening, it was an organic process. I flew by the seat of my pants. I started with one scene, developed it into a paragraph, then into a page, and finally into an entire chapter. Eventually the story filled out as characters and scenes presented themselves, but it was messy. With no outline, I had no map. It meant constantly raking back through what I’d written to check the details. Did character X have brown hair or blond? Had he come on the scene before character Y?
My writing process changed as I found my way.
Eventually I grew tired of that reference game and developed two “helper” documents. One summarized setting details, and characters’ physical attributes and personality quirks. The other was a timeline to keep track of dates when events occurred. This is critical to ensure realistic timing between events. For example, if a character suffers a black eye, you can’t have the bruising gone two days later when he or she shows up at work.
Both documents have proven indispensable. After the first major edit of Awakening (and there were many), I decided to begin the story several scenes after its original start. The timeline document helped me place the back story I’d cut. Another edit had me moving scenes earlier or later in the timeline. Unravelling story arcs and reworking them into different times proved very difficult. The timeline document helped, but having a map with more detail would have saved me a lot of work.
A outline developed.
With my second book, Revelation, I organized myself a little differently. I started by arranging story snippets I’d cut from Book I and wanted to include in Book II. That list expanded as I added plot points and new characters and settings. By the time I’d finished, I recognized it as an outline. It wasn’t comprehensive, but it proved a good addition to my helper documents, and kept me better organized.
When writing my third book, Redemption, an outline became imperative. The Gift is a trilogy so story arcs needed to be tied up and back story needed to be judiciously spread out. I’m organized, but there are limits; I couldn’t keep that many details in my head. I needed to flesh them out in an outline first. Even with the outline, I had challenges segueing smoothly from one scene to another and spent days waiting for that stellar idea rather than writing.
Outlines aren’t for everyone.
They’re tools. Sometimes outlines are useful – other times they get in the way. The same is true of writing organically. Being a pantster isn’t for everyone. I think every writer finds their own comfort zone over time.
Who knows what process I’ll use with the next book. I’ll let the story and its characters guide me and bring in other writing tools as and when they’re needed. What process works for you?
Wooden desk Photo by Justin Kauffman on Unsplash
White desk Photo by Gabriel Beaudry on Unsplash
I’ve been working through creating scene cards before I hit my heavy revisions that are looming ahead. Since I created the initial drafts organically, I’ve found that important tidbits are tucked into otherwise weak scenes. So, I have four cards per scene. 1) Action Card: The setting and the physical action, 2) Character Card: What is revealed about characters, how they act and why, any new descriptive elements 3) Magic Card: what happens magically or is revealed about the supernatural world 4) Plot Card: what happens that is plot critical for either the book or series plot.
I’m about halfway through the cards now and I’m realizing some scenes have way too much, some have too little, and the cards will help me figure out which ones need the most work without losing track of the important pieces…. I hope.
That’s a great way to organize your writing. I like the idea of having physical cards – something to mark-up, lay out in front of you and shuffle as the need arises. Thanks for the comment.
I did the seat-of-my-pants on the first go-round but decided to try an outline this time. It’s ended up being a little of both. I still have my original outline and I pretty much know where events and characters are going to end up but anything to that point has become wide open. It’s kind of like going on a driving holiday…I know I’m going to wind up in, say San Francisco but I’m not following the Coast Highway. I’m going to check out all the little back and side roads on the way.
That’s a great analogy. Thanks.
Great post – made me laugh. Thanks for the reference.