On Sunday evening, I sat back and stared at the 7,000 words I’ve written so far in the reboot of The Golden Sands. I’ve become very attuned to the sensations I experience while writing, and was well-aware of the dull weight I felt in my fingers.
The story, while active and interesting, was ultimately going nowhere. I had an ending in mind, and had executed the beginning properly, but the middle was the Swamps of Sadness in my mind.
And then I noticed something: This is the first book I’ve worked on in seven years that didn’t involve an outline phase. Granted, it was supposed to be a shot-for-shot remake, split into three smaller books, with a few tweaks to make them work as single books. It never occurred to me that this project would get so out of hand and require almost complete revision on the first third.
(I hope I get this outline done in time to finish this project before November. I’m writing more these days than I have since NaNoWriMo ’10.)
This has got me thinking about outline formats. For this project, once I realized the weakness in my approach, I created a Google Spreadsheet and mapped out the upcoming events. I have a lot of brainstorming to go, but it provides that essential structure.
I’ve experimented with writing apps that offer character profiles and detailed plot structuring, but they always seemed to be too much work. Granted, messing with outlines at all must appear tedious to those used to freewriting, but just because I like structure doesn’t mean I want to obsess with details.
My advice:
- Find the simplest possible solution that still lets you arrange ideas in a coherent fashion.
- Make it accessible when you’re writing, so you can refer to it whenever you need.
- Don’t wait until the end of the outline is nearing to record your ideas about the end; slap them on the end of your spreadsheet/document/notepad and then catch up to them. Pepper your medium with ideas like a scatterplot, and the empty spaces between them will begin to fill up.
- Once the outline is fleshed out, pay attention to fluctuations in tone and tension. While I don’t believe the three-act, ‘X should happen when you’re Y% through the story’ formula, make sure you’re keeping your promises to the reader.
About Fiona Canteberry
A novelist from northwest Arkansas, Fiona's range of topics include writing, tropes, and self-improvement. She goes by 'FekketCantenel' online.
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I’ve never been able to benefit from an outline, mainly because by the time I reach the point where something on the outline should be happening, I have changed my mind and everything is completely different. While I’ll have some idea what I have in mind in advance, I’m far too flaky to pull away from my notes and continue to think that they’re a good idea.
Then again, I also tend to drop projects due to losing sight of where they’re even supposed to be, so perhaps it’d be worth another attempt.