To Outline or Not to Outline
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- ALynnPowers
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Re: To Outline or Not to Outline
I am a secret pantser! Who knew!?!
- Hadiqa
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LOLALynnPowers wrote:I always thought of myself as a plotter, but I guess my distaste for outlining would contradict that belief.
I am a secret pantser! Who knew!?!
—Ernest Hemingway
Reading Now:
Nothing -_- Because of School
- ALynnPowers
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Exactly! About the waste of time thing! I feel like the story itself is the outline. Hahah.Hadiqa wrote: I only make outlines for novels I plan to write in future, dont know when. Other wise I hate writing a whole tree plan or outline for an easy or story. . . waste of time.
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- Anacoana
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Characters meet
A is scared B is contemptuous
They become friends
Fall in love
etc. etc.
It's a very vague, anything can happen sort of outline, which I like because that way I have a plan and know that there's enough I've got figured out to actually make a story out of it, but I can still pants virtually all of it, which is what I love to do.
- Avid SciFi Fan
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Exactly the same for me.milliethom wrote:I have a basic outline for all three books of my trilogy. I know the basic plots of each, and where my characters should be heading. But having now almost finished Book 2, I know there is far more in those stories than I had imagined before I set out. For me, plots and characters don't keep to the strict plans I made beforehand. The basic skeleton is still there, but the flesh only develops as I write.
I found it useful to keep the story discreet rather than meandering through Europe aimlessly. It has worked well, but I do only very occasionally check it.
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So, I outlined where I wanted the rest of the book to go. It's helped immensely in visualizing the plot paths and the intertwining lives of the characters. It also adds a feeling of organization that helps keep the feeling of being overwhelmed at bay. It's also easier to figure out the chapters, so they're tight and focused.
It doesn't come across as stifling my creativity, or any such issue, because I am the one doing the planning, outlining, and writing. I recommend it, at least for a few key chapters.
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But I do like to have a rough idea of most of the things that will happen in the story. I like to know:
1. Where I'm beginning
2. Where I'm ending
3. Where the climax will take place and what will occur there
4. At least three events that will happen in the middle.
Other than that, I don't care that much, and the chronology of the middle events can be fuzzy. It leaves room for change. But I do like to know those things, and to know the characters fairly well, before I start writing.