It Begins and Ends and a Miracle Takes Place in Between…
In case you hadn’t noticed, I was away for the weekend. You may not have noticed, as I had posts, such as they were, scheduled to appear on both days of the weekend, since I would otherwise not have had the means by which to post them. On the other hand, if you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed my absence, since I wasn’t there to tweet anything.
Anyway, I took my computer with me and, while I didn’t have a lot of time to work on things, I did do some work on a website and also my story I’ve been working on. (Here too.)
As far as the story goes, right now I’m still working on the outline. Previously, I’ve essentially just gone ahead and written things as they go. I mean, I had a general direction and certain things in mind, but I would let thing unfold as I wrote them. With this story, I am doing an outline first, so everything is planned in advance. That should save me some amount of tweaking later, as hopefully it will allow me to create a story that makes sense ahead of time so that I won’t have to go in later and fix the inevitable loopholes that seem to come up otherwise.
That being said, I don’t think it is necessary to always have an outline, though you should have a general plot in mind. For example, I have another story in progress (I say “in progress” though I actually haven’t written anything new for it in a couple years) that I wrote as it went. I had a general idea in mind, but I let the characters go and do what felt natural for them to do. And, that worked very well.
So, I think the outline vs. no outline debate comes to whatever works best for you as the author and/or what works best for a particular story. Different writers have different approaches, and I don’t think there is a one-size-fits-all method. Go with what works. If what you’re doing isn’t working for you, try something else. Or, if your usually method isn’t working for your current story, try a different one! Don’t let your creativity get bogged down by methodology. Your plan of attack for writing a story should be one that best suits crafting and writing that particular story and not one that chains your creative energies. A story that never gets finished due to poor planning is little different from a story that never gets finished because of too much planning!
At any rate, I think the outline method will work best for this particular story, especially since (a) there is an extensive backstory that I need to keep straight and (b) this is a “prequel” so I have to keep in mind the things that will happen in the “main” story.
My outline is roughly something like this:
Beginning
Middle
End
Naturally, the middle is the bulk of the story and the beginning and the end are the shorter portions. I know the ending; I just need to flesh it out more. But, that’s going to depend on what occurs in the middle, as to how the ending will precisely work out. I’ve spent a lot of the time on the beginning, working out everything that happens there and sets the story in motion. So, with that in mind, this is what my outline really looks like:
Beginning - some stuff happens
Middle - what the frak happens here???
End - stuff happens and the story ends
The middle is the bulk of the story, as I mentioned, yet I don’t know precisely what all will happen there! I know some portions, as I’ve already written them before I started developing an outline, but it’s a matter of figuring out where to fit them in.
The biggest issue is the timeline. Originally, the story was going to cover a period of a few hours. Now, however, I’ve changed that. The beginning takes place years earlier. Then, there’s a portion that would need to take place over a period of a few months, and then a portion and the ending which would take place over a matter of hours. What I need to figure out is how best to transition that. I guess Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade did that, with the opening taking place when he was a kid, and then later following up years later. Maybe I should watch that again or look for a novelization…
I think you need to get offline more. It is good for the soul - Do you have one of those? AH just kidding.
I think it may have shriveled up long ago.
i seriously need an outline like you have no idea. Ive been writing and letting things unfold on their own, but now that I am developing the characters more, I need some way to keep track of everyone and everything!
Welcome Home.
and Im off to read YOUR STORY!
The outline isn’t easy either. I have too many unanswered questions! And trying to get the timelines matched up isn’t easy either. And my story is fiction! Fiction should be easier…
I employ the Narvicular Transition style of writing. It is the best in Hollydale!
DCR … Twitter damn near imploded inj your absence. I was wondering what was going on, and now I know.
Well, you are an award-winning Hollydale author…
did you take it with you?
I am trying to write a story, I never thought about using an outline. I am going to give that a try. I found it is easy to write the climatic parts, but like you said the loop holes and event leading up to are inevitable….
Good tip!
Gosh that’s a lot of ‘I’s, I guess I am a bit self centered.
I took it with me, but didn’t do a thing with it, aside from opening up the document and staring at the screen.
You are so analytical Dan! I can’t think in terms of plot outline because I believe real life doesn’t happens like a plot—but that’s just me (and I’m not exactly stable)
What I’m working on now is actually the prequel to my main story, so I really need an outline to keep track of things and plan things out so that everything that happens in the prequel matches up to the main story.
I decided to write the prequel first because, otherwise, you would already know the ending. I’m not necessarily opposed to prequels–I think they can be great if well-written and managed, plus it’s sometimes fun to see characters before you “knew” them and to also see how events shaped the characters you already know–but, in this case, I don’t want the ending spoiled because it has a direct effect on some of the characters in the main story.
Plus, since the main story dwells on the main story–duh!–I have a bit more leeway in the prequel to approach the story from a different angle. I’m not confined by the story I’m trying to tell in the main story, you know? And, as I’ve fleshed these characters out, I think (hope!) I’ve made them more three-dimensional than they otherwise might have been. Instead of being a prequel, it’s a story in and of itself, yet it still ties in to the main story.
So the prequel will be the first part of the book or a separate book? I started writing without anything but a basic idea in my head, and after many pages, started writing notes in a notebook. Now I have an entire notebook full of stuff. I have a several options for an ending but haven’t decided yet. After reading dozens of articles about publishing and self-publishing, I decided to not read anymore articles about it hahaha. It’s like having 80 people telling you how to do something and most probably don’t know what they’re talking about even if they’re a best seller. A friend of mine wrote a bestselling cookbook and he keeps giving me useless advice (because he got lucky by having a famous New Orlean’s chef—which is his uncle—mention his book in magazine articles and on TV).I don’t have any famous writer relatives.
The prequel will be a separate book. Hopefully a movie sometime too.
I have 3-ring binders full of stuff. This particular work is using a 1″ or 1-1/2″ binder. I have another one that’s in a 3″ or 3-1/2″ binder.
The prequel story has an ending. The main story does as well. There would be room for sequels, but, at this point, I don’t have any plans for anything. I don’t want to do a sequel for the sake of doing a sequel. If I come up with an idea, maybe. But no plans. At any rate, the main story could be 2 or 3 novels, depending on how I end up doing it. Probably one, but it could be a long one. LOL!
Publishing (and selling) a book can be as much work (or more) than writing it. Best thing is just to finish the writing part first.