Yay! I outline, big time. When I sit down to write, I want to already know where things are going and what needs to be said, that way all I have to do is figure out how best to say it. Pantsers insist that outlining is too limiting. I disagree, as my finished product usually comes out a bit different than the original outline. I like to think of the outlining process like planning a road trip. I want to drive from California to New York, and along the way there are places I know I'd like to see. So I plan out a route. But I can always take a side trip, as long as it doesn't delay my arrival at my final destination too much.
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I've tried but it never works. I stick to it for about one scene and then my characters go off in their own directions. I thought there was something wrong with me until I saw this cool interview by Stephen King on the subject. Now I'm really okay with it. 
It really depends on the writer. A lot of writers get stuck and bored when they outline because they feel like the story has already been told and they have no room for creativity. I get stuck and bored when I don't outline because I have no idea where to take the story. I work best when I separate out the process of getting ideas from the process of writing. My muse is always loudest before I start actually putting words down.
Same here. I tried it. It simply doesn't work for me. And the funny thing is that I "throw away" relatively little work as some people talk about. I sometimes move scenes around in the course of editing, but very little gets deleted. And yet just today I got a review commenting that I don't "dally".ellecasey said:I've tried but it never works. I stick to it for about one scene and then my characters go off in their own directions. I thought there was something wrong with me until I saw this cool interview by Stephen King on the subject. Now I'm really okay with it.
What works is individual. Yes, maybe if I COULD outline, my writing would go faster (I wish) but what works for me works. I do think that maybe outliners are FASTER writers. I am doing well to do 2,000 words a day and frequently it's closer to 1,000 but over the course of a year since I write every day that is pretty decent output. At least, I'm happy enough with it.
If you look up the "Snowflake Method", that guy actually recommends doing extensive character biographies before you even get to the outline. It culminates in doing a multi-page "story" from each character's point of view. Who they are, what they want, what they learn, etc. The idea is that it reduces rewrites later on.ellecasey said:I've tried but it never works. I stick to it for about one scene and then my characters go off in their own directions. I thought there was something wrong with me until I saw this cool interview by Stephen King on the subject. Now I'm really okay with it.
I started my novel (not the one in my signature) writing by the seat of my pants, but later tried out that method and wrote an outline for the rest of the story. I'm glad that I did; I think I'm going to end up with a better novel because of it.
Why? Why fix something that isn't broke?LisaGraceBooks said:
If there is anything that makes me shudder and want to run in the other direction it is those (horrible) character sheets and the whole "Snowflake Method". I am baffled at people who do this sort of thing without being threatened either with a gun or an 'F' in a class.
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