Thursday, April 16, 2015

Outling

The writing of this post came just at the right point for me.

As I recently mentioned, I am in the midst of edits of AWAKEN. Lots of fun...joking, I am not a fan of editing. I needed something new to keep my creative juices flowing.

Enter...STORY WITH A NAME TBD.

I had this idea while reading some news headlines and I was just like WOW. WOW. Oh my gosh. I have to write this story. And, regardless of the million things I need to do this time of year, the idea would not go away. I was growing restless as it grew inside me. I literally could not sleep, I just keep feeling like I had words I needed to vomit. You're welcome for that visual.

I made a deal with myself. Finish three science assignments and you can start outline. Shake? Shake.

So I began to outline...

I have found that there is no exact formula outline. Perhaps for the specific writer there would be a specific formula, but overall, not so much. This is my outline process.

Well, scratch that. This my outline process for this particular WIP. I am literally constant with nothing my writing world. ANYWAY...

  1. Define my characters. This involves writing out character descriptions, hobbies, as well as negative and positive character traits. Additionally, depending on the character, I write out their relationships to other characters.
  2. Main story lines. These would be just two or three sentences about the main plot(s) of the story. Typically, I have two or three main story lines that I weave together throughout the course of the story
  3. Nitty-gritty details. Lastly, I plan out the scenes of the novel. These are sometimes super detailed or sometimes just a sentence. Depends on the scene...and my mood.
And there you have it, folks! What's your outlining process?

(Remember, I'll be posting Saturday's post a day late! Thanks for reading, have a FABULOUS weekend.)

5 comments:

  1. You must read K.M. Weiland's books Structuring your Novel !! You will be amazed. It has improved my outlining and writing by like 500 million percent. GO. DO IT. NOW. :) Ha!!

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  2. I'm just now actually trying to start outlining my book ideas (I'm a die hard pantser). I've been trying out the Scrivener trial and it's really cool. I've just been planning out what I know will happen in the books and I can make notes of things to figure out, research, etc.

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  3. I'm with Sarah I am a panster! (Thanks to Nanowrimo for that lovely descriptive word.)
    If I have an idea I do write it down very quickly but I love to let the story flow.

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  4. Boy do I love my outlines! I have been very lucky in finding a formula that works for me. All I outline is the inciting incident, the three important decisions the character makes that he can't go back from. One decision leads him to to the second act, one leads him to the plot twist, and one leads him to the climax. My outlines tend to be shorter than 100 words, but I couldn't survive without them.
    Wonderful post!

    ~Sarah Faulkner
    Inklined

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  5. i'm a total plotter - love outlines!
    and it's true, each story needs a different route.
    thanks for always stopping by! enjoyed going back through your posts - especially the dialogs!

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