Thursday, March 28, 2013

Adventures in Outlining, by Natalie Charles


Hello. My name is Natalie, and I am a pantser.

I blame it on my fourth grade teacher, who made me outline my social studies reading every. single. night. Night after night of Roman numerals and capitalized letters. The worst part of it was that she graded it. Let me say that again for emphasis: she graded my outlining, so misusing a subheading became a black mark on my report card, not a mere difference of opinion. Scarred? Why yes, I am.

I hate outlines. I hate the look of them. They are bloodless, soulless things, and they have no place in my fiction-writing life.

Well, until now.

The thing is, I hate outlines. But you know what I hate even more than an outline? I hate writing steadily and knocking up against a metaphorical brick wall because the muse I've been following has decided to do something more interesting. When I was writing my second book—a book that nearly killed me, but that's a post for another day—I pantsed it and encountered so many brick walls and roads-to-nowhere that I slammed my fist on a hard surface and vowed never again! I will outline, and I will spend more than five minutes on said outline, and in the end I will have a lighted path from word one to happily ever after, and life will be easier, flashbacks to fourth grade notwithstanding.
            
Here's another thing. I still hate outlines. I can't help it. So as I'm plotting my next novel, I'm trying to figure out a method that works for me but isn't quite so outline-esque. I plan every aspect of my life, but I like pantsing it because, hey, it's kind of fun to get those little surprises as you write! For instance, I had no idea when I set out to write The Seven-Day Target that the plot would involve a serial killer who left six signs over six days and killed on the seventh. That was pure pantsing, and it seemed to work out okay. I want to keep some of the joy of discovery, but maybe eliminate some of the frustration that comes when the muse goes off shopping.
            
I'm playing with a couple of different methods right now, including colored index cards and long synopsis-writing. I'm even toying with the idea of writing a bare-bones book and filling in the details later. I thought this might be a sneaky way to trick myself into believing I was pantsing it. I promise to update you further into the process to let you know if I can change my pantsing ways!
            
So tell me: are you a pantser or an outliner, and do you think it works for you?

12 comments:

  1. Hi, Natalie! Great post-I can so identify. I' ma panster who tries really hard to be a plotter. I always, always deviate from my original outline. Good luck with your new method with the index cards-I'd love to know if it works :-)

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    1. Thanks, Victoria! I will definitely check in again to let you know how my outlining goes. :-)

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  2. I'm an outliner. I hate outlines too! But...it does save me a headache later on when I need lose focus on what the story was I had in mind. :)

    Good luck!!

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    1. An outliner who hates outlines! I'd love to hear more about how much time you devote to preparing an outline. I tend to feel guilty if I'm not writing. :-)

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  3. I am an outliner as you know. I did try the colored index cards, but that became too chaotic for me. And too bulky. Now I stick to paper. I think if you have the synopsis in place, you can break it down to the outline. I tend to work in the reverse order, but heck, whatever floats your boat! After all, this one is not being graded:-) (P.S. Did we have the same fourth grade teacher? I can't recall, and now I am thinking we might have..... I remember that exercise!)

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    1. Ha! We had the same third grade teacher. You are so lucky you avoided my fourth grade teacher. Let's just say she wasn't exactly my favorite...

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  4. Natalie, I feel your pain. I've been there. I was a pantster for a long and as such, I became the queen of rewrites to fix my wayward path. *sigh* I really didn't want to but I forced myself to learn to outline. But an outline/synopsis is much easier to fix than an entire book. ;-)

    I don't do those school taught outlines with the capital letters and roman numerals. Mine are much more flowy, like a synopsis.

    Try something like Laurie Schnelby Campbell's class: Plotting via Motivation. It was very helpful.

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    1. So there's hope, then? Okay, that's reassuring! I will definitely check out that class -- thanks for the tip! :-)

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  5. After several attempts at one book, which still ended up being over 170K unfinished, rewritten and rewritten time and time again because I kept changing the goalposts, motivations and core goals of the story, I learned to outline. I always like to know where a story is going now, but there's sheer pleasure in a healthy amount of pantstering for me. I like being surprised as I write - that way I can experience the journey like my readers will. I really enjoyed your post, Natalie. I hope the new methods work for you. :-)

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    1. So true. It's all about balance. I'm relieved to know that you found a way to balance outlining with pantsing. You'll have to share your outlining secrets. :-)

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  6. Natalie, I am a pantser as well. (Muse goes off shopping? Love it!) Not only that but I don't write in order. I will even write backwards. So I haven't found much help with outlines, but I actually think that's why I write the way I do--I have scenes that come to me full on, and I write toward them. When I go back and edit, those are the scenes that need the least amount of work. But in the moment it's messy and frustrating. Good luck, if you find a new method that works, I'd love to hear about it!

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  7. Also--fie on your fourth grade teacher! Grading an outline like that is awful.

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