Outline?

How much do you outline something before you start to write, and how does it work for you?





I usually get most my characters planned out and then a vague idea for the plot, but I usually don't detail it much.

Yeah, me too. I don't understand how people are able to follow a strict outline. I would get bored. haha.

I also chose "A few characters and a vague plot." I usually write out my outline with details, but really, they change all the time. They give me a basic idea as to what I planned on happening at that point in time.

I've never outlined until recently for NaNoWriMo. I threw in tons of details, though. It still wasn't perfect enough, though. It was vague enough to where I had to make tons of events on the spot so there's a decent transition between points.

And I love making characters and having them interact inside and outside the novel. I love people. And I love talking. ^_^

I chose "A few characters and a vague plot" because I usually know what I am going to do but huge outlines bug me because it is not actually writing. I mostly just start writing with just an idea and a few main characters and then let it flow out in my first draft.

Cait

I do characters, plot and usually try to do chapter by chapter, what's going to happen. But my writing is shitty anyway.

I pretty much never outline on paper, it annoys me. It's all in my head. I figure if I forget some little detail up there then it wasn't important anyway.
Once I create the characters I just kind of let them go with it. It all gets planned out it my head and often times plan in my head for a really long time before I actually start writing it and as I do the characters plan more stuff out for me.
(I just realized how weird that may have sounded )

More detail does not necessarily mean more strict.

I guess it all depends on your story, and what personally works better for you -- I find that without an outline, I get hopelessly lost and my story has no direction. Because I have such a complicated story line, I need a very detailed outline -- I plan out practically everything before I begin writing a certain scene, but by no means is my outline strict. It is actually very flexible. There are plenty of times where mid-way through writing it, I diverge off of my planned outcome and combine a couple, or come up with a completely new way of writing that particular scene in my head.

I don't get "bored" or anything, because the writing process is still there-- I still have to come up with the words to describe a particular scene and put into words the emotions the characters are going through, and it's not like I plan out every little bit of dialogue. Mostly I just find the balance between the detail and the vagueness.

I chose "some characters and a vague plot" because I write letters to my characters. I often discover the plot that way. Right now for my novel, it's mostly a bunch of letters, a few half-written scenes, and random notes scribbled in God knows where places. Yeah, I need some more organization. *head/desk*

I used to think outlining was the only way to go, but as I've grown older, I can't outline as well as I used to. Once I outlined, it seemed all the fun had been taken out of writing. I never got to be surprised.

And trust me, I love surprises.

I think outlining makes it too forced--you're worrying about word count, in the belief that one minor alteration could compromise the entire novel.

Also, I find novels are destroyed if they are planned; where's the spontaneity? Can your message really come across if it's hidden behind a titanium plot?

Also, I find novels are destroyed if they are planned; where's the spontaneity? Can your message really come across if it's hidden behind a titanium plot?

Completely agree. Although, sometimes I wish I didn't procrastinate so much from outlining. It would be helpful sometimes to have something vague to follow, when I'm sitting with my laptop, no idea what's going to happen next. But I guess planning just isn't my thing.

Well, I too have chosen 'few characters and a vague plot'. xD

There're only two stories (which I'm still currently writing) which I've made complete plot outlines for, but that's just so I can refresh my memory as I get stuck with where to take my characters. So, usually my few characters do the writing, adding other minor characters as needed (who just may turn to be more-major supporting characters ) and when they get lost or run into a wall I show them a path or blast a whole through the wall with some C4...though that's harder than usual right now, 'cause I'm in some major writer's block. >.< And, of course, there are occasions where my characters like to discover some buried secret in the remote wilderness and jerk their leash in that direction, taking me with 'em. xD So part of the story is told by the characters, and part by my prewritten plot (which basically details the high points of the story).

Anyway--I definitely think outlining is a preferential thing, though beginning writers should at least give it a shot, for sake of keeping all their ideas in one place. Oo

Something else about that...at first I found it was hard to outline, even vaguely. However, I've found it got easier the more I did it. So I guess, just like other aspects of writing, it's another part of writing that just needs practice to get better. Well, if you're me. *shrug*

So yeah...there's my two cents.

I very rarely do any outlining externally so I chose 'None, I just wing it'
I find it much more fun to just see where the story and the characters and the story take me rather than try and plan. The only time I outline the plot and characters is when I'm procrastinating.

I make up the characters and a little of the plot in my head, but eventually it goes off track (and is probably better that way).