by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
I’ve always been somewhat allergic to the word outline. I don’t outline books unless editors ask me to.
But that doesn’t mean that I wander through a book with no direction at all. There are a couple of different things I do before and during a first draft to make the process a lot quicker: I come up with a big picture plan for the book (and write back cover copy for it), and make mini outlines for the following day so that I have an idea what I’m wanting to accomplish the next morning.
But to me, this isn’t outlining.
My teenage son and I were waiting in line at a salon for him to get his hair cut. He’s got this really shaggy hair and he really doesn’t like getting it cut because he wants it a very particular way. And he only wants Phil to cut his hair. We’ll wait for an hour to see Phil since it’s the type of place that doesn’t take appointments. Yes, I bring my manuscript with me. :)
When Phil found out I was a writer, he started playfully pretending to ask me to write a book based around his salon. The main character would be Philippe and it would involve various dramas that play out at the salon.
My son thought that zombies and a dystopian feel to the novel would be a good idea. They’ve been enthusiastically adding storylines and characters to this pretend project for the last few months. My son is reading Romeo and Juliet for school, so he’s also pulled in some characters from that play—Benvolio and Tybalt, for instance. He also thought it would be cool to include the wicked Montresor from The Cask of Amontillado.
Last Friday, while we were waiting at the salon, he said, “Mom! Can you write this story?” He was half-serious.
“Under an assumed name,” I told him. “I don’t think my readers are looking for me to write a cross between Dawn of the Dead and Romeo and Juliet with Poe thrown in for good measure!”
“How would we do it?” he asked me. “If we wanted to?”
“It’s easy,” I said. I took out my always-handy notebook and wrote cast of characters, setting, internal conflict, external conflict, climax, resolution.
He quickly named the characters and a two or three word explanation of who they were. The protagonist and antagonist got a little more explanation. He came up with a love triangle, an internal conflict when the protagonist had a choice on whether to save his mom or his girlfriend from zombies, and some other details. Phil called out some ideas, too.
“How do you want it to end?” I asked him. He devised a standoff at a mall, and I told him that had been done before. :) He created another ending that was original and pretty thrilling. “Hey,” I said, “you have to leave room for a sequel, too.” So he modified the ending again.
“How do you want it to start?” I asked. He listed a peaceful day at the salon. “Might work,” I said, “but for your readers, they might want to start off with zombies trying to break into the salon and the stylists building a barricade.”
It took about ten minutes to come up with this plan, but of course, they’d been talking about this pretend book for months. “Mom,” my son said, “I think I almost could write this book.”
“Of course you could!”
“But I thought you said you didn’t outline.”
“This isn’t an outline.” I’m sure I must have recoiled at the word. “This is brainstorming. And making a list. And a chart. This stuff can all be changed, too—you’re not locked into it.”
And somehow, when undertaking something as massive as writing a book, it’s kind of cool to see it reduced to a sheet of paper.
What sort of planning do you do before starting a new project?
Elizabeth – Oh, what a great story about your son and the barber! It is a sort of outline, but more a set of notes really than a formal outline. What I like about that is that it allows you to have some sort of structure in the story without sacrificing creativity and spontaneity.
This is great! I love it! I guess it all depends on what we consider “outlining.” It sounds like your son just might have a promising future in novel writing. ;)
Dearest Elizabeth, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but yes, that was outlining. You may call it brainstorming but it sounds to me like a brief–outline.
HaaaaaaaaaHaaaaaaaaaaaa. That’s me laughing with you not at you. :)
T
When I first started writing, I found that I could write a book if I knew the following things: where are the characters were to start with and what they intended to do, what was going to happen for the next three chapters, and some idea of how it was going to end (though that could be something as vague as “a chase across a foggy mountain pass”).
I wasn’t writing mystery in those days, however. What gave me the key to writing mystery, oddly enough, was analyzing the structure of the TV show Maverick — which had four acts between the ads. Each act would end with a big revelation, which would drive the characters for the next act, until the next revelation changed it.
I like to think in terms of “changes of direction” for outlines.
In the meantime, I’m going to do some micro-outlining for my next project. That is, doing a mini-prep session before every writing session – just on what I’m going to write that day. I’ve read a few posts by writers who have hyper-charged their productivity that way.
That does sound like outlining, though! I start off with about a dozen sentences describing the basic premise before diving into characters and then the detailed outline. I think you’re outlining more than you think, Elizabeth.
So, when is your son going to write his zombie story?
Alex–Yes, I think this needs to be *his* project, for sure! Ha! No, no Alex, I don’t outline. :) But it sort of is. Maybe. Except not scene by scene (which is really what I hate about outlines). I think I like your process, up until the detailed outline part. :)
WOW! That totally read like, “How to create a writer: step 1 -5” Ha ha…
Anyways, I do SORT of outline. The book I’m working on now, I “outlined” by doing, “Chapter 1” and then bulletpointing what I want to have happen. And so often that changes, but it’s a basic idea and I write…let the story evolve…and go back to it…
Nicole–Yes, he keeps saying he wants to be a journalist and I’m trying to ease him over to the novelist side of things… :)
I like bullet points, too. Because that’s *listing*, not outlining! Ha!
Excellent! I’m working on my newest project–a mystery. I have not written a mystery as just a mystery (my other books include a mystery or two inside it).
This was fun to read about how other people are excited about an idea and begin to develop it. You’ll make your son into a novelest yet!
Great post. My first thought (because I’m with you on this) was “not another post on outlining”. So glad I stuck with it. Loved it!
For me, much like your preparation for the following day, when I leave my laptop, my mind begins to play out what’s next. By the next day, I have it. It’s like a movie that plays in my head and I simply get to write it down.
-Jimmy
I agree :) You’re outlining more than you think you are. I aspire to do as much “brainstorming” as you. I tend to work out my characters conflicts and have a vague idea of how the story goes. In the interest of getting words down I’ve started to do brief bullet point paragraphs at the end of each writing session to give me a starting point the next day.
Lorelei–Oh, well you know I’m going to root for your mystery! One of the reasons I love writing mysteries so much is because of their structure. It’s nearly impossible to get off-track with them.
Margot–Exactly! So it’s just a set of really malleable notes.
Jamie–I think sometimes I can trip myself up just by *labeling* something an outline…so I’m trying to trick myself. As crazy as that sounds. :) And I think it just suddenly occurred to my son that he could be a novelist. I promised him it was something he could do on the side…doesn’t have to be a full-time job.
Teresa–I’m totally in denial! :) Brainstorming, not outlining. Maybe I can invent a new term for it–brainlining.
Camille–I never thought about Maverick that way, but you’re so right. That’s what makes mysteries easy to write…that structure. With the framework, it’s just a piece of cake. We’ve got a victim, suspects, a couple of murders or so, moment of danger, the reveal…it’s perfect for writing. And there’s so much to be done within the structure of it.
Change of direction–I like that! And that micro-outline is the key to my productivity. I finish every writing day summing up what I just finished and what I want to accomplish the next day. It makes things zip along really quickly.
I’m a total pantser. I start off with an MC and a few other characters like the antagonist. I have an idea of the world in my head, the setting and the big picture storyline and then I start writing. Sometimes this is awesome and the story seems to write itself, each chapter leads in some direction I hadn’t imagined and everything works out well. Of course, sometimes this doesn’t work out at all and I’m left floundering at 5 000, 25 000 or even 50 000 words with no clue how to continue. But, to be honest, all of my published works have been the result of good solid pantsing without ever a hint of outlining – I prefer it that way, keeps me entertained while writing.
I don’t have a lot of time to write (with two timeclock jobs besides writing), so catching up on where I finished previously takes up valuable writing time. I plan everything, even down to who talks and does what when. Makes a huge difference with a haphazard writing schedule.
Great post. I love that moment when the light goes on in a non-writer’s eyes. The simplicity of self-publishing is going to facilitate a lot of people who have been intimidated by the realities of the publishing world. It’s a terrific time to be a writer. Thanks!
James–Thanks!
James, if my memory were any better, I’d definitely just play the movie in my head (that’s how I do the next day’s scene, too.) Unfortunately, I’m handicapped by this truly abysmal memory! I’m one of those people who gets ideas all day, too, so I have these scribbled pieces of paper in my car, by my bed, on tables in my house… :)
Shelley–I’m starting to wonder if I’m just gradually heading more in an outlining direction and never saw it happening!
Xan–I can *completely* see that. And I wrote two of my books that way…the first two in the Myrtle Clover series. Then when deadlines came along, I just got terrified about making them (different series, different editors, close together delivery dates) and I thought up ways to try to write faster. But still, I try to make my brainstorming as loose as possible–I never know my killer until the end of the book to keep that suspense for myself! I just make sure that all of my suspects *could* have done it. Sort of like a game of Clue for me. :)
My daughter and I brainstormed Nowhere to Hide while she was having her hair done. Thank goodness nobody seemed to mind us talking about how to kill someone. But it was far from an outline.
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
Love this! I hope your son tries putting it down on paper!! :)
I tend to let the characters wander around in my head for a bit – and I usually know the first scene and often the last scene before I start :)
John–I think, with a schedule like yours, that’s probably the *only* way to write, and make real progress. Congrats on being so productive!
An outline by any other name is…a good thing! Prevents the flashbacks to high school/college assignments.
As a mother I love the empowering approach you use with your son.
Hazel–Exactly! Where we had to outline with Roman numerals. :)
Terry–That’s cool that you brainstormed with your daughter! Somehow I didn’t know that. :)
Jemi–So some Outlining Light, then. I think that’s sort of what I do.
Okay, you are going to have to explain your writing process then, because I cannot see how you don’t have the clues and stuff figured out before you write the book. If you’ve already done a post on this, just point me there!
I tried to write a mystery once, not a whodunit, but a howdunit, and it just kept tripping me up that I didn’t have all the clues and stuff figured out ahead of time. I know a lot of that comes with revision, but during the first draft, what do you write then.
And holy crap I would so read that zombie book. It sounds new and interesting without being too far outside of the zombie love.
Silly pregnancy brain! I knew I was going to mention something about outlining but I couldn’t remember! But now I do!
Okay here is a little Youtube feature on Story Structure: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dan+wells+on+story+structure&oq=Dan+Wells&aq=1&aqi=g4&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=11121l12765l0l15239l9l9l0l0l0l0l241l1285l1.7.1l9l0
It’s given by Dan Wells, and he talks about structure, not outlining. There’s a seven point structure system that I have grown to adore. I do it with my overall plot, as well as character arcs and subplots. It’s not hard core outlining, but it does give you a feel for the layout of the novel.
Thought it might be up your alley. :D
Elizabeth–Good question! Since I so hate the idea of outlining, we’ll call what I do listmaking. :) And I make a list. So, I’ll have 4 suspects, let’s say, and I make a list of all the things I can think of that can make readers think that those suspects did it: physical clues, messed up alibis, conversational clues, etc. Then I just scatter those in. But it’s a *list!* :) Then, at the end, I decide who the killer was…and the other “clues” become red herrings.
I’ll have to tell my son he already has a potential reader–ha!
Interesting! Thanks so much for sharing that link. I love looking at this kind of stuff…helps me improve my process.
I love this on so many levels. One, I love kids who get excited about writing a story. Two, I love that the fire is fueled. And I think this is an outline – at least the minimum that I ask of my students. Outlining has changed a lot recently, even what is acceptable in analytical college writing. Please keep us updated on his writing.
Thanks for answering my question about your process, Elizabeth. I really like your method of making it possible to be the other three suspects and then pick who you want it to be at the end. That’s pure brilliance right there.