“To Outline or Not to Outline, That is the Question”

In my second post to The Word Shed, I said this about outlines:

My outline drives everything, including the people (what I used to call characters), even details of the setting.  From the few sentences I’ve already written, if this idea continues to hang around and doesn’t go away, I begin a process of elaborating and structuring that takes anywhere from a few days to a few months. 

I’m a big outliner.  I can’t write a story without having some idea of where the story is supposed to go.  Other writers try to ‘wing it’, and let the story evolve organically.  More power to ‘em.  I need the structure of an outline.

Having said that, though, doesn’t mean I don’t deviate from the outline.  You deviate when the story pulls you in another direction.  When an idea crops up.  When a character just won’t do what you want.  When there’s a new idea or emotion or conflict you want to explore and dramatize.  There’s nothing wrong with this at all.  But I still write it down.

Reasons to Have an Outline

1.     Consistency.  It’s like framing for a house.  It holds the story together, gives it a skeleton to hang scenes on.  A strong plotline is vital to keep moving the story forward, to give the players believability and to keep the reader interested (probably the most important of all).  It’s possible to draw characters who are so compelling that they’re interesting in and of themselves.  But it’s better to give them something to do.  Some critics say plotline is nothing but character in action.  I agree.

2.     Keeping Order.  Novels often have multiple plotlines.  John’s story.  Mary’s story.  The trip to London.  The abduction by aliens.  An outline allows you to maintain continuity from one scene to another, so that in Scene 1, John has red hair and in Scene 12 he still has read hair and now two heads.  Novels have lots of details.  Readers notice details.  Outlines help you keep some order among the details so that mistakes and obvious inconsistencies don’t creep in (as much).

3.     Keeping the End in Sight.  With an outline, you know where you’re going.  The scenes and conflicts necessary to get there are already established, in theory.  If the ultimate resolution of all the action is firmly set up ahead of time, you’ll find you can write scenes that work toward that resolution, perhaps from different angles and with plenty of complications, but always knowing where you want to end up.  I once watched my dog demonstrate just how powerful his sense of smell really was.  He veered to one side of the street, then another, then back, in ever-tightening arcs until he finally homed in on the target of his interest.  Following an outline to a previously established resolution is kind of like that.  And sometimes the target turns out to be the same thing my dog was after…and I won’t go into any more detail on that.

 

Reasons to Deviate from an Outline or Have No Outline

 

1.     You think up a new plot complication.   Every writer is a crockpot of bubbling ideas.  Sometimes, an idea surfaces that just won’t go away.  Ask yourself: is it believable the character could run into this or experience this?  Does it advance the plot or reveal a side of the character that otherwise wouldn’t be shown?  Would it be neat and kinda fun to have this happen?  If the answer to any of these is yes, go for it!  Just make sure it doesn’t lead you down an off-ramp to some dismal swamp of storyland you can’t write your way out of.  In other words, think it through.

2.     The outline is no good.  Ah, now we come to the great Berlin Wall of all writers.  Everything I’ve done so far is mush.  I need to start over.  Well…maybe…maybe not.  Perhaps, you didn’t work out the story details properly in the beginning.  You start to get the feeling that the words in front of you are just words going nowhere.  You’re sure nobody will believe what you’re writing.  You don’t believe it yourself.  Well, don’t despair.  This is why Microsoft Word has an Undo button…or a Delete button.  Trust your instincts.  Where does the story want to go?  Go there.  You might want to jot down a few notes, just in case, just to keep this new plotline on track.  Probably, the original problem is a poorly-conceived outline from the start.  Only you can decide whether it’s worth re-outlining or just winging it. 

3.     I need elbow room to grow the story.  Outlines cramp my style.   This is okay, as I said before. Let’s face it: our writerly muses work differently, from writer to writer.  Many writers value the spontaneity that comes from winging it.  They like to be surprised when they sit down to type.  They’ve done enough research and so internalized their characters’ motivations and backgrounds, that they can type away, inside the virtual world of the story, and be confidant that what comes out will be readable, believable and fresh.  There are times when writing works this way for me too.  But for me, it comes from when I’ve done a lot of preliminary work. 

 

Let’s face, every writer lives for that artistic moment when the story just flows and you can’t type fast enough to get it all down.  That’s when writing is a joy.  But a pro needs to be able to put words on paper (or on screen) when the words don’t flow and still have it all hang together.  That’s why I outline.

 

Next week’s post to The Word Shed will be on a subject common to all writers, one that gives every writer thrills and chills, sometimes at the same time.  I’m talking about Reviews…the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. 

 

See you on May 2.

 

Phil B.