The Outline (Writer's Rough)

(image courtesy of ha11ok via pixabay.com)

Hello, my friends! Today, we’re talking about outlines.

Some of you are delighted. Some of you are shuddering in horror.

I’m not talking about the kind of outline you need for a submission package. I talk about that outline in the Topic Workbook called SETTING UP YOUR SUBMISSION SYSTEM.

I’m talking about what I call The Writer’s Rough Outline. Which, in my opinion, is much more fun.

As a full-time writer who has to juggle multiple projects to keep a roof over my head, the only way I can keep the projects, the worlds, and the details straight is through creating an organized system that works for me. Through various posts, I will share how I do it, and if it sounds like something that works for you, I hope you’ll try it. Some things will work, some will not. Some may not work now, but might a few years down the road. Learning what does not work for you is as valuable as learning what does work.

This space is our creative playtime together.

I generally do not write outlines for short stories (maybe a few notes), flash fiction, or short plays. I’ve usually written most of the short play in my head before I get to the page. But anything novella-length or longer gets an outline, if I’m serious about it.

Early in my career, I didn’t outline. I dislike the term “pantser.” To me, it sounds like an STD. But it works for people and is now in the literary lexicon. I prefer the term “blank pager.”

I used to have no problem blank paging. I could sit down, and there were the new words. We could take off until I wrote myself out.

Writers like Yasmine Galenorn don’t outline. She loves the process of discovery in the writing itself. She is hugely prolific and juggles far more series than I do. She even has a page on her website called The State of the Series. I am in awe of her abilities.

The older I got, and the more complex my life became, the more I needed reminders. I couldn’t sit in front of the page and wonder where I planned to go. I needed to be able to drop right down into the world and do my quota within the allotted time block, before I moved on to the next demand and did the same with it.

By doing a Writer’s Rough Outline, I could just look at the next point on the outline and get to it. It re-oriented me in the world of the piece better than reading over the previous day’s work.

In the last few years, the process has further evolved. If I’m going to commit the time and creative resources to a long piece, I need to know if it’s viable. When I get an idea and listen to the central character long enough to know I need to work on it, I sit down and write three or four chapters into the story (in a serial, it would be episodes). If the energy sustains and it flows well, I stop and make a Writer’s Rough Outline.

I write my Writer’s Rough by hand. It might be a notebook, it might be on a yellow pad. I block off uninterrupted time, sit with pen and paper, and let the character tell me the story. Plot points and snippets of dialogue often come up. Secondary characters start creeping in and telling me their stories, and I start seeing how it fits together.

It’s a listening exercise. I’m transcribing dictation from my subconscious as much as anything else. I write in longhand without attention to format. This document isn’t for anyone else. Its only purpose is to be a roadmap through the story for me.

I usually work in 2-hour blocks, although I’ve had it flow well enough to do 7 or 8 hours and finish it in one day.

Once I know the entire story, I put it aside for a few days, while I work on other things.

I take out my handwritten notes and re-read them. I start numbering them, in the order I think they will fit in the manuscript.

I put it away again.

In my next scheduled work session on the piece (usually only a day or two after numbering), I type up my notes in the order I think it will flow. I re-read it, cutting and pasting until I’m satisfied. I create a computer folder for the project.

I print out a copy as well as saving it onto the computer and the flash drive and the external hard drive. I put the hard copy into a folder with the project’s name on it. Eventually, the project might grow to have binders or even a project bin, but we’ll get to that in a future post.

I decide when I will actually start work on the project, how many sessions per week, and how much work per session. I then put it in my giant desk blotter calendar that holds all my projects. I’ve tried multiple electronic project management systems. None of them work for me as well as my giant paper calendar.

This post first goes live in November of 2022, which is National Novel Writing Month. I find it particularly necessary to outline for Nano (even before I’ve written the exploratory chapters), because the pace of Nano demands I know what I’m doing when I sit down at the desk every day for the month. I do old-school Nano – start a new novel November 1 and write at least 50K by November 30. My Nano process is a little different than the process the rest of the year, but each year, something I learn in Nano winds up serving the rest of my writing life during the year. Getting comfortable with creating a Writer’s Rough was a big takeaway from that, way back in my very first year of it.

I take The Writer’s Rough out and re-read it the night before I’m ready to start the project. I re-read it again at the top of the work session dedicated to the project.

Then I write the day’s quota, print it out, and re-read it, before putting it either into the project folder, or into a 3-ring binder. I also read the next paragraph of the outline, so that can percolate in my brain until the next session.

When the next session happens, I read the next section of the outline for focus, and I re-read the previous day’s work for tone. Then I write.

I consider the outline a roadmap, not a prison. If the story takes off in a different direction, I go with it and sightsee for a while. I decide in the revisions what needs to be cut and reshaped.

This year’s Writer’s Rough Outline, for THE TREES WHISPERED DEATH, was a struggle. Since It’s set in 1957, I did a lot of research over a period of months. But I did not do all I needed; in fact, I didn’t even realize how many period details I needed until I started writing the rough. Which means, as I fly through the Nano pages, I am putting in place holders and then layering in detail in the revision, which will extend the revision process. I knew, early on, my protagonist, her backstory, how to raise the stakes, the murderer, the reason for the murder. But, very close to the start of Nano, I did not yet have my climactic sequence and resolution. Which made me nervous. I kept working on the outline, I kept worrying. What I needed to do was trust my characters.

Do you outline or do you prefer to blank-page? Or a mixture? What have you discovered when you tried something different?

Reminder: If you’re doing National Novel Writing month, I have a group called Enchanted Wordsmiths that encourages each other through the process. Give a shout if you’d like to join. . I also have a FREE little booklet called 30 TIPS FOR 30 DAYS that gives suggestions for preparation, daily encouragements, and what to do when you’re finished. Click the link on the book title to download in various formats.