Stage One of the Writing Process: Brainstorming / Outlining

I have combined brainstorming and outlining in one stage, because even though pantsters might find it difficult to believe, outlining is a creative process. Before you huff and puff in protest, let me explain. Up until NaNo Novel in 2009, I was a pantster, and now I am a firm outliner, so I have been on both sides of the fence. Writing has always been the method of learning and remembering for me, and a way to develop ideas. When I was in school, if I needed to memorize things for exams, instead of just reading it, I would write it down over and over again. Even now, the things I write down become more solid memories even if I never look at them again. So when I am brainstorming a story, I write down those thoughts. Of course, like most people, I have creative flashes in random places at random times. But if I attempt to do conscious brainstorming, I can’t do it just by thinking, because my mind is far too susceptible to distractions. For example, if I decide to brainstorm when say taking a shower or walking somewhere – I start thinking about my story, and then a few moments later, I have moved on to something else. Having pen and a paper at hand, keeps me firmly grounded on my subject. From Scribbles to Skeleton Once I have all the scribbles and I feel that I am familiar enough with the story and the characters, and generally have a feel for the book, it’s time to consolidate the scribbles into a skeleton outline. Skeleton outline is a step up from brainstorming, but it is still very much a provisional document. In my skeleton outline, I write down bullet points of things that happen, in the order that they would happen in the book. The length of this outline depends on how much I know about the story at this stage. For example, currently I am trying to decide which book I will write next. I have two options. For one of them I have a skeleton outline that is 4000 words, and for the other one I have a skeleton outline that is 600 words. I have spent far longer with the former idea so it makes perfect sense that I know more about that story. I prefer to move on to my skeleton outline as soon as I have major facts of the story, because that gives me the foundation, around which I can build my story. For example, say I know about two scenes that will happen. The MC will be run over by heroine’s car The MC will escape from the hospital Those two scenes are the foundation. And here is where the creativity in outline comes in. Now, I get to brainstorm some more and think about where and how MC got hit by the car. Did he already know the heroine? Is this their first meeting? Whose fault was it? Did she stick around to take him to the hospital? Why did he escape? Was he hiding something or did he have to be somewhere? How would the heroine feel about this? You get the idea. So now, I am brainstorming, but in a slightly structured manner. I am brainstorming for specific answers. The more questions I ask, the more answers I get, and my outline becomes all the more deeper for it. Sometimes though, I get endless parade of questions and not many answers. But that’s okay. It just means that I need to spend some time at that stage. From Skeleton to Skin Okay, we have got the skeleton. But that ain’t pretty. So now we need to gloss it up with shiny skin. This is the time to add more details. This is where I make sure that entire plot makes sense, and there are no plot holes. This is where all subplots must be tied up. This, in theory, should be the preliminary version of synopsis that you might one day send to an agent. Every single scene that is supposed to happen in the story is recorded in the correct order. If my story is going to be in two parts, then my outline will be in two parts. This is the pencil sketch, over which you will paint your pretty picture. Once I have this, I revise it. Yup, revise the outline. Make sure it all makes sense. That's not to say that it's perfect. In my NaNo novel, I found I had left one subplot hanging after all. But it's still a damn sight better than any other book I have written without an outline. Skin can be Modified So we have got the revised outline. It's all neat and tidy, probably printed off, and looks so formal and final. Except that it isn't. That outline, despite all the work and thousands of words, is still just a map. It is the provisional sketch of a story I intend to write. It tells me facts. It tells me this will happen, and that will happen. But it doesn't show me how all of that will happen. Nor does it make me feel what my hero is feeling. That's what the writing is for. When I start writing, despite the outline, despite knowing what every single scene is going to be, it is still a creative process. Because now, I am trying to tell a story. Now, I am trying to bring a character to life that I want my readers to love. Now, I am trying to make the world that is my own creation, be the kind of place that other people might want to live in. Now, I am trying to use the power of the words. In doing so, it might happen that something changes; a plot might go off in a different direction that I had planned. And that is okay. When those changes occure, I automatically change the outline. Depending on its significance, I might or might not change the actual physical outline (if I am in the middle of writing, I don't want to step out of that process), but I will be aware of that alteration, and will reflect in all the coming scenes. You may ask, what's the point of wasting time on the outline if you end up with changes anyway? I firmly believe that if I have spent enough time brainstorming and outlining, chances of major plot changes are quite slim. Because by spending considerable time during this first stage, I have already gone through many variations of the story. I have already considered the possibilities and decided what I liked best. By not hastily jumping into the first draft, I have given the story a chance to float in my mind and become more concrete. The Moral of the Story Is... Only you can decide what works for you. You just need to experiment and find out. But for me, a combination of organised outlining with creative brainstorming is the all important first step. I suppose outline is the tunnel through which my creativity can be focused into a coherent storyline. Without that tunnel, the creative juices simply tumble into the sea, all over the place and I have to swim around and gather them together.

Outline Angst

I discovered after several years of hassle that I am an outline person. A good, solid outline makes not only the whole novel writing enjoyable for me, but also gives me a better result at the end. With my last novel (NaNo Draft), I also came up with a method that works for me. So when I decided to start outlining for a new project, I figured it was no big deal. I knew exactly what I was doing. It would be a piece of cake. Well, more like a piece of plastic cake that you can't eat, as it turned out initially. There is nothing wrong with the outline bit. The problem was me. Initially I brainstorm, and in the process I know how some things are going to happen. But even before the brainstorm the idea would have had been in my brain, and I would have a general plot in mind. I started outlining along with brainstorming. What I ended up doing was writing beginning of the outline millions of times. Because I would start doing it, and when I started, I started from beginning. In one session, I didn't get very far. This happened for quite a while. Also, outlining properly means answering hard questions as to how exactly certain things are going to happen. Well, I don't know at this stage how everything is going to happen, so I went off again to something I did know. For a good few weeks then this went on, madness without method, and not much to show for it at the end. Then I decided to do NaNo in February. Here I must interject: Nothing like NaNo to get things moving. At least that's the case for me. As soon as I made that decision, I thought if I don't get that outline sorted I won't be able to start NaNo on time. So then yesterday I started with plain, old fashioned method. I took several empty sheets of paper and a pen, and began to write from the beginning what happens. There are still things I don't know, major questions that need to be answered, but this time, I do not allow myself to go back. It's just like writing a first draft. First, you must get to the end. What I am now doing is going from beginning to end with the things I do know, and where I don't know how or what I write things like - "he does something and something happens". My favourite words are "something" "stuff" "somehow" - yup, very creative. But in one day I made more progress than I made in weeks. I haven't suddenly learned a great deal of information. This information was already in my head from brainstorming and from thinking about the book, but I simply wasn't working methodically enough to finish the outline. I let myself get distracted by things that needed to be sorted, questions that needed to be answered, before making sure that what I knew was going to happen made sense. This is merely the first draft of the outline. I call it my "skeleton outline". Once that is complete, then I will go back and try to fill in the gaps about things I don't yet know. But at least by that stage, I will have a general idea of the whole story and how everything is supposed to fit as a whole, and more importantly I won't be fed up of the beginning by going over it again and again. So there you have it - even outline has creative issues.

NaNoWriMo and 87 Points of Outline

For weeks I have spoken about my NaNoWriMo outline, and how it has helped me. Today, having some leisure time this evening, I shall explain a little more about it, and why it has been helpful in not only shooting forward with the word count, but also with continuing momentum. First let me explain that altogether this outline took me two weeks, but I had been planning the story and knew my characters months before that, so it certainly wasn't a quick job. For this particular novel, it's been a roundabout journey because I was still developing methods that work for me; I had tried many different things and I had changed the story several times. But with going around in circle with this story line, I found a method that will make future stories much easier - hopefully. This may or may not work for you, but hopefully it might inspire you to create your own method. So this outline:

• It's fairly detailed. About 12000 words total, but taking out all the repeated titles, headings etc. still about 8K to 9K. So pretty long. The important thing is that it is an outline of EVENTS.

• Basically, I have listed in bullet point 87 things that happen from beginning to end. 87 wasn't a selected number, but that's where the story ended. Under each heading, I have described what that bullet point is supposed to be about. Some points are more detailed than others, depending on how much I knew when I was writing the outline. It's not necessarily a scene by scene outline, because sometimes a scene carries on from one point to the next. It's simply what happens.

• I was hoping that each of the 87 point would be approximately 1000 words, giving me about 87K of the first draft. I never expected it to be exactly that, as currently I am on 43rd point, and my word count is just over 40K. Some points have been as low as 200 words, and one or two have been as long as 2500. That's something that I learn as I write the draft, and end it where it needs to end. So eventually I will end up with the first draft that is between 80K to 90K, and that's my goal.

• Personally for me, I think I have found the exact balance that I need between having enough detail so as not to worry about what happens next, and not enough detail so it doesn't suck the creativity out of writing. I have TOLD what should happen in the outline. I have not SHOWN how it could happen. That happens in the first draft. But not having to worry about what should happen next has made the writing process much much easier.

• All the plot fixing has been done in the outline. I revised this outline about three times, with significant changes. As I wrote it, I found plot lines that didn't work or plot holes that weren't filled. I fixed it before I started writing the first draft. This has been one of my biggest problems with my first drafts, because it totally puts me off editing, and makes me feel like whole thing is unfixable. But with most of the plot holes fixed at the outline stage, the first draft is fairly consistent. I know there will be things that need fixing, but at least the most obvious ones are out of the way. I am hoping that it will make editing less of a nightmare.

• It has divided writing in small sections. So this morning when I took Finn out of my bag, I didn't have to face the whole novel, just point 42. Simple. It should also make it easier when editing, because there will be a small section to handle at a time, as oppose to the whole book.

So that's my outline. Like I said, I have tried different things and different types of outline, but this is the first that has been useful and I have enjoyed using it, so I intend to stick to it for future books.

And why am I having a leisurely evening you may ask - that's because I have already reached today's target. I wanted to reach 40K today, but I am currently at 40514 words. I will still write a bit tonight, but I am not in hurry to finish a certain word count, so tonight, bit more writing and also more reading.

Have you learned anything new about your writing method or preferences from this year's NaNoWriMo experience?

Post Writing Blues

Yes, I am over it. I am still slightly concerned, but I am plodding along. With this particular story, it's been a hell of a journey. First, I wrote a whole first draft with the same characters but DIFFERENT STORY. That was the heroine's story, and the hero had a sub-plot. By the time I finished that draft, I decided the hero had a far more interesting story to tell. So that's where this story was born. What changed? Everything except the characters, and the main idea of the sub plot. That's the funny part, and that's what gives me the confidence that this story is worth writing. Because the hero's beginning and his destination has remained unchanged throughout all this upheavel. The ways of getting to that destination have changed a lot, and in fact that's what I am still attempting to figure out. I think it's a matter of finding the right route. And speaking of changes, initially, my heroine had 4 brothers. Then there were 3. Now she has 1. This came as a result of writing blues, and I decided that because she is close to her family, her brothers were always around (large cast issue), and they are important enough that they won't be just pushed aside. They were therefore major supporting characters. I figured I had far too many major supporting characters for the scope of this book. This isn't an epic fantasy. This is just standard one-book fantasy. So it needs to limit its scope. It needs to focus on the hero's journey alone for the most part. And while I hadn't minded getting rid of several people, I didn't particular like getting rid of one of my favourite characters. The heroine's twin brother. He was a very cool character. But then I found a way to cheat ;) I got rid of him as a brother. But he will appear as a minor character. Granted, he will be quite different than what he was intended to be - quite evil instead of good - but it's not a stretch for his personality. In fact, I think he will be even more fun as an evil dude. I definitely don't have time to do a detailed outline for NaNoWriMo now, but I am just hoping to have a solid enough loose outline that I can feel comfortable with. I did a lot of work on the previous one, but at least at the end of it, I am glad I found out that it wasn't quite the right way before I wrote 80000 words and not after. (I am sick of that happening now) I think initially with this story - like everything I do - I was trying to achieve too much at the same time. That just doesn't work. But one thing at a time is a concept I have a hard time grasping. Still, this story is turning out to be a strict teacher. And now because of all the bloody hard work I have put into it, I am all the more determined to write it to a standard where I would enjoy reading it. And since I have quite high standards of readings, that's a good enough goal for me...for now.

Slow Steps Towards NaNo

I am still working on my outline. My experience with outlines is fairly new. In fact, before this one, I only completed one full outline, and even that was not totally prior to writing a draft, so I am still figuring out what kind of outlines work best for me. Having written several first drafts without planning, I now firmly believe that planning ahead and outlining properly is the way to go for me. The reason being that gaping holes in the first draft after it's supposedly finished demotivate me a lot, because then I am usually forced to rewrite from scratch. So I am definitely in favour of outlines now. But with this outline, I aim to do better. Usually when there are hard questions in plot somewhere that I don't know the answer to, I leave them and hope that when I write the first draft, things will just sort themselves out. Most of the time they don't, or if they do, by then I have written considerable amount already. So with NaNo outline, I am planning to have all the important questions answered. I know some people worry that outlining in detail might take away the excitement and creativity from the first draft. Personally for me, that is not the case, because an outline is just that - a list of things that will happen. The first draft is when you put the list together, and turn it into a story. The outline does not have all the details of the draft; it doesn't have quirks and habits of characters; it doesn't have a soul. The outline is just a guideline, a map to get you to the destination you want to get to. So I continue to mark my map. What's important to you in your outline?

Resisting the Temptation

While attempting to plan my re-vamped fantasy WIP, there are several places where I don’t know what will happen. I know what the main themes of the story are. I know how the story ends. I know all the stuff the hero has to face. I know what the villain wants. But what I don’t know is the middle bit. I don’t know how the villain and the hero are going to collide over and over again, before they can get to the final conflict. That is obviously a huge issue. Today, for several minutes, I was tempted to just start writing. I thought I should just start the draft and see what happens. I even wrote first few sentences. After a short while, I deleted them, because that attitude is precisely what made a mess of previous WIPs. If I don’t have the answers now, I am not miraculously going to have them later on. Well okay, I may have some answers later on, but that could be achieved BEFORE starting the draft with some patience. Alas, patience and I have quite a frosty relationship. But I am resisting, because I know it is purely impatience that’s pushing me. The answers to those questions will come, but sometimes it just takes time. Not all ideas are ready at moment’s notice. I need to give them time to stew. So as impatient as I am, I will give it some more time, and keep brain-storming. I don’t need to have every little detail planned out in advance, but I at least want to be able to have major points outlined before I start writing the first draft. That may mean that I won’t complete this draft in time to start a NaNo draft, but I will have to cross that bridge when I come to it. It may also cause bit of a trouble with my 30K word target this month, but hopefully, I shall find something else to write. With this story though, I am going to be patient, and I am going to try writing it in a different manner than what I have done so far. This method may or may not work, but only by trying different ways I can figure out what works best for me.

Importance of Outline

I have learnt the importance of outline hard way. When I first started a novel, many years ago, I started writing whatever scenes came to my mind. That is the approach I used up until recently. It worked in terms of the scene that just happened to land smoothly in my brain, but eventually I would find all these unfinished pieces of work with gaping holes in the middle.

What happened when I tried to fill those holes? I either had to change other information in completed scenes, or the holes remained because I didn't know how to bridge the gap from one scene to another.

Finally, I learnt my lesson. Inspirational writing is all very well, and I still adhere to it. But now, I keep a seperate file called, "Misc. Scenes" where all these random scenes go. If they happen to fit in the outline, great.

I am still polishing this approach, trying to streamline my outlines, because I often find that once I get an idea, they start running wildly. And before I know it, I have more information than I can put in a book.

So now the next step - a very hard step - is to slowly write outlines for half-completed novels, ideas, and then I will most likely have to rewrite everything. But better to do it right then to produce less than what I am capable of.