Outlining: do you or dont you?

Yes I've come across that as well, but sometimes unmanageable things just take a little tweaking to make them manageable.

~Akurei Enzeru

Anne Gilbert wrote:

but "just sitting down and writing" can produce results that are not entirely manageable,
Anne G

I think this is more personal opinion - while lots of people would agree with you, Anne, there are just as many who find that sitting and writing gets them perfectly good results.

I have a basic outline, but my story has been so tweaked that the outline doesn't apply at some points. :] Sure, sometimes I would be writing and see that I had written something that wasn't originally in the outline (I love when that happens. <3 It means my brain is working that day). But sometimes, I would be writing something, then have to tweak it because the plot is moving too fast, or my characters went slightly out of character. @_@ It takes tweaking and just completely throwing yourself out there and see what lovable word vomit comes out, that you can tweak into an awesome novel. <3 Or, if you're lucky, your writing might be really good on the first draft... (but I find that's not likely for a lot of people)

yeah it's not likely >< I've stopped writng my novel about twenty times already and to whole week of just editing and tweaking!
It always comes out really well, but you can never stop, ya know?

Nothing can be perfect, and yet that's what you always have to strive for!

~Akurei Enzeru

*Moonlight_Mania* wrote:

I have a basic outline, but my story has been so tweaked that the outline doesn't apply at some points. :] Sure, sometimes I would be writing and see that I had written something that wasn't originally in the outline (I love when that happens. <3 It means my brain is working that day). But sometimes, I would be writing something, then have to tweak it because the plot is moving too fast, or my characters went slightly out of character. @_@ It takes tweaking and just completely throwing yourself out there and see what lovable word vomit comes out, that you can tweak into an awesome novel. <3 Or, if you're lucky, your writing might be really good on the first draft... (but I find that's not likely for a lot of people)

Mine's similar to yours, I think...I first thought of my plot and wrote it down - not in story form, just the storyline as I thought it out - and forgot all about it, until I found time to begin the MS. I have made several changes from the original idea as well.

when you go past your outline {or whatever it is you write} that can be really great...or not at some times. but even when its not, you can take that and twist it into a great idea ^^

~Akurei Enzeru

There was the one time my outline and MS looked like two different plots! I liked the MS better and threw away the outline.

If it was better than it was best that your outline looked alien compared XD

~Akurei Enzeru

So, many of you know i bought a load of outlining books because i am not an outliner at all!! and its funny how when you start to read some of these books, you feel soooooo stupid or something for even 'attempting' to write a novel without an outline.

basically its like: "there is no right way, BUT our way is right because . . . "

So i've been thinking about this, and i've seen alot of comments and discussions about to outline or not to outline. One side saying it saves time, the other saying it stiffles creativity.

Post-thesis when i'm doing my WIP, i'm going to try and see whats write for me. I definitely know by my nature that i'm not a 'pointbypoint' outliner and more than likely similar to alot of you, i'll just write up an A4 page of outline and be happy with that.

Sorry for this ramble post but i've had a lil epiphany that i should be looking for the 'right way' but should concentrate on 'right way for me' because to be honest, i actually start getting a headache when i think of the intensity of the outlines.

As my mother says: Paralysis through Analysis - and thats exactly what happened to me the last time, i freaked out so much that i didn't know every single detail of plot and character bio that i felt i wasn't qualified to write a word till i knew everything before hand - which stiffled me completely and lead me to 'walk away' for at least a few months cause i was soooo freaked out

So lesson learnt (very hardly) is 'be yourself and true to yourself in the way you write' - very cheesy!

Not cheesy at all, very true!

If you try to be someone else in your writing then its not yours, its fake. You have to be yourself and just hope for the best!

~Akurei Enzeru

P.S. Emily, your rambling messages are so fun to read and very insightful.

Outlining. Oi. I've gone in so many circles with outlining it's absolutely ridiculous. The conclusion I've had to come to, whether I have tried to outline for the project or not, is my first draft is inevitably going to be my outline. Then I have to rewrite the whole thing. That's what works for me.

That said, I am going to try to outline my next book more extensively than I have in the past (because it would certainly be a lot easier to have the plot down ahead of time) but if the book takes a different direction while I'm writing it, I'm not going to fight it.

That is a very good idea, in that sense we all write an outline with or without out knowing or wanting to! But that is true, since the first draft is never the best, it is truly the outline for the rest ^^

~Akurei Enzeru

Lapillus & Akurei - thats a good idea. i think they whole extensive outlining made me feel stifled so that it was written 'in stone' - i like the idea of the first draft being an outline as well

^^ good because none of us need to go insane trying to make an outline, it kind of waist the time you could be using to put those ideas down into a story!

~Akurei Enzeru

There is another wonderful post about outlining over here: Outlines, or: The Horror! The Horror! (That's actually a link, but I can't get it to show up as a different colour.)

What Karen is describing in her post is very similar to how I do plotting. It also has some good starting questions that you should 'ask' your characters.

Thats excellent Dae! than ks

I wonder if different genres involve different methods of outlining? According to websites alot of fantasy begins with 1) worldbuilding i.e. socio, policitcs etc of your world 2) building maps - 3) characters 4) plot.

I think the reason this has been stumping me for so long is that i expect to 'know' eveything before i start writing but i've learned the importance of leaving lots of black spaces in char bios etc. but definitely i think for SF/F this type of research process is necessary.

Wondering for those who right in different genres like historical fiction/romance/YA do you set your setting/world out first or do you do characters/plot first?