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Outline is not necessary. Here's why...

GeekDavid

Auror
I wrote Librarian by the seat of my pants. I am outlining The Heretic's Challenge. I already feel better about Challenge than I ever did (or do) about Librarian.

Does this mean outlining is for everyone? No. I am not one of those who stands On High and says, Thou Must Doest It This Way! But it's worth giving a try, especially since it costs nothing.
 

Sanctified

Minstrel
What the author is really saying is, "Don't use a formula for your stories," while pointing out that status quo, the introduction of a problem, escalating tension and climax are more important than three acts that may or may not have those things.

He's also warning against putting Chekhov's gun in the story without firing it. That's crucial advice regardless of nether you're outlining or not.

Basically, he's giving some solid advice, and someone (probably a web producer or editor at Writer's Digest) slapped that SEO-friendly, listicle-style headline on top of it to attract clicks. Because, you know, on the web we love distilling everything down to "six easy steps" and "one weird trick that (X) doesn't want you to know!"
 

Guy

Inkling
Good article. I always hated the way a lot of people make creative writing a story sound like assembling a book case. It's way more art than science. I especially like the point that more action does not equal more tension. I see that mistake in movies a lot. They just keep piling on more and more action until I get exhausted and stop investing any emotion in it. After a while I just say, "Aw, to hell with it" and check out.
 

Jabrosky

Banned
When I was a kid in school, I hated that the teachers wanted us to write outlines down before we started our writing assignments. I always felt written outlines were superfluous because I already knew what I wanted to write for the final assignment. I could do all the planning in my head.

Come to think of it, almost all my successes with writing short stories have depended on mental planning too. I don't bother to write the outline down because I can already visualize what's going to happen ahead of time. Furthermore, if I keep all my planning in my head, somehow it feels much more malleable than if I write it down on something tangible. It's not quite pantsing since it does require a clear idea of where I want to take a story, but it's still very different from what most people would call outlining.

Now if only I could try this approach on a whole novel...
 

Captain Loye

Dreamer
Good article. I always hated the way a lot of people make creative writing a story sound like assembling a book case. It's way more art than science.

I'm about to hand in my post-graduate dissertation in plant ecology, and I can tell you, sometimes there's more art than science in science too :p!

I liked this article, it is certainly food for thought. I'm still not sure what approach works for me. So far in my writing I've been mostly mentally planning with some world-building on paper, but I am planning on hitting up NaNoWriMo next month and I've wondered whether better outlining might keep me more focused and help me get words on paper.

I have a feeling that like most things, there is a continuum between no outlining and complete outlining - most people probably work best somewhere around the middle...but that's based on nothing but my arrogant assumptions ;)
 

GeekDavid

Auror
I have a feeling that like most things, there is a continuum between no outlining and complete outlining - most people probably work best somewhere around the middle...but that's based on nothing but my arrogant assumptions ;)

To me, someone saying "Outlining isn't necessary" is just as wrong as someone saying, "You must outline."

Writing is an art, and each artist is different. Some like a lot of outlining, some like almost none, and as you say, most are probably somewhere in the middle.

But making such an absolute statement right out front probably tends to alienate more than it draws in. So what if Successful Author X writes each book solely by the seat of his tweed pants? Equally Successful Author Y writes a detailed outline down to the I. A. 1. a. i. headings, so there goes the theory that outlines are useless.
 

Sanctified

Minstrel
Writing is art, but it's also work. Those perpetual "I'm becoming a writer" types think that one day a muse is going to bless them with a masterpiece, and that there's some sort of mysterious element to writing.

That's not how it works. From The War of Art:

“The sign of the amateur is overglorification of and preoccupation with the mystery. The professional shuts up. She doesn't talk about it. She does her work.”

Somehow as a society we've developed these romantic notions about writing, but the bottom line is you've got to sit your ass in a chair and do the work. Again, the article doesn't actually advocate writing without any preparation or game plan, it's warning against taking the three-act structure too literally that storytelling becomes a formula.
 

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
My outlines are mental...but I spend a lot of time going over each scene and twist bit by bit, plus...

...most of my work is on the short side.
 

Guy

Inkling
I'm about to hand in my post-graduate dissertation in plant ecology, and I can tell you, sometimes there's more art than science in science too :p!
I did a thesis for my MA in history, and while outlines were useful for that because scholarly writing is much more structured and formal than creative writing, I still chafed at them. The only reason I did one was because I was required to. When I do an outline, I prefer to keep them general to give me flexibility, but scholarly writing has to be very, very specific. My committee had to occasionally rein in my (to them) more florid passages. It was especially difficult to restrain my novelist's impulses considering how passionate I am about my topic. One trick my committee chair (quick salute to Dr. Ritchey) taught me that I found useful was something called a reverse outline, and I think it would apply to creative writing just as well as scholarly writing. It's outlining what you meant to say after you've written a rough draft. I found it worked very well to clarify points, but outlining things before I ever typed a word is something that I have trouble with. I work better when I get something down and then play with it because often the only way I'll get an idea is when I see what I've already got and that can spawn new questions, possibilities and lines I can follow.
 

Addison

Auror
I'm a SOPer myself. I only outline if I'm stuck and when I'm done with the first draft so I have an easier time revising and editing.
 

Jabrosky

Banned
One trick my committee chair (quick salute to Dr. Ritchey) taught me that I found useful was something called a reverse outline, and I think it would apply to creative writing just as well as scholarly writing. It's outlining what you meant to say after you've written a rough draft. I found it worked very well to clarify points, but outlining things before I ever typed a word is something that I have trouble with. I work better when I get something down and then play with it because often the only way I'll get an idea is when I see what I've already got and that can spawn new questions, possibilities and lines I can follow.
I rather like this idea of reverse outlining. I should try it myself.
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
Good article. I always hated the way a lot of people make creative writing a story sound like assembling a book case. It's way more art than science. I especially like the point that more action does not equal more tension. I see that mistake in movies a lot. They just keep piling on more and more action until I get exhausted and stop investing any emotion in it. After a while I just say, "Aw, to hell with it" and check out.

My opinion about this is that you don't necessarily need loads and loads of action, but you do need something happening to advance the plot. Sometimes writers may mistake that for just killing a bunch of folks.

To me tension could be a husband that just discovered his wife in bed with another man and he just sits at the edge of the bed saying nothing while the two lovers get dressed. What's he going to do? What's he thinking? These are things that readers should be interested to learn.

To address the article, I do think outlining is an important tool for writers...if it works for them. I don't believe in forcing anything just because someone tells you to. However, if you've struggled for years as a pantser and just can't seem to finish anything, trying an outline may not be a bad idea. I think some believe outlining has to be this super-structured thing. It doesn't. It can just be simple notes for a writer to follow without any in-depth Roman numeral style breakdowns. For example, for my purposes I write a "Scene List" which is just a series of things I want to happen in my novel. They leave room for "rabbit trails" as the article suggests and I often change things on the fly. Having that structure though helps me a lot in knowing where I'm going. For me outlining is like having a road map somewhere. It just makes it easier to get where you're going. But you could just start walking out of your house right now with no idea where you're going and still have a great story to tell depending on where the path takes you.
 
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GeekDavid

Auror
For example, for my purposes I write a "Scene List" which is just a series of things I want to happen in my novel. They leave room for "rabbit trails" as the article suggests and I often change things on the fly. Having that structure though helps me a lot in knowing where I'm going. For me outlining is like having a road map somewhere. It just makes it easier to get where you're going. But you could just start walking out of your house right now with no idea where you're going and still have a great story to tell depending on where the path takes you.

That's pretty much what I'm doing with Challenge. I've pretty much broken up the book into four sections and I know what I want to happen in each section and how to bridge between them.
 

Helen

Inkling
It's way more art than science.

I dunno.

When you see people construct stories on white boards. When you analyze stories and see just how meaningful every word, action, motif is.......there's a lot of science in it.
 
C

Chessie

Guest
^^ When it comes down to actual storytelling, that's art. I think the article focuses on how to nurture the creation of our art.

I liked the article and found it helpful. I'm with a couple folks on this thread in that I mentally outline my work before I sit down to write the story. I keep notes on world building, character connections and back stories, etc. But I've found it troublesome to write a flowing story from an outline. And I agree with one point made in the article that if you know where your story is going, then you won't be writing by the seat of your pants.
 

Guy

Inkling
I dunno.

When you see people construct stories on white boards. When you analyze stories and see just how meaningful every word, action, motif is.......there's a lot of science in it.
True. It just comes down to the individual's approach. To my mind what you described is the functional equivalent to outlining, and for creative writing my mind just doesn't work along those lines. I sort of see it as similar to the difference between a contemporary metallurgist and an ancient blacksmith - the metallurgist can give you a specific, scientific analysis on what is happening during the forging process and use that knowledge to produce high quality steel. The ancient smith couldn't do anything like the contemporary metallurgist's analysis. He just somehow knew how to take a piece of iron and forge it into a steel blade.
 

Jabrosky

Banned
Having just attempted to outline yet another story, I have come to the conclusion that outlining doesn't really work that well for me. What tends to happen is that once I string together a series of events and start fleshing out the plot, major holes appear that send the whole story crashing down. The different parts of the story that I think up just won't harmonize with each other unless I come up with some ridiculous contrivance. It's like putting together a puzzle of pieces that don't fit together.
 

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
What strikes me in all this is how different writing is from the other arts. One rarely sees this sort of conversation -- i.e., what one must or ought to do in order to create a successful work -- in painting or in music. The closest parallel I can find is in acting, where there are methodologies that some swear by while others reject.

Personally, I agree with those who recommend Sitzfleisch and practice. Also, most musicians (not so much with painters) understand that one does not progress through practice alone but through practice + feedback/criticism. Unfortunately, there's no writer's equivalent to playing in a bar band. We're more like classical musicians, thousands of us crowding to get that one chair open at second violin.
 

GeekDavid

Auror
What strikes me in all this is how different writing is from the other arts. One rarely sees this sort of conversation -- i.e., what one must or ought to do in order to create a successful work -- in painting or in music. The closest parallel I can find is in acting, where there are methodologies that some swear by while others reject.

Personally, I agree with those who recommend Sitzfleisch and practice. Also, most musicians (not so much with painters) understand that one does not progress through practice alone but through practice + feedback/criticism. Unfortunately, there's no writer's equivalent to playing in a bar band. We're more like classical musicians, thousands of us crowding to get that one chair open at second violin.

Ursula K. LeGuin described it this way...

You sit down and you do it, and you do it, and you do it, until you have learned to do it.

No magic formula, you just keep doing it and (presumably) you discover what works for you and what doesn't. Just because X works for me doesn't mean it'll work for you, and vice versa.
 
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