#outlining process

[muffinlance]

Salvage Chapter 8 Bonus: Outlining Process

I get a lot of asks about my outlining process, so. Behold! A side-by-side of all the writing stages of Chapter 8! 

Le GDrive Link

Notes on the general thought process listed at the top of each stage. Hopping around via the doc outline is encouraged.

[akindofmagictoo]

Random question for you if you don't mind cause I'm super curious - what was your writing process on Hurricane? Did you have an outline? How did you feel? Drafting almost the whole book in 3 months is something👀

I don’t mind at all! thanks for asking :D

the short answer is I have an outline and I wrote mostly outside of school and uni (and I don’t count outlining time in that 3 months!). 

I’ll explain the longer answer under the cut hahah (this is draft 3, so strap in if you want to hear my process from my first draft. (boy did it get long)

I spent about a year and a half (way back in 2017-2018) developing the initial concept, outlining, and writing half of a first draft. that first draft was a bit of a dumpster fire; it had a bunch of gaps and I never finished it. I knew the plot had major issues I needed to deal with, but I didn’t know what to do about them. (a weak/inconsistent villain who never actually tried to get the thing he really wanted, bad romantic subplot development and timing... and with hindsight, the pacing and the stakes were all wrong too)

in the middle of the night one night I was struck by the key I needed to sort out literally all the problems I was having (especially good was that I got to delete a very very stupid plot device that changed the stakes unnecessarily and was just used to get characters from one place to another). this was amazing; from there, I developed into a rough outline and then fleshed it out. that took nine months or so. 

I went a little bit overboard on that outline... it was super super detailed. I outlined a lot of dialogue. as a result, actually drafting that took me also about 3 months (because I’d written a lot of it ahead of time). example below. 

I got some fairly major feedback on that draft; it didn’t require a complete rejig like draft 1 did, but I needed to add or change a number of components. so I outlined again (in less detail), starting with what I already had and then what I needed to change; firstly I outlined those things separately so I could keep track of, eg, subplots. then I integrated the changes into the main outline. that took like two months, and then I rewrote draft 2 with all of those changes in mind. examples below. 

when I rewrote, some scenes were pretty similar in their content but I edited things like filler words and changed phrases. one or two scenes I deleted, a number I edited (often for things like motivation, even if much of the action was similar), and added stuff as well. 

to me now, an outline is “instructions to future me”. outlining draft 2, I didn’t trust future me to remember everything or to come up with even better ideas. when I outlined draft 3, I tried to trust myself to have good ideas instead of writing everything down as I saw it in my head at the time. it’s also a place where I do all the “telling” instead of showing. an actual quote from outline 2: “Theo is embarrassed boi.” 

so it was quick for three reasons: I keep fairly detailed outlines, for the most part the scenes were already written, and I wrote a lot of it in my uni break. 

if you have more questions about my process I’d be happy to answer them (I keep thinking I’d like to post more original content about the process of writing and stuff like that on this blog) but I think this post is long enough now... thanks again for the ask! 

[k--havok]

So, even tho I wrote a novel back in like fuckin... 2017 I have been SO STUCK on re-drafting it ‘cause honestly every time I try and outline an original story, I have so many issues. I have no idea why I can outline fanfiction fine but original fiction just. Kicks me in the butt. 

However, I’ve been analyzing how I write and what sort of style I use to plot. And, by NaNo definitions, I am neither a pure plotter or pantster, but a mixture of both. Which can be good and bad mattering on what I am doing. 

I took a deep look into the manuscripts I’ve been writing. I mainly have 2--one complete and the second halfway complete. However, the first I need to completely rewrite and the second draft I stopped halfway since I realize I already started going off outline and need to redraft it... again. 

And that’s when I had my first realization; that I put too many details in my outline. I don’t always look at my outline while I write. Usually, I look at the main ideas of my outline and write the scene from there, figuring out the setting and dialogue and everything else while I sit and write, which is def a panster trait. However, I need to have the purpose of the scene planned out before I write it or I get too rambly and get too distracted from the plot and stuck. I found my previous outlines really messy for the most part due to this issue.

Another issue is my poor organizational skills. I am... a horrible organizer. Completely awful really. I keep a lot in my brain and on paper don’t always write everything down. And when I do it’s out of order and messy to boot. 

My original outline format was to write down a two sentence plot summary for whatever I am writing (which I still do; it’s useful tbh) and then start drafting what should happen in the beginning, middle, and end, then connect them all together. From there, I write out the entire plot and then write it a second time breaking it into chapters. And I always did that all by hand.

It worked okay for my fanfiction but original story wise it was? Horrible. I think it’s because my fanfictions tend to be simpler and have shorter plots and not be so long. I have no idea. 

So I decided to stop doing all that work and started doing the sticky-note method so I could arrange plot details around and add them in and take them out quickly. It actually helped a lot! I did that on my second manuscript and it’s first draft is a LOT better than my first novel’s first draft. However, I was still having a lot of problems... and didn’t know how to fix it. 

I dunno where or how I stumbled upon this, but I found out a different way to track ideas altogether called “mindmapping” I think it’s sometimes called the “subway method” too (or at least that method is really similar) where you start at points and connect everything together using a infograph of sorts. It’s similar to the sticky-note method except this way, you use arrows and can group and connect large chunks of the plot at a time and at-a-glance see where new subplots begin, end, affect the main plot, merge, and stuff of that sort. 

I’ve been stuck on the new outline for my first novel for over a year now. I finished the thing in 2017 and it is now 2019 and I have made almost no progress on it. But I decided to open up a mindmap, grab my notes, glance over them and start connecting shit together, and also utilize ANOTHER new tool called the “fichtean curve” method for writing that I found and WOW 

I have done more substantial work in two hours than I have in OVER A YEAR 

It’s too early to say if this method is the one for me... I haven’t actually gotten into the rewrite process yet, after all. However. However. I am feeling so much better and these tools I have found have been so helpful for me I cannot believe it. 

And, for the first time in a very long time, I am actually excited about outlining. 

Sometimes, it may just be trying again and again until you eventually find a method that works for you...

and there, I suppose in the future I’ll end up refining it to suit my needs perfectly. 

It’s interesting as not many people talk about struggling with outlining with they do and I also think it’s important to remember every writer has a different way they outline, just as every writer has a different writing style. I doubt two people will have the exact same process and routine and that makes things difficult for sure... but knowing that, it at least helps me not get so stressed out about not outlining the “correct way” since there is no correct way. And that’s just yet another great thing about writing. 

[cityofbullshit]

Does it make sense to turn my Romatasy wip from a simple romance into a tragedy, or am I just hungry and taking it out on my characters?

I mean is not like I'm taking out the romance aspect, the love is still there, the love still changed this characters, but it wasn't enough and they were to far gone to save.

Feels more narratively coherent with the world i created, but I'm also basic this on my thought process done one an empty stomach.

[brynwrites]

The unofficial abbreviation for one of the more villainous societies in The Warlord’s Contract is SR DOT, and it makes my outlines so great.

On a more serious note, the outline for the second book is coming along fantastically. I’m so excited to get started on it.