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Writers can fall into two categories – the planners and the pantsers. One lot plan out their writing while the other prefer to write “by the seat of their pants” so to speak. They get to their desk and just write.
But you can be both. Some writers will want to plan out, say, a novel, but don’t worry about doing this for their shorter forms of writing. I do both too. How does this work?
I plan out enough to get me started on a piece, then leave my imagination what I call “manoeuvre room” to fill in the gaps and this technique works well for me. I’ve found I must have something to start with.
I’ve been writing now for over 25 years and have been published since 2009. I can’t believe where the time has gone either.
In this time though I have only abandoned two stories I started and it was for the same reason. I hadn’t thought the characters out well enough. I didn’t know them well enough to realise what made them tick. I therefore couldn’t tell their stories. I managed to box myself in with those two tales as a result (and I was cross with myself for doing this a second time). I’ve not made the mistake a third time!
The Advantages of Outlining
You can be as detailed or not as you prefer. It is a case of working out what you think you need to know. You may find as you write your draft other thoughts will occur. You can add these to your outline and see how well, or otherwise, they fit in with your original idea.
You may even find that those thoughts are better than your original idea but you just needed to get started somehow to trigger that process off. It is an oddity but further ideas always occur to me as I am drafting a story. I just jot them down and examine them in more detail later on. Sometimes I use them, other times I stick with my original outline, but I have the flexibility to choose here. An outline, after all, is just a working document.
You have a road map with your outline. It means you can veer off if you wish to but can always come back to that road map when needed.
Having an outline can (and I have found does) stop you boxing yourself in because you have thought out the characters properly, the situations they’re likely to face, and the likely way in which they will handle matters. It doesn’t mean you have to stick religiously to that. It does mean you’ve got a good idea of where your character will be going and, as a result, you are much more likely to deliver on a story with promise.
The Disadvantages of Outlining
They don’t work for everyone but then no one writing method does.
Some people see any kind of outline as being far too rigid but again it is a question of working out what works for you. I know I need a guide. Others don’t need that at all but if those same people offer to take me out hiking, say, without any kind of guide, guess who will be turning that invite down flat! I maintain guides have their uses. It’s up to you what uses you put an outline to and, therefore, what you get out of having one at all.
Kinds of Outline
I like to work out my characters. I usually start by figuring out what their major trait is as so many attitudes and actions can result from that.
A honest character, for example, could cause trouble wherever they went by being so truthful and tactless with it, they upset everyone. I find this to be a useful way into a story.
My honest character would probably find themselves in a humorous story as I set them up for a well deserved fall. After all what is being honest to one person can seem like rudeness to another or even come across as arrogance. Another character would genuinely feel that character needed to be taken down a peg or several. If I felt like being nice, I’d give my too honest for their own good character a chance to redeem themselves before the end.
Now I enter writing competitions and often with those the theme is set for you. Here I work out firstly what could come from the theme. For example, a love theme can obviously be taken to just mean romantic love but there are other kinds of love as well. Unless the competition or market specifically states they just want one kind of story on their theme, I try to dig deeper so I don’t go with the obvious take but still fit the theme. What about an animal lover who goes the extra mile to help rescue dogs? There is love there.
So once I’ve jotted down some ideas for what could come from the theme, I then look at the character I want to be my “star”. Bringing these two things together, I have got a broad outline and I can either fill in the gaps or just write my first draft based on that broad outline. I nearly always do the latter so I get my “manoeuvre room” here.
Outlining for Flash Fiction
Surely, Allison, flash fiction has too small a word count for you to worry about an outline, I hear you say (maybe). Err.. No. I still have an outline though it is a shorter one. I still need to know my starting point. When I’ve got a flash competition which goes up to the full 1000 words maximum, I can decide whether to have one or two characters. I still need to outline whether my idea would work best with a single character or be a “double”.
For the sub-500 word flash tales, which do usually work better with one character, I often just write a paragraph outlining where I think my character is going to go with the theme. An outline doesn’t have to be hugely detailed. It is about figuring out what you need to know. Some writers have to know what a character looks like. I don’t. I need attitude and that comes from the major trait. The more you write (even if is little pieces written regularly), you will get to know what works for you.
Conclusion
Writing can be tough enough with its rejections, not being listed on competitions, and other disappointments without making the process of doing it more difficult for yourself than it needs to be.
This is why it pays to read writer interviews, columns like this one, and go to writing events as and when you can, because you take from these things what will be useful for you. I do this a lot. We all do learn from each other. But I have found having an outline has made my writing easier to achieve which is why I recommend giving this a go.
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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