Outlines, Pantsers, Organic, Linear--What's Your Method

Outlines and other methods of organizing writing is a perennial discussion among writers. There are nearly as many opinions as there are writers. I've been known to talk about the topic a few times. (Check out How the Writing Minds Works or Terra Incognita.)

While I don't use a formal outline to write fiction, my master's thesis, on the other hand, was meticulously outlined. I do use a rough storyboard/table of scenes that allows me to write where ever my mood or muse takes me.

 

But as I get closer to completing the rough draft for FRIENDLY FIRE, I think I need a little bit more organization, so that I can see the remaining holes (or to be honest, the gaping canyons) I need to fill in. ; )

 

There's a great discussion of how other authors write starting with outlining on Barbara Rogan's blog, In Cold Ink. The post is In Praise of Outlines. As a member of the Books and Writers Forum, she started a corresponding discussion that got a lot of great comments, too. In fact, many of the writers involved described how their minds work with some amazing analogies.

 

Diana Gabaldon who is known for her historical novels with a twist uses the kernel method and added the following analogy.

"I just tell people I'm a network writer; i.e., my brain is not wired linearly, but hooked up as a network. Imagine one of those Christmas-light things that's like a net, with bulbs at each juncture. When I get a kernel and start working, one of the bulbs lights up--but often, so do other bulbs in the network, often ones that aren't anywhere physically near the first one."

 

Beth Shope described her organic, linear method in the following way:

"I was just thinking yesterday that organic writers plant the seeds of future plot development as they write, sometimes all unknowing. Anything, however innocuous at the time--an event, a line of dialogue, an observation, an object--can end up producing fruit. If you look back along the trail of the story, you can see which seeds grew and bloomed, and which turned out to be weeds. Those you yank out."

The truth of the discussion is that whatever method works for each writer is what they should do.

Do you outline, write in chunks, or use a linear format?
What works for you?

Who knows you might help me find some enthusiasm for this next, necessary step in my journey to completing FRIENDLY FIRE.

Uncovered Gems

Since my main WIP is in a contemporary setting and is about a foster child, I find a great number of wonderful nuggets that inspire all sorts of ideas for my plot. Sometimes all it takes is a newspaper article, a TV news report, or stray conversation among the people I see at church and the grocery store. My notebooks are full of varied jewels that I've uncovered.

Here's some of the latest tidbits:

• A newspaper article concerning the statute of limitations on sex abuse claims--Since many of the victims don't report it for decades, the perpetrators go unpunished. The crimes against my character Samantha are nearly lost to this reluctance to talk.
• A newspaper article that older mothers with daughters are living on a powder keg of hormones--As the daughters hit puberty, the moms are entering menopause with the possibility of major combustion. My two main characters fit this dynamic and my back brain will make something of it--I just know it will. ; )
• A local TV news crew reported on a group that paid for the funeral of a homeless vet with full military honors--The retired Marine among my characters is itching to use this quote from the story: "No one should go on their last mission alone." Something tells me that this will come up again in some way in Cherry Hill Book 2--LINE OF FIRE.
• A newspaper article about the result of a court case that requires a reduction of the case loads for child protective services personnel in the Fulton and Dekalb counties (Atlanta). All the other counties in Georgia have had to increase the caseloads to make up for personnel and funds moved to Fulton and Dekalb. This was confirmed by a discussion with a local Department of Family and Children caseworker. She has 33 active cases right now. My story isn't set in Fulton or Dekalb counties. I think you can figure out the rest of that line of thinking.
• Some of my friends were bemoaning the loss of their children's boy and girl friends. The quote was "But they didn't break up with us!" When a child falls in love with potential mate who then disappears, what happens to the hapless parent who made the friend welcome to the family? This one will be allowed to ferment. I'm sure my characters have something to say about it. ; )

Where do you find your uncovered kernels and hidden gems?
But more importantly, how do you record them so you don't lose them?

The delightful Denise Covey's A to Z Challenge posts have covered Bloggers Were Children, Too this month and I'm Z. ; ) Go HERE to read my interview.

If you want more info on my strange and wonderful name go to my post: "What's in a Name?"
It's been fun following Denise at L'Aussie Writer and Deniz at The Girdle of Melian, and Matthew at The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment. Check these great bloggers out.

Obstacles

Self-censorship comes in all manner of shapes and sizes. Two weeks ago, I described one form in Censorship. Here's another you might want to watch out for.

My scenes usually start with dialog. I can hear the words that the characters are saying, but dialog isn't everything. When I start worrying about the other necessary parts of the scene, I slow down. My ears lose their focus on the matter at hand. I start thinking about how to write the words smoothly with no cliches. Stage direction, body language, and description become obstacles to the free flow of what I can see at the moment. The truth is, when I don't stop to think and let description flow naturally, others notice it and praise it as poetic prose.

So, what stops you in your tracks, slows down your words? Do you have a usual obstacle to your first words? How do you go back and capture the fire of the scene, that kernel that caught your attention at the beginning?