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Driving A Car At Night: Do You Outline, Or Not?
Contributor
Written by
Kamy Wicoff
November 2012
Brainstorming
Contributor
Written by
Kamy Wicoff
November 2012
Brainstorming

When I was a nonfiction writer, I remember being a little nonplussed by the obsession emerging writers had with established writers' processes.  In interview after interview, successful writers were asked, "What time of day do you work? For how many hours?" and inevitably, "Do you work from an outline, or not?"  Writing nonfiction, for me anyway, was a relatively straightforward process that didn't beg these kinds of questions, particularly with regards to an outline.  OF COURSE I wrote an outline!  It helped that when I wrote my first (and only) book "I Do But I Don't: Why The Way We Marry Matters," the structure came fairly easily.  It went something like this.  "The Proposal."  "The Ring."  "The Dress."  And so on until, "The Wedding."  Not terribly inventive, but effective all the same.

When I began writing my first novel, however--after the initial, thrilling burst of words I rushed to the page when the concept first came to me--I started to panic.  How would I find the structure for this story?  How would I organize the jumble of thoughts, characters and scenes churning through my head?  In the outline I wrote for my nonfiction book, I was helped enormously by the fact that I was making an argument in each chapter, organizing research and interviews I'd done to support ideas being laid out, I hoped, with clearly defined logic.  But as I began to think about my novel, and even though an over-arching plot (of sorts) was in my head, its details were murky, its characters ever-changing, and its specifics as slippery as a trout in a mountain stream.  I would try to get hold of them, but then I'd start actually writing, and everything would change.

And pretty soon I wanted to ask every writer I knew: "Do you work from an outline, or not? (Tell me, dammit!  What do I do?)"

There are so many answers to this question, and, as any experienced writer will tell you, they vary as much as writers do.  But I got great advice from a friend of mine who has completed no fewer than six books, and who has an approach to writing I completely admire: practical.  "Do a paragraph per chapter," she said. "Quickies, just capturing things.  Really take your time on it though.  Make it an important part of your process.  Finish it before you start writing again.  Then, as you write, you can add to it, take things out of it, and change it around."

And that was what I did.  Sitting down to write that outline six months ago, I felt like I was taking my first real step towards writing a novel, rather than just putting a bunch of words (no matter how witty and beautiful they were) on a page.  And then, outline in hand, I started writing.  And I sort of followed it.  And then I didn't.  And I didn't.  And I didn't again.  Today, Brooke Warner, who is my editor with She Writes Press, asked me if I could send her my outline, since she could help me more if she knew where the book was going.  "I have an outline," I said, cautiously, "or I had one.  But now it's sort of...old."

I am planning to update it.  To try to envision, carefully and deliberately, what the next half of my book will bring.  But part of me wants to avoid it like the plague.  I am going, so shouldn't I just keep going?  I may not know what's going to happen in the next hundred pages, but I know what needs to happen next.  As in the oft-quoted E.L. Doctorow line about writing: "It's like driving a car at night.  You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way."  

So today I ask you -- how do you make the trip?  Do you outline?  When?  Before you start?  In the middle?  And how?  Paragraphs?  Roman numerals?  What?  And if you have an outline, do you stick to it?  Experienced (and inexperienced) writers, please, I need to know.  I am obsessed with other writers' process, because I am still trying to figure out mine.

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Comments
  • Kamy Wicoff Brainstorming

    @Eliza, writers' GPS, brilliant!  You will be a millionaire if you invent that one.  And @ire'ne, I won't say here now the idea came to me, because you have given me an idea for a future post.  

  • Augie

    Oops Kamy, I forgot to tell you that I do Stor-yboarding, this helps me to keep my characters straight, and how them flow in the story.  Augie

  • Augie

    Kamy, sorry but I don't outline, unless the piece is non-fiction. I don't think there is a hard and fast rule to fiction, except write what you know that inspires you, and allow the words to flow. At first you may not know where you're going or you might have an idea, than all of a sudden you're blind-sighted by a character you had no idea that took on its own life (that's the fun part in fiction writing), and boom the story moves in another direction. What's most important I think is to start. Keep notes. And don't give up.  Augie

  • Amy Dionne

    Kamy, this post is so relevant to where I've been lately with my writing too. I was inspired so much that I wrote a blog post of my own in response:

    Freedom and Structure

    Hope it helps add to the discussion. Cheers, Amy

  • Joanne C. Hillhouse

    Thanks, Kamy...clearly I was very motivated by your post as well. Reading through the comments, I realize something else... that while I do, generally write forward, I do have scenes or character or plot points that come ahead of their time...when they do (rather than lose them) I make a note or if compelled write them out...then keep writing forward. Clearly I'm still discovering the process :-)

  • Kamy Wicoff Brainstorming

    Ok, where to start.  First of all Joanne, I loved your Five Questions -- thank you so much for being part of She Writes! And you inspired me -- I have been thinking of doing a post about when to get feedback, and when it's too much, and I actually had to drop out of a writers group in the early stages of writing my novel because I got overwhelmed and it was causing me to freeze up rather than barrel ahead.  RYCJ, I find that the characters drive me along too, and it's so fun when they reveal something unexpected to you.  Shannon I love the term pantser!  And Leah, I am about to sit down to write and I am definitely doing the "yep, then this should happen, ok, let's go" approach.  More soon!

  • Betsy Graziani Fasbinder

    I love when writers confess to their struggle.  Makes me feel like my process is normal.  

    In the new book I'm writing (unlike my two prior novels) I'm trying the whole outlining process, if only to eliminate writing four times more novel than I need, like I did last time...and the time before.  I tried to write it screenplay style, dialogue only, just to get the story down, and planned to fill in the descriptions and narrative after. But I found that I missed prose.  I missed description. And while I love writing dialogue, writing only dialogue for the length of a novel wasn't as fun.  

    Perhaps the frame of an outline will let me build the structure of the thing, then I can play while I write.  Next stop: outline, outline, outline.  There, I said it three times, perhaps that means I'll really do it.  

  • Margaret Crum

    In order to organize all the ideas rattling around in my brain and process them into something I can use, i begin with an outline.However, it changes constantly throughout the project as more creative inspirations kick in. The outline serves as a guide to keep me on track and help me move through the various phases of the story. Even when there is a lack of creativity, the outline helps me keep writing and I can go back later to edit and tweak.

  • Jenni Ogden Writing

    I outline for a novel, writing a paragraph for each chapter, and if another lightbulb goes on (usually while walking on the beach or after the lights go out and everyone else is sleeping) I add that idea to the outline as soon as I can. Often as I revise, the chapters get shifted, or sometimes deleted or merged. One value for me, apart from giving my thoughts some shape, is to help me keep an eye on the length of my manuscript. My first “draft” of my first novel was 180.000 wds! The revised (x about 10) version is 94,000 wds. At the beginning I didn’t know that agents and editors rarely look at debut “bookclub” fiction that is over 100,000 wds, and prefer around 85,000 wds. Now that I know this, my 2nd novel is planned to be the right length. The other plus for me of having an outline is as a memory tool. If, for whatever reason (and there are many) I don’t work on that book for a while, being able to read my chapter by chapter outline is a major help and motivator. Also I would never remember all those lightbulb flashes of possible brilliance if I didn’t make a note of them in the appropriate place. I do re-print my outline whenever I make major changes to it such as deleting a whole subtheme or changing around the chapters, and I file the old outlines away, or I’d be constantly revisiting them. And I always have a hard copy of the outline with me when I’m writing, or reading what I’ve written (perhaps sitting on the beach minus computer) so I can jot ideas onto it if I need to. Another thing I’ve found really useful in revising is to always write in Kindle format and when I have a good hunk written I send it off to Amazon and it appears on my Kindle which I can read anywhere, just like a real book! Somehow this is a different experience than reading it on the computer or printed out, and it allows me to pick up poor sentences, over-used words, poor characterization etc more easily. Of course I have to make handwritten notes about corrections or changes, and then correct them on the computer later, but it works well. And as the novel improves, reading it on the Kindle is almost like reading someone else’s (published) book, which is very motivating.  

  • Christina M. Rau

    I really needed to respond to this piece out of guilt.  As a teacher of writing, I tell my students that outlining is everything.  Without an outline, you have no plan, no path.  As a writer, I never outline.  I suppose I have an idea in my head of an outline, but nothing specific.  I have a knack for moving around snippets afterwards to make a solid order.  I guess I'm a hypocrite :)

  • B. Lynn Goodwin

    To outline, right from the heart, or skillfully blend the two

    That is the question. 

    I love what you wrote and now I'm getting back to work on an outline written by my protagonist instead of me. 

    Thanks, 

    Lynn

    www.writeradvice.com

    Author of You Want Me to Do WHAT? Journaling for Caregivers

  • Shannon Barr

    Yes, first novel for me, too. Have you read Ann Patchett's Kindle single, "The Getaway Car"--about her approach to writing, and specifically about writing her first novel? Not that we're looking for new reading material to help us avoid writing...but I found it a great, inspiring (and quick) read. Highly recommend to all who see this! Keep driving.

  • Sheree Nielsen

    Kamy,

    One of the publications I freelance for always requires an outline.   However, I don't prepare the outline until I have organized and edited the story.  And my editor usually tells me I'm spot on.  So in this particular case, it works well.

    I guess I'm old school.  I'm of the thought that if you just write....let it flow....you can organize later.  The inspirational essay collection I've penned is grouped into three categories, then divided into subcategories.  I guess it takes a bit of organization to accomplish that (even with no outline)!  It might be different for fiction writers.

    Also, I don't force myself to write.  Some of my best story ideas come when walking the dog, being with nature, or drinking a cup of coffee and overlooking our beautiful property.   Thoughts become so overwhelming, I write them in my journal first, then type on my laptop, and start reorganizing.

    You've already managed to publish a book, so I think you already have a jump on things! 

    In any event, just keep writing!

  • Kamy Wicoff Brainstorming

    Holy cow this is so awesome! I am going to take my time reading everything and respond in more detail later but first I wanted to say thank you to everyone who shared their process, and their experiences, with me. And Shannon Barr--how cool to see you here! We are two "creative nonfiction" grads writing novels, how cool. Is this your first too?

  • Shannon Barr

    Kamy, I've been wanting to comment on your posts ever since you started blogging about your adventures in fiction writing (and hello, by the way--long time since our nonfiction days at Columbia!). I don't think there is a single thing you've written that I haven't found myself vigorously nodding in agreement about--except perhaps the post about your dad and the "it's for women" comment, and that's probably only because I haven't shown any of my first-novel-in-progress to my father...yet! This post (to outline or not to outline) especially hit home, as I've been perplexed lately by this very question. In some ways, it helps me to think of my outline as a separate (though related) project--if I hit a wall in my progress on my novel draft, I shift over to the outline and tinker with it. It helps to alleviate that awful feeling of being stalled in my narrative forward momentum, because I'm still doing something for The Cause (finishing the first draft) by working on the outline. Sooner or later, because outlining is less fun than writing, I shift back over to wherever I left off in the story. And so it goes. I look forward to your next post. Until then...back to the draft!

  • Velda Brotherton

    Indeed a perilous journey, this fiction writing, isn't it? Like everything else creative we all must find our own path. Don't be obsessed with how "they" say you ought to do it, or what someone else does. Find your own way. I don't outline. As an author of six nonfiction books, numerous articles, and 9 western historical romances (oops, one is a paranormal) I've never outlined a single, cotton-picking sentence, chapter or scene. But that's me. I begin with a historical setting and event, add fictional characters and start writing. As I go I become acquainted with them and after a while, I can see what they truly will and won't do. I lose my creativity if I outline, then go back and try to write. I'll end up with piles of notes on my desk, and some rewriting to do, and eventually a first draft that will one day morph into the finished book. I do a lot of research ahead of beginning, but that's only for ideas. I reiterate, that's me. Do what works best for you and stop worrying about the rest of us. Have a blast, too, by the way. If writing isn't fun for you, then you need to do something else.

  • Rita Arens

    I started out writing my YA novel without an outline and quickly realized I needed one. I still ended up rewriting the ENTIRE NOVEL about five times, though, because I didn't pay attention to things like how well I'd fleshed out minor characters who became bigger later and secondary arcs and stuff like that. Now that I'm working on a new novel, I've learned so much about my own process. I bought software to help me plan my novel better and now work from a scenes perspective rather than a chapter perspective. I could talk about this all day. I do think it's personal to the writer, though.

  • Quanie Miller

    I definitely outline first, but I have to say that learning story structure helped me immensely. Once I understood what beginnings, middles, and endings are supposed to “do” it was easier for me to get my characters there.  I learned how to outline in a screenwriting class (I learned about story structure there), and after that, I used the same principles but adapted them to fit a novel.  I use the outline as a guide; if I get to a particular scene in the outline and it doesn’t feel right, I follow my story gut and write what feels right. But I spend a lot of time on the outline before I start writing, so by the time I actually sit down to write, the main plot elements don’t really change. Also, I outline each chapter by scenes (I number the scenes). 

  • Tyra Brumfield

    Like many others, I tried an outline, too, for my first novel, but discovered that my characters often didn't like to follow it. I was in B & N many months ago, now, and picked up the book Your First Novelwhich I would highly recommend. In it, the authors, Ann Rittenburg and Laura Whitcomb, suggested writing scenes on notecards, which I did. It worked! Now my book is finally finished and I'm on to the thankless task of getting it published. 

  • Robin Leemann Donovan

    Those are the same questions I get asked frequently. I don't work from an outline; and I write murder mysteries (one published, one in the edit phase and one being written). People also ask me if I know from the beginning who my murderer will be. I don't know that either. Sometimes, during the course of the book, I think I know who my murderer will be; so far, that has always changed as the work evolved. My creativity comes in waves and takes me to places I never expected to go - that's what I love about writing novels - it's really fun! At times I stop and think a little bit ahead, but I never worry if another, better thought comes along and changes any plans I've already made. I believe that a fairly set outline, and a predetermined murderer (unless there's a special reason for choosing a particular murderer) would serve to hinder my creativity. In some ways, my whole finished work is my outline; my finished manuscript just sits there and waits to be manipulated and maneuvered into something even better!

  • Sharon Ferguson

    Ive decided to just forge on with the pantser thing but I have the vague outline in my head and the rules Ive spelled out for myself are that they WILL reach the destination I have in mind, and they WILL have their first kiss, and they WILL have a final encounter with the Bad Guy. Beyond that, I darn near resist getting more specific because in going with the natural flow of what my characters express when I get there is often unexpected.  

  • Sharon Ferguson

    ExACTLY what Im going through now...

  • Avril Somerville

    Timely, especially with me doing Nanowrimo (Nat'l Novel Writing Month) this year. When it comes to writing essays and nonfiction, an outline works well for me, but not with this novel.  I'm going to try the paragraph approach and see how that works. Like one of your commenters, Tracey said, I think that the rewriting and editing process will be tough, but right now I'm just trying to write the story.  I'll worry about that later.  Thanks Kamy for answering the age-old question for me: to outline or not. 

  • Tracey Barnes Priestley

    Here's a head scratcher. For most of my career I have been writing non-fiction and relying on rough outlines to do so. But for my novel, Duck Pond Epiphany (thank you SWP) I threw caution to the wind. I lost myself in the narrative and was energized, and fascinated, by where my characters led me. Of course, this may have made the the re-writing process a bit more challenging  but I honestly wouldn't have changed a thing. 

  • Elisabeth Kinsey

    My memoir took off after a writing retreat, where I found a reading partner, and after I mapped out my novel on One Note (which others swear by Scrivener).  With the outline, I've been able to have a fluidity.  After a chapter is "Done" (ish) then I move it in my outline to its proper place.  I have folders called "synopsis," "conflicts," "notes to self," "stuff to use," "possible plot points," "questions to characters," "Character answers."  Since I'm the main character, I took myself at ages and asked that age questions and wrote down the answers.  My bible is Outlining your Novel by K.M. Weiland.  I have four chapters done and ten amorphous and growing chapters.  You are on your way, Kamey!!!