Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Books
"These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves." — Gilbert Highet
Sunday, February 7, 2010
To Outline, or Not to Outline...
Days left: 456
Words written: 3,601
For those of you paying close attention, my word count just went backwards. Well, it turns out when you change your mind about what direction you want a major character to go in, it takes a big bite out of what you've already written involving that character. I've now got a document labeled "Abandoned Story Lines" where much of what I had written for Ronnie now lives.
This is a good thing (I hope). I now have a very clear vision of where this novel is going - or at least where the first ten chapters are going to go, since that is what I've outlined so far. I have found outlining a very useful tool in my professional writing life, but have never used it for fiction before. One of my writing teachers in college taught me that the story should evolve as it's being written. The problem with this theory (for me at least), is that I never feel like I'm getting anywhere. If I don't know where the story is going, how will I know when I get there?
So, I'm trying something new and so far I like it. I feel like I have a plan of action now, a concrete goal to accomplish. Hopefully this will get me writing more frequently as, quite frankly, the television and the couch have been winning the war for my free time of late.
In closing, here's a question for all you fellow writers out there: Do you outline when working on a creative project? If so, do you find it helpful or does it kill your creative spirit?
Words written: 3,601
For those of you paying close attention, my word count just went backwards. Well, it turns out when you change your mind about what direction you want a major character to go in, it takes a big bite out of what you've already written involving that character. I've now got a document labeled "Abandoned Story Lines" where much of what I had written for Ronnie now lives.
This is a good thing (I hope). I now have a very clear vision of where this novel is going - or at least where the first ten chapters are going to go, since that is what I've outlined so far. I have found outlining a very useful tool in my professional writing life, but have never used it for fiction before. One of my writing teachers in college taught me that the story should evolve as it's being written. The problem with this theory (for me at least), is that I never feel like I'm getting anywhere. If I don't know where the story is going, how will I know when I get there?
So, I'm trying something new and so far I like it. I feel like I have a plan of action now, a concrete goal to accomplish. Hopefully this will get me writing more frequently as, quite frankly, the television and the couch have been winning the war for my free time of late.
In closing, here's a question for all you fellow writers out there: Do you outline when working on a creative project? If so, do you find it helpful or does it kill your creative spirit?
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