Pre-Writing and Outlining

SPoots

SPoots

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In the past, I have always been a discovery writer, but now I want to try and focus on structuring my work more. I have a novel I want to work on, but I'm a bit stuck on its plot. I have some nice characters, set up, and world and an idea of where I want things to go. It's the process of getting them from A to B I'm now stuck with.

Does anyone have any techniques on outlining? How should I go about this?
 
I'm more of a pants writer rather than plotter. However, the two times I have plotted I've done differently.

First time I worked through each chapter with bullet points for what each character needed to do or be done to.

Second time I made a note of major plot points. Then took each in turn and worked plot branches off them. Then did the same again. Eventually the minor branches connected the major plots together. Note: this my current WiP.
 
I outline only in my head - where there's plenty of room - but I developed a screenplay with a producer some years ago after he requested 10 one sentence ideas. He picked the one I liked least, of course, and insisted on the process below, which I believe can be helpful to outliners.

We extended the one sentence idea into three sentences (beginning, middle and end), then into three paragraphs and then three pages etc, expanding, editing and adding detail as we went. It's good in that you can tailor it to wherever you need to be before starting.

We eventually had a detailed 30 page outline for a pretty good movie script, in my opinion, although the idea ended up in Development Hell.
 
I agree. I see planning a story as a set of islands connected by vague bridges of “filler stuff”. The larger islands are the main points in the story. As they become clearer, smaller points of importance appear and the whole thing becomes more solid. Eventually the need to bridge any of it becomes less and less and you have the entire story.
 
Another option: check out Dan Well’s 7-point story structure, and think up plot/character moments to serve each of those beats. You can discover from point-to-point thereafter, if that’s you usual process, and still end up with excellent structure.
 
Voglers A Writer's Journey is a good place to start although it is a bit of a tome. Pixar films follow his ideas and are a fantastic place to start examining how plot works. I plot to the following structure - ordinary world, inciting incident, turning point 1 + 2, midpoint change, turning point 3, high point, black moment, climax. If you look at a film like Cars or Monsters Inc you should be able to pick all of these out and see how the story hangs together as they also show character arc and theme really clearly.
 
Steve Harrison said:
I outline only in my head - where there's plenty of room - but I developed a screenplay with a producer some years ago after he requested 10 one sentence ideas. He picked the one I liked least, of course, and insisted on the process below, which I believe can be helpful to outliners.

We extended the one sentence idea into three sentences (beginning, middle and end), then into three paragraphs and then three pages etc, expanding, editing and adding detail as we went. It's good in that you can tailor it to wherever you need to be before starting.

We eventually had a detailed 30 page outline for a pretty good movie script, in my opinion, although the idea ended up in Development Hell.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the Snowflake method.
How To Write A Novel Using The Snowflake Method
Ignore the goofy graphics; the article and approach are sound. They weren't for me, but plenty of people use the approach.
 
It's worth knowing all these approaches and more, even if you don't use them. I have learned to look for them in my own work, and at least consciously decide that they exist and are solid, exist but need improvement, or are missing and need to be added, or are missing and I'm fine with that. This tends to happen *after* I've written at least the first draft, so it belongs more to analysis and revision than to outlining and pre-writing. In that early phase I tend toward the Disorganized Notes Method. :)
 
sknox said:
Sounds like the Snowflake method.
How To Write A Novel Using The Snowflake Method
Ignore the goofy graphics; the article and approach are sound. They weren't for me, but plenty of people use the approach.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I only used it the once, so I didn't know it was a 'thing.' :)

I found early on that if I have a written or formal outline I was unable to deviate from it and it caused me a great deal of creative stress.
 
Steve Harrison said:
Interesting. I only used it the once, so I didn't know it was a 'thing.' :)

I found early on that if I have a written or formal outline I was unable to deviate from it and it caused me a great deal of creative stress.
Click to expand...

Huh. And no matter how good an outline I make, I manage to deviate from it instantly. It's almost a magic trick. Us artists sure are a zany crew, aren't we. (y)
 
sknox said:
Huh. And no matter how good an outline I make, I manage to deviate from it instantly. It's almost a magic trick.
Click to expand...
This is normal! :) An outline is just to get your ideas prepared/organized. Deviating is the norm, not the exception. ;)
 
I used an outline for my current novel that I have a finished draft for. As I wrote each chapter, I made changes to my outline method because i started to learn what worked best for me. I divided each chapter into its own section and wrote a few sentences about where the scene began and where it ended. This allowed some creative freedom for getting from point A to B, but kept me on track. I also added in some bullet points for key points that I knew had to be in the story or highlighted. In some cases, I had more than one POV in each chapter, so I subdivided those chapters into scenes and did the same thing for them. This will be the method I use I the near future until I stumble across something that I like better.

sknox said:
Huh. And no matter how good an outline I make, I manage to deviate from it instantly. It's almost a magic trick. Us artists sure are a zany crew, aren't we. (y)
Click to expand...

We are very good wrench throwers.
 
As Toby & HB have said, it’s good to go from the high points/excited bits as stepping stones in your planning.

But really, the truth is it’s what works for you. It may not be what works for others and vice versa, but...

pH
 
Toby Frost said:
I agree. I see planning a story as a set of islands connected by vague bridges of “filler stuff”. The larger islands are the main points in the story. As they become clearer, smaller points of importance appear and the whole thing becomes more solid. Eventually the need to bridge any of it becomes less and less and you have the entire story.
Click to expand...

This all day long.

I'd also add that the 'islands' don't have to be huge, climactic events...they can be little scenes that carry great import later, or small characters or information that you love to play with. They're weigh stations, if you like, and so long as your story reaches them logically, you might just have a book on your hands.
 
I’d also say that there are two sorts of islands or high points: action ones and plot/emotional ones. Sometimes they flow from each other and are part of the same thing (a villain is captured and then confesses his villainy), but other times they are different scenes (two characters realise that they are long-lost siblings, and aliens invade). On occasion, you get a subplot that informs the main plot of the story or repeats it in a different form. I think once you start recognising these important points, you get a better idea of how to connect them in the most natural fashion, and it becomes clearer what the story is really about in terms of theme.
 
Broadly speaking my current approach looks something (but not entirely) like this:

1) Have Idea that survives initial brainstorming and voicefinding process
2) Work out major plot points/turns
3) Stick them on a plot formula
4) Start working out the logical and fun connectors using the plot formula

Caveat Emptor - its not hugely well tested. 1 is a doozy.

But it has worked when used. I suppose its a blend between what Toby/HB said about islands, the Snowflake method, and using plot formula to give guidance and structure to the connectors.

I'm also a fan of treating those connecting parts as their own little story within their own right and basically taking the same approach as above with them, only on a more micro scale.
 
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