In Line With Outlines?

[weever]

I've recently taken a writing class where the instructor swore by writing an outline before writing a story.  I've also heard authors say that their book would never have been written if they tried to do an outline first.
Now I'm trapped in this limbo between wanting to write free and plan the hell out of it.  What works?  Is there a happy medium, or is it one of those "whatever works for you" things?

[Amber]

Hmmm...

I write an outline.  Then I start writing.  Then when I have an idea that takes me off of the outline, I re-outline to fit the new plan.  Lather. rinse. repeat.

Could explain why I'm stuck about 10 chapters in

[ethyachk]

My first book I didn't bother with an outline. It got finished eventually, but I ran into a GSM problem and couldn't quite figure out how to end it either. My second book had an outline and I finished it much more quickly and directly. I also didn't keep to the outline, but I thought the outline helped direct my writing much better. My latest book also had an outline that I didn't strictly follow. Not quite done that one, but the outline helped again. My opinion: the outline can't hurt, and you can certainly ignore it when it gets in the way. 

[Mickey Finn]

I don't use outlines, because I'm a short story author.

I'm working on two novels, but I'm just not an outline type...I have one in my head, I make notes so I don't forget where I want to go, but it's definately not an outline.

[pathele]

I don't generally use an outline.  I have tried it in the past and never made it past the outline phase.  What works for me is to keep notes about everything, especially key scenes.  I have a list of key scenes and write toward them.  If a scene doesn't work becasue the plot has shifted, then I either adapt or abandon the scene.  It's not perfect, but it works for me.

-paul

[Kali]

I can't outline, either.  For some reason, once I've written the outline I feel like I've told the story and the urge to write it goes away.   However, I do keep notes.  I have those little-bitty flip notebooks with a pen stuck through the spiral bit.  Since most of my ideas for scenes or dialogue snippets come to me in the car, I can grab it and jot down enough to jog my memory later.

I do wait for red lights.  Fear not.

[Dayna Barter]

I don't do a detailed outline, but I try to at least have a bullet list of important events, in the order in which they'll appear in the story.  It helps keep me on track.  I'm always open to a better idea if it comes along, but having a list of bullet points helps me focus on whether the new thought really is a better idea and, if so, why.

[Paige]

I outline. I make notes. I write about each character to get to know them, where they came from what made them the person they are. I write synopsizes for each chapter so I know what important event is happening in each.

I tried "writing by the seat of my pants." Doesn't work for me.  I write myself into corners. But that's me!

I know lots of writers who don't outline. Lots of writers who outline, but not as extensively as me. I know authors who use note cards, other’s who use white boards. I know a bunch who use sticky notes.  I know about as many different ways to approach writing a story as I do different authors. Everyone's different. There's no "right" way.

My advice...stop sweatin' the small stuff and start writing.  You'll figure it out, grasshopper.

~Paige

~Here endth the lesson~ ::snicker::

[novium]

okay, it has nothing to do with fiction writing, but i figure that in this aspect writing essays might have something in common. Personally, I don't use outlines for writing. Doesn't work for me. However, what I will do is do a sort of brainstorm outline.....basically, a list of all the points/ideas I want to hit. And I go from there... I don't hit all of them in my writing, I use it to get things flowing and keep track of the things i wanted to hit. But if it goes off in a new direction, that's ok. But I still have a list to look at for inspiration when stuck.

[Dom]

I write in...stages, I guess.

First I get the idea.  If the idea is really big, it may be spun off as the basis of its own "world".  If it's a smaller idea, I see if I can fit it into one of my existing worlds, to enrich that world.  Then, in general, I daydream, and mull, and think about this idea and other things that are related to the idea.

This idea brew will sit in my head for a long time, often years, fermenting like a fine beer or wine.  (At least I'd like to think the outcome will be like fine beer or wine and not vinegar!  )

Then, suddenly, after a long time of thought-brewing a scene full-blown will spring into my head, and I'll write it down.  At this point in time, I might write a few notes down as well, on characters, places, things, etc. to cement my ideas a little (before this my ideas are very fluid and shifting), but no outlines yet.

I'll keep kneading ideas and jotting these notes down for a long time, literally years, then suddenly things that were seperate will start to knit together, to gel and gather into something more solid, and I'll start the opening of the story. 

I'll write a few thousand words, exploring the story's "physical" form (which is often different from the shape of it in my head)...characters, places, etc.  I'll do this until I reach the end of what I know of the story, and start hitting the shapeless stuff I've not thought about yet.

ONLY THEN will I start outlining, and it will be very sketchy.  I start to lay down "plot notes" here and there in files, and I work with that to define and bridge the shapeless parts.

However, I never do "set in stone" outlines; they're always more guidelines than anything, and "drawing outside the lines" isn't a bad thing.

So I outline just a bit when its really needed, and I make various notes all over the place about specific characters, places, magics, and things just so I can pick up my thoughts later and have them make sense (I learned quickly that cryptic notes didn't help me remember the awsome thing I was thinking about before!), but I don't do any outlining or note-taking purposefully or vigorously. 

I like to think I write in a way that's similar to growing those bonsai trees; I tie certain parts down so they can't grow wild in weird ways, but I let other parts grow as they will so you have a natural looking but artfully shaped tree once the growing is all said and done.

[pinkdoom]

I rebel against outlining.  I have since the sixth grade.  I always hated it when teachers wanted an outline for every freaking assignment/essay.  So, when I started writing when I was fourteen, no outlines for me.  It's been that way ever since.  I'm no stellar author, but I think, for me, a story works better based off of one idea...then I hop from idea to idea, writing notes and bits and bobs of things in a notebook when they strike me.  Which is ususally right when I'm getting ready to go to bed.  So I don't sleep.    I'm also a big fan of sitting down and just writing...anything that comes to mind in any kind of relation to the story, when I'm stuck/blocked.  Some of my better ideas have come out of that "free writing", and whatever isn't of any use, I usually hold onto for a bit and then discard it.  Outlining, for me, is uber-pressure, as if I'm supposed to come up with something to put down.  I work well under pressure, but not the uber pressure.

Of course, that pressure is all in my head, and I've several people tell me I need my head checked....

[Benchleyfan]

Try working with an outline-if it works for you great, if not, at least you'll know.  Getting it down on paper or computer screen is the important thing.  Whatever tool that helps get that done you'll have to be the final judge of.  I do a combination of notes, vague outline and seeing where the story takes me.  Then again, I'm still working on a couple stories so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt.     Shelley

[Ghoulfish]

My outlines end up being pointless

I write them out, then forget about them and continue on writing

When I run into a problem I just abandon the story and take a couple of days off and wait for an idea.
SOmetimes it comes sometimes I just press the delete button and start again.

[blue moon]

I admire people who outline extensively.  One of my critique partners used the snowflake method before NaNo last year, and she said it helped her immensely.  She also admits that most of what was on the outline has been cut out in edits.  The really fun, creative stuff came up spontaneously through the month of writing.

I dabbled with the snowflake method and decided it's not for me.  If I'm going to spend that much time and energy putting words on a page, I'd rather have real pages to show for it- not just character sketches and outlines.  As long as I have a general idea of where the story is going, I'm usually OK.

[Belial]

Writing outlines make me want to throttle something/someone. That being said, i'm taking a quick break... i've been writing an outline. What tends to happen for me if i don't use one is that i go through everything very quickly, and by the end, i have to go back and flesh it out. It ends up that the first draft was more of an outline. and i don't know about you, but i don't want a 72 page outline. So i'm going to try it this way... hope everythign works out well... if not, i'll go back to writing as things come to me.

The important thing is to not be inflexible either way you go. Sometimes things need planning to work, and sometimes you'll come up with great ideas that aren't on the outline. Then again, sometimes you'll come up with really bad ideas that aren't on the outline... that happens to me... a lot. That's why i like outlines (ok... i HATE outlines, but spending some time on a rough outline saves me a lot of time staring at a blank screen later), they let me have a general goal, i know what's going to happen, and if i come up with a crappy idea... it's easier to tell that it's not a stroke of genius. (The problem comes when i come up with a crappy idea at 4am and my sleep deprived brain convinces me that it's a great one... yay for editing in the morning  )