Scott D. Parker
Today’s entry is a short one and not very earth-shattering. It
is dedicated to all you pantsers out there who think that an outline kills your
creativity.
As I’ve been documenting for the past couple of weeks, I’m
in the process of writing a new tale. This comes after a lengthy time of not
writing, naturally resulting in a bit of relearning what I used to know. After
crafting an outline structure based on Lester Dent’s master fiction plot, I had
a pretty straightforward time filling it out. Next, the only thing left to do
with a completed outline was write the story.
I’ll say outright that I’m not yet done with the story and
that, in itself, is a thing I wish I could fix. You see, I’d like to write
faster, more efficiently, and with better word choices. I chalk that up to
muscle soreness. Like an athlete who took a summer off and, upon starting a
training regimen, has all his muscles screaming at him, my writing chops are
rusty. That’s to be expected and I don’t give myself too much, if any, grief on
that account because, after all, I’ve written over 8,000 words on this story,
more than I’ve written on a single thing in a long time. I’m happy with my progress.
And I’m also satisfied with all the little detours my
imagination is taking off the road map of my outline. The outline itself is
tight and I didn’t have the space to flesh out every scene. On the one hand,
that slows me down because I have to think up the details as I go along. On the
other, I can’t help but think if I fleshed out the outline, I’d streamline the
writing more.
But I’ve again realized that which I knew when I was
fictioneering more regularly: the fleshing out is supposed to come during the
writing. It’s when the imagination is working and connections are being made
that makes writing one of the more enjoyable creative activities you can do.
More importantly, however: I’m finding myself being pulled
to the keyboard. Unlike other months when I was more than content to read, I am
wanting to write.
Chalk that up in the win column.
For you outliners out there, do you find you find the
threads come together during the outline time or the writing time?
1 comment:
I'm a hard core outliner, but I like to write slowly because things will come to me as I write, and I need time to let them come. I write best when I know what has to happen during the day's business, but as I decide how to tell it, things will come to mind, or this chapter's telling will best be served by a minor change elsewhere. My first drafts are very close to the outline, with some alterations. The second draft consists entirely of making all those little decisions consistent with each other, cutting what became redundant or superfluous, and making a patchwork of plotting and on the spot decisions look as seamless as possible.
Then I start fixing the writing.
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