Stephen King, according to his book On Writing, does not believe in outlining. He claims that two of his worst books were based on outlines.
Terry Brooks, writer of the Shannara series, uses and recommends outlines.
David Morrell, writer of The Totem and First Blood, uses a self interview process.
H. P. Lovecraft, Grand Master of Weird fiction, would sometimes write down his dreams, but by and large followed outlines. In fact, according to Old Providence himself, he would write two outlines, one "in the order of their absolute occurrence", the other "in order of narration."
Now I do a great bit more that flatter myself by mentioning myself in any connection with the above four (pretty close to slandering them all with the comparison, as a matter of fact), but how do I say it should be done?
Well, let me put it to you this way.
Right now, I'm in the middle of writing an outline. I have attempted doing this before and have puttered out before finishing. As a point of fact, I have written nothing fictional based on an outline.
However, the first novel I finished I did without an outline and it was a mess. I've puttered out of more novels than I have outlines. We won't even discuss short stories. I have fragments galore that just. Might. Be. Something. Maybe. Someday.
So, let's not kid ourselves by thinking I know the One True Path.
This is what I think I know, though, for what it's worth.
I think that if you base your outline on your characters and not your characters on your outline, you'd be better off.
I think that if you can rattle a story off the top of your head, you're better off than the guy struggling through an outline.
I think in many, many ways, the first draft is the outline, or at least all the outline you'll ever need. I also think that there are some writers who can only do one draft. (Hi there! This is me.)
I think that if one of your characters strays from your outline, you let him or her do his or her thing. The character may well know more about what he or she wants to do than you do. And that outline isn't going anywhere.
In the end, I think every writer finds their own way. It's not the most helpful of answers, but in my fumbling around at this craft, I think it's the truest.
2 comments:
I don't use outlines and probably won't. I usually know how I want to begin, and have a rough idea of how I want to end. In the middle, anything can happen.
I was very, very surprised during NaNo how often my characters would just take the story and run with it. I could barely keep up, typing.
Needless to say, that's the best kind of writing to write. (To read is probably a more painful matter.)
I agree. The use of an outline can be a bit limiting to the creative process. I try to let my writing evolve in the recesses of the creative portions of my brain as opposed to utilizing the more logical\non-creative areas that would be primarily responsible for an outline. After the idea has had a chance o manifest, itself, then I can use logic to tighten up any loose ends. NaNoWriMo is the perfect excerise in illustrating this approach.
Post a Comment