For
some writers, the word “outline” is akin to a four-letter word.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
Yes,
there are successful authors—and I do mean best-selling
authors—whose practice is to let their fingers fly and write by the
seat of their pants (known as pantsers), but they are few in number.
These
authors may seem like they’re winging it. They aren’t. They have
years (or decades) of practice built upon a foundation of knowledge
about technical and creative principles of the writing craft. The
majority of best-selling authors spend time on their outlines, even a
few months, including doing needed research, which is at times
extensive, before the first word of the initial draft is written.
This
preparation process includes sometimes significantly changing or
tossing the outline and starting over. Albert Zuckerman demonstrates
this brilliantly in his book, Writing
the Blockbuster Novel,
by showing you iterations of best-selling novelist Ken Follett’s
outline for his novel, The
Man from St. Petersburg.
It’s a terrific opportunity to see how a successful author
(Follett) works his craft and crafts his work. Additionally, K. M.
Weiland’s book, Outlining
Your Novel,
provides guidance so you don’t feel like you’re back in high
school doing a dreaded outline, as does best-selling author of the
Lynley novels, Elizabeth George, in her book, Write
Away.
One
of my clients wrote her memoir without creating an outline first. The
result was the timeline was all over the place. Among my editing
notes was the recommendation that she restructure the entire
manuscript. It took time but she did it, and her story became fluid
and logical for readers.
Another
client wrote his debut novel without an official outline, but he had
an organized mental outline going on, even though he didn’t realize
it (it happens, just not as often as we might like). However, during
our time working together, he did James Patterson’s online writing
course, and saw first-hand how creating an outline would save time
during the draft-writing stage, which he did for his sequel, and will
continue this practice for future novels he has planned.
Anyone
who uses outlines will tell you that just because you wrote the
outline down, this doesn’t mean it’s etched in stone. For
example, the client asked me to review his outline before he started
the draft. Several ideas came forward for both of us, especially
about how to create the desired big twist that alters the protagonist
in a monumental way, which is a shift the author was looking for.
Additional beneficial adjustments to the plot emerged as the story
progressed. When such inspiration happens, just change the outline
and keep writing.
More
unfinished manuscript drafts written by pantsers sit in drawers than
do manuscripts created by outliners who had spurts of pantsing while
writing. When you don’t know where you’re going, you tend to go
nowhere. A novel or non-fiction book written by an author writing
with wild abandon can cause a story or book to go out of control. The
task of getting it back on track is like trying to herd cats. That’s
more than a little frustrating, and easy to avoid with the simple
matter of crafting an outline before you type the first word.
Writing
is an adventure, from first word to product. Make it the best
experience you can.
[Excerpted
in part from the e-book, Easy,
Basic Tips for New Writers: Things Every New Writer, Especially
First-Time Novelists, Need to Know.
Now available at
http://www.lulu.com/shop/joyce-shafer/easy-basic-tips-for-new-writers/ebook/product-22760918.html]
Joyce
L. Shafer provides services for writers, with a special focus on
assisting new and indie authors. Services include Basic and
Comprehensive Manuscript Evaluation/Critique, Basic and Comprehensive
Developmental Editing, with an option for Ghost Rewriting/Writing
services, Beta Reading, and Unfinished Novel Advisor guidance. Learn
more about how to make your book one readers rave about at
http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/.
