Plotting

This is a very personal post, because it’s about my changing stance on plotting stories in advance. You see, I used to be a discovery writer, but then I took an arrow to the knee (not really, but still…).

 

When I started writing more seriously, I was a full discovery writer. Whenever I tried to outline my story, I wouldn’t write it. I couldn’t bring myself to look at the plot as I had written it down and work from that. I needed the freedom of the discovery, even if it meant going back and making changes in my story so it would fit together. Well into my first novels, this was the only way I could work.

But novel writing is a slow sport. You can’t write a full novel in a few days, it takes weeks at least (months to years for most people, but my novels are shorter). While working on one story, I was constantly pestered by other ideas, by other stories I could and should write. That was when a bit of plotting, a bit of preparation came into my life.

At first, it was merely a short sentence per chapter. I would write down the chapter headers (only ‘One,’ ‘Two,’ ‘Three’ etc.) and put a short sentence about what I expected to have in this chapter underneath them. Sometimes, I would have to add stuff and move those sentences down the line, so there was still a lot to discover about the story.

Then I decided to move into One Note and write down a short description of what was going to happen, telling the story in a summary in present tense. That worked well enough for me, too. I still had a lot of things to think through and a lot of details to add while I was writing the chapter. Yet, I could judge the pacing better and could often spot the holes in my plots while I was still composing the outline.

Last year, I spent a fun month transferring my series bibles and my outlines from One Note to Campfire Pro, which I’d had for a few years, but wasn’t using. Since then, I have been using the program’s ‘timeline’ feature for plotting. I went down one more level, from the chapter to the scene, noting a short description for every scene and putting it where it belongs.

By now, the outlines help me to write two chapters a day, up to ten chapters a week (with a free weekend), and to keep up with the speed at which I get new ideas.

Why have I been coming up with a blog post about my shifting opinion of plotting now, though? Because last month, while I was editing, I thought I could do some light-hearted writing on the side, but had to realize that by now I need this outline to write something. A short story I wanted to write without preparation has, under my plotting hands, turned into an outline for a novel, which is a bit of a shock.

I was happy to be a discovery writer for a long time. Writing was an adventure, since I didn’t know where I would end up when I started a story. The adventure is still there, but it’s mostly in the outlining phase now.

Since I only have an outline, it’s like having a map when you go on an adventure. You know the general direction, but you don’t know the little details that will happen along the way. Writing the chapters is still interesting, because I have to expand on the notes, turn a few sentences into a full-fledged scene. I flesh things out and give them depth, I add a few details here and a few details there. Character development still happens mostly in the writing process, since I usually only follow the external plots while outlining.

My outline isn’t set in stone, either. I do try to keep to it, but sometimes I find there’s something I need to add or to remove for one reason or other. A scene might fit better when it’s put in later, after other things have been established. Or I need a little foreshadowing early on. Knowing what will happen later makes it much easier to put in a bit of foreshadowing here and there or add a bit of information in the right place to prepare the readers.

 

A few years ago, I thought I would never use outlines and always trust to my ability to write on the fly and discover the story as I wrote it. Today, I’ve reached a point where I can’t work without outline any longer. The change was not from one day to the next and there were quite some steps in between, but it shows that writing habits can change.

If you don’t outline, try it out. See if there is something you can take away from making a few plans ahead of time - like an adventurer who makes sure to take a few rations along before walking out of the door. Perhaps you will stay with the rations, perhaps you will add a sleeping bag at some point. Perhaps, after you’ve added that sleeping bag, because you never know where you’ll end up sleeping, you will also add a map.

The map, the outline as I use it these days, is still far from taking the adventure out of writing. It gives me direction, but a map will never show all the details on the way. The map doesn’t include that quaint little house in the middle of the meadows which you can see on the way. Neither does it note that friendly innkeeper who lets you stay overnight for less than the regular charge, just because she doesn’t have that many guests and it’s going to be cold outside.

Adventures can be more fun when you have a general direction to walk in and a little idea of what you might need on the way. Working with a map doesn’t take all the surprises out of your trip, it simply makes sure you stand a decent chance to make it to your destination.

 

Do I miss discovery writing? Not really. I still have fun writing, it’s not a chore for me. Is it good to have an outline? Yes, definitely. I’m much better at knowing when to finish a story and I know what’s going to happen in the chapters I write on any given day. I can write quickly and I can get a lot more done than I used to.

 

My personal trip from discovery writer to outliner has been an adventure. Not the same as writing a book without knowing where I’m going to end up, but still a fun trip which led me past many interesting places. I don’t regret taking the trip and I like the character growth it has caused in me. I’ve become more professional in my writing, which is good, yet I haven’t lost the fun. I can only recommend trying it, no matter whether it works out for you or not.