Disorganized writing.
Feb. 8th, 2007 07:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icarusI know that this is how I wrote Primer to the Dark Arts. The "day after" scene was written first, then the Harry/Ron attic scene, then the opening scenes, then it leapt ahead to the love potion. Chapter nine (of 27) was written last.
I realize that the final chapter of the Beg Me For It series was posted two years before the rest of the story.
Still. It's frustrating to have two scenes of Out Of Bounds written and ready to go, but un-postable because I have all this other stuff in between unwritten -- and what happens? I have this chick Sonja show up (because I'm learning more about skating and now have to deal with certain realities). And it's at least two scenes away from what I need to post next.
The Walls of Jericho spoiled me. Everything in that story was written in order. Largely because I had no outline or clue what was going to happen next. Of course, I write outlines because I write scenes out of order and then have to string it all together.
Also: all ye writers, learn from this. Always, always, always write down those bits of dialogue and scenes that popup right away. Because in addition to this story being completely out of order, I didn't, and now I'm having to scraaaaape my memory for what was once perfectly clear.
I hate everything I've written. But that's how I feel about all writing right now, including stories that I love, so I'm ignoring my feelings as best as I can.
I realize that the final chapter of the Beg Me For It series was posted two years before the rest of the story.
Still. It's frustrating to have two scenes of Out Of Bounds written and ready to go, but un-postable because I have all this other stuff in between unwritten -- and what happens? I have this chick Sonja show up (because I'm learning more about skating and now have to deal with certain realities). And it's at least two scenes away from what I need to post next.
The Walls of Jericho spoiled me. Everything in that story was written in order. Largely because I had no outline or clue what was going to happen next. Of course, I write outlines because I write scenes out of order and then have to string it all together.
Also: all ye writers, learn from this. Always, always, always write down those bits of dialogue and scenes that popup right away. Because in addition to this story being completely out of order, I didn't, and now I'm having to scraaaaape my memory for what was once perfectly clear.
I hate everything I've written. But that's how I feel about all writing right now, including stories that I love, so I'm ignoring my feelings as best as I can.
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Date: 2007-02-09 08:15 pm (UTC)I use outlines when the story starts to... overflow. Not so much on short stories, but on novel-length pieces, where I start ending up with plots and subplots and I wonder about the pacing and if this or that scene is a distraction.
In those circumstances I go back and write an outline (I've never started with one) which acts like a bowl. It keeps everything together, and gives me a chance to cut scenes that won't fit when they're in the idea phase, before I've wasted a lot of time on them.
Outlines don't help me much with characterization -- characters drive the outline rather than the other way around -- but they keep me from getting so into the characters that I ignore what I'm doing with the plot. As a writer, I don't know if this is different from anyone else, but I'm very character focused. I almost always find plot holes in writing the outline, and it always makes my story longer. Because my characters can leap from point A to point B without a fuss, but the plot will probably demand some explanation.
I didn't need a plot outline for the novella Walls of Jericho (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/wallsofjericho.html), I think because the story was plot-driven. Also, it was a simple action-adventure with a standard story arc and no subplots.
An outline also keeps me from getting overwhelmed on big projects. :D Instead of focusing on this HUGE story, the outline gives me one bite-sized piece at a time. Because I do tend to write scenes, or maybe a couple of interlocking scenes, rather than complete stories in one sitting.
Interestingly, the first part of Beg Me For It (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/begmeforit.html) was written not as an outline but bullet points of dialogue, even though it's complicated. It came together in one piece, possibly because it was written from Ron's first-person perspective. But it's nice when that happens.
SNAFU (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/snafu.html) on the other hand didn't just have an outline; it had maps, diagrams, and counter-outlines of the actions of the bad guys that didn't (and couldn't) appear in the story. But there I was dealing with three main characters who split up in the same building, so their three plots interwove; then there were three sets of bad guys, and two sets of attacking good guys, who all met up with my three main guys at various points.
I think that people who haven't used outlines imagine that outlines are static and rigid, and once you have one you can never deviate from it again. In reality, outlines constantly change and encourage fluidity because you're getting an airplane view of the whole story, and move things around in much more drastic ways.
Icarus