Do you outline your stories?

[The_Fool]

I was curious how many other writers use outlines for their writing. Obviously some stories are short enough not to require much of an outline, if any. But for the more complex works do you start with an outline? If so, how detailed do you make it?

For myself, I outline just about everything. My simplest outlines are simply phrases that serve as roadsigns for the story. My more complex outlines typically build over time and include observations about the characters, the scene, the emotions and sometimes key phrases that come to mind as I am writing my outline. My outline grows over time. I start simple and add detail. The longer I assume the endeaver will be, the longer the outline. When I finally do start the process of writing, it is often directly on a copy of my final outline. Obviously the best laid battle plans only last until the battle begins but I find that outlines help me clarify my thoughts.

But enough about me. What about the rest of you?

 

[Svenskaflicka]

I often get inspiration for a story by drtawing a picture. I then move on to drawing all the people in the story, so that I can see what they look like. I'll write a short synopsis, kind of like the text you find on the back of a book.

 

[oggbashan]

Yes - especially for NaNoWriMo.

I outlined 28 chapters but only wrote the 12 best.

The outlines varied from several hundred words to a couple of sentences. The first and last chapters were particularly detailed as outlines and no - I didn't cut and paste anything. They were outlines, not the story. They showed the characters, names, plot structure, and of course the ending.

Some of my stories are outlined in my head when I start writing but I don't get very far before the outline is words on a screen.

Og

 

[Lauren Hynde]

I usually not only outline, but completely vivisect my stories before I start writing. Every element is planned and serves a purpose, every character is a complete person with a personality and a background, every recurring image is justified. When I finally get to writing, it's simply an exercise in style. This is probably why it takes me so damned long to finish them.

On my Winter Contest submission, I couldn't do that. I didn't even start to think about it until two weeks into the contest, and started to write with only a strong base idea and a very vague direction. I wrote one letter (as in a missive, not ABC) at a time, not knowing what the next would be about. It was a fun experiment, but I think I'll go back to my old technique now.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Well this is Literotica. I can't imagine having to refer to an outline to figure out what's going to happen in one of my stories. I mean, my outline would be three words long: Vidi, Vici, Vini.

No, nothing I write is complex enough to need an outline, and I often develop my plot (such as it is) as I'm writing, starting from a vague idea for a scene or an interaction or a mood. I put my characters in a situation with a general idea of where I want them to go and then just let em rip. Anything special I want to happen Ijust keep in my head.

---dr.M.

 

[Guest]

 

[reohoko]

I was curious how many other writers use outlines for their writing. Obviously some stories are short enough not to require much of an outline, if any. But for the more complex works do you start with an outline? If so, how detailed do you make it?
What about the rest of you?

I don't use outlines, I daydream for hours, and then plan and then remove the plot, and action, and just leave in the sex.

Joking

I don't use an outline, if I have a very complicated story I am working on (like the three books I have started), I keep short sentences and paragraphs all over the pages so I can copy and past them as needed. I do that in the middle of a story if I have trouble with a section too, I leave a sentence or something-

Example:
"They should probably talk here, though what about I have no idea, but maybe he should like say she is the cutest damn thing since angel cake... but then again that is just too tacky. Maybe they can talk about the weather?"

Oh, that is how I solve writer's block, I forgot. I just keep writing all kinds of weird stuff down and try to filter it out later. LOL

HUGS HUGS HUGS

 

[Guest]

No, never have. I've written one and a half novels, no outline whatsoever, just a page at a time.

Perdita

 

[Quasimodem]

First, I write plot points, like a vague outline. Then, I connect them with as much detail as will be required.

Finally, I fill out the composition with all the colourful details I can muster.

Sometimes I colour outside the lines.

 

[Wills]

Nope, think a lot, then sit for hours.

When I get to a part that is not working I leave a note as to what should be happening and return.
This week I have been filling in a big gap on the first part on NaNo. Whilst waiting for the third part to gell.

The Manipulation series, starting on a story board near you, any day now (first part has been pending for 7 days) was written in October, 45k in six parts to be posted weekly. - Blatant Plug.

It's a mood thing with me. Can go days doing nothing, then write for a week.

Will's

 

[raphy]

Warning - This is going to be a really long post, as this is a subject that's very important to me as a writer and creator.

I found that I was forced to outline a little for my NaNo novel (Although I didn't start outlining until well over 10,000 words in), but normally - No, no outlines at all. I write whatever I write. Often, I'm as surprised as my characters when the plot elements resolve itself.

In my NaNo novel, I found that the final conclusion, when the protagonist puts all of the clues and plot elements together, I found that it came together very naturally, and wasn't pre-planned at all.

Basically, it's a flashback sequence where he reviews conversations in his mind and realizes that he's had all of the pieces in front of him previously, but hadn't put them together - Something like the climax scene in The Usual Suspects - And I discovered that I didn't have to go back and insert any dialogue into the scenes that he was remembering - I'd already written the clues into the previous scenes and all I had to do was paste them out, but when I was writing them, I had no real plan for them. I didn't know they'd be clues to the final resolution of the puzzle.

For me, it's almost as if my backbrain processes the plot elements and subtly inserts that knowledge into my forebrain. Or that it already has the plot worked out - and just doesn't tell my forebrain and just guides it as I write the novel.

I've had to write a timeline for the first day of action, because my protagonist is a pretty busy boy and has a lot to squeeze into one day, so I had to sketch out a basic timeline of where he'd be and how long he'd be there, including travel times between destinations, just to keep things fairly realistic. That said, I think there is room to stretch that sort of thing in fiction - as JMS, writer of Babylon 5 said when asked how fast his Starfury space fighters travel: "They travel at the speed of plot"

I don't know how I write in this way. I don't know why it works. In both my NaNo and the only other thing I've written that has multiple 'clues' that must be pieced together, I've never planned a single word of them. They just worked out that way. I seem to delight in setting up a set piece of circumstance, and then forcing myself to figure out why that happened.

One thing that I think does help with my ability to do this is that I have been roleplaying for 10 or 15 years. And GM-ing for about that length of time. For those of you who aren't familiar with roleplay terminology, the GM is the guy who 'controls' what's going on, knows the entire plot and backstory, and knows what clues the players have to find and piece together to 'uncover the dastardly plot'. One of the oldest and fondest sayings amongst GMs is 'Never count on your players to do what you expect them do to' - If you give them a set piece where they're supposed to talk to a guy who tells them a clue, the chances are they'll just shoot him instead, and then you're stuck trying to figure out how to impart that clue to them in other ways.

So, I gave up pre-planning my adventures. I'd work out a backstory, and then dump the players in the middle of the conflict and le them figure out what was going on - But I don't pre-write any clues for them to follow. As they fumble around, I find ways to improvise and insert the clues into what they're doing.

It means that I've had 10 years of experience of crafting believable, consistent stories as I go along that have continuity and no contradiction. (and that misdirection is a wonderful thing if you're trying to confuse roleplayers, or readers)

So, no, I don't outline, or pre-plan, or plot. I write, and the events that happen as I write shape the events that will come. I don't ever have an ending in mind when I start, but I find that the ending presents itself to me about two thirds of the way through the story, but until the protagonist figures it out, I generally don't have much of a clue either.

Raph, shutting up now and leaving you all in piece(s). Sorry for the length of that post, folks

 

[Mhari]

I hate outlining. The one time I tried to outline a novel, I got myself hopelessly confused and gave it up. *grin*

I tried to outline my dissertation, but gave that up, too, as the project took on a life of its own.

I do teach my students to outline, though. Yes, I'm a raving hypocrite. I tend to tell them, "Do as I say, not as I do."

 

[wishfulthinking]

I think if I was writing a novel, I would need a brief outline of where each chapter and the story is going, otherwise I would probably get bogged down in confusion, and lose myself in the plot. A common error among writers.

On lit, I prefer short stories, a 1 page max gal, and if I click onto a story that has about 4 pages, I'm extremely wary, because I prefer quality over quantity, and if I'm not hooked by the story by about 5 paras, I'm out of there.

So no, I don't do outlines, but I see the necessity for them. As I'm getting into the writing groove (great distraction from study!), I have the idea in my head, maybe for hours, or a week, then sit down and nut it out on my computer. I leave it halfway through, come back a few days later and go over it again and keep going with the story. Like others, I am just as surprised by what my characters do as my readers!

No order to my choas!

 

[A7inchPhildo]

I outline stories I may never write.
Sometimes the best part of making the story is the outline. Placing all my characters, places, potential problems, scenarios...

It is a great reference tool for when you become stumped. You can look at other outlines and grab ideas.

If I hear or think of a great idea I may not be ready to write the story. So I like to have a basic outline I can look back at later when I want to write it. That don't mean I can not change the story. Just lets me remeber where I was going with an idea.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Outlining

If the story is group sex I outline what the different combinations are going to be. Otherwise, I have a pretty good mental outline of what is going to happen and I just fill it in.

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=118747MySmuttyHolidayStory

http://www.literotica.com/stories/memberpage.php?uid=207952MyOtherSmut

 

[wildsweetone]

Well, I have to say this is kind of a novelty for me.

Several cyclic seasons ago in the AH, it would have been almost impossible to hit anyone else here with a boulder who didn't plot/outline. Now it seems like there's quite a few of us.

I don't plot or outline. I sit with a blank page in front of me. Sometimes somebody will give me a first sentence, sometimes a picture from a magazine will start me off, sometimes an image in my mind.

I write that first initial thought down and it's downhill from there. Whichever character is hanging about at the time sets my fingertips in motion and they fair fly across the keyboard. I am my character's scribe. I have no idea whatsoever what they want me to write. I type too fast to hear it, too fast to form a conscious thought in my head before it appears in front of me. It's an incredible stunning time and it blows me away every single time I write.

When I was faced with writing something for the NaNo project, I was scared to death that I'd never be able to manage 50,000 words (the required minimum to 'win'), so I sat down and wrote 25 'scenes' (more like images) that I could hope to expect to write from at any given point. I figured that 2,000 words for each scene would not be a difficult feat and would get me to that required word count.

In reality, I've just gone over the 31,000 word mark and I'm still on my second scene. How whacko is that?

My main character has seen fit to drag me through London's darker spots during the 1840s, he's even made me write about a boxing bout. I had absolutely no idea that's where he was taking me when I began and I have absolutely no idea where he'll take me next, but I do have those 23 other 'scenes' that he may want to dangle in front of me at some later point.

And for the life of me, I cannot think of a more wonderful experience for my characters to use me for. I am my character's scribe, and I love it.



The_Fool, thanks for helping me to reaffirm what I do.

 

[MagicFingers]

Yes, I do

I do a rough draft outline of who, what, when where, ans why, and the sequence things happen.
I don't have a good memory, so I write notes down as I think of them, and over the course of days or weeks, I get more or better ideas. From these ideas, I can easily change the outline and see that some things have to happen before other things.
I tried to just write what pops into my head. It worked to some extent, but the story wasn't good and had to me modified many times.

My next story is getting more thought and will have an outline before I start writing. I'm not the best or most experienced writer, however I have a desire to improve each time, and I want people to enjoy my stories. So, if an outline helps, I'll do it.

 

[snooper]

As with many others, I do outline. I work top down from a basic idea, which I elaborate into sections of varying levels of detail. (There's an example in in this thread.) Then I write the sections up to completion in any order that takes my fancy. I also have a separate file of dramatis personae, location descriptions, and a timeline to keep it all in sequence.

I suspect this is all because of the day job, which involves a lot of technical writing.

 

[Guest]

No, never have. I've written one and a half novels, no outline whatsoever, just a page at a time.

Perdita

Exact same answer here. I just sit down and write and let the story take me wherever it wants to go.

Lou

 

[Dirt Man]

It depends on what I'm writing.

If I'm going to write a short story, then I just sit down and write it. However if I plan on writing a book I may, or may not write an outline, but I do start with a separate page titled "Characters." The Characters Page is for me the most significant part of writing any book. Here you give them names, discriptions, motivations, and of course, character. Here you can add time lines, brief notes of their relationship with other characters in the book, their backgrounds, etc., etc., etc. And yes even plot lines, and what they have to do with it. If I want to, I can add a short outline of events so that the beginning, middle, and possible ending are all cohesive, and right there at my finger tips. All through the writing of this book I continuously go back to this page, and if need be update it including the short outline if I have included one. But do I sit down and spend hours of creative juices on writing an outline? Never. If I did, that's about all that would get written.

As Always
I Am the
Dirt Man

 

[TheEarl]

I always outline, simply because my mind works quicker than my writing. I'll always have thought of how the story can end, what the last scene's going to be like, how they're going to get there before I've knocked out the first chapter. Probably explains why I've not finished a 'proper' story yet.

However, for 'big project' that I'm currently scribbling on, I'm quite surprised to find the story changing from the initial blueprint. It started out as a short Lit story and is now evolving, multiplying from the inside out as I add scenes and character building into a full blown novella that almost certainly won't involve sex at all.

I have to outline, but I have to say, I'm glad to see that I'm not forced to stick by it in this case. Still know how it's going to end, but the route there may vary now.

The Earl

 

[Sabledrake]

Outlining is one of my least favorite parts of the writing process. I try to avoid it whenever I can.

Sabledrake

 

[MNGuy]

I don't outline, in the formal sense, but I write notes. I usually write a pseudo-outline, summarizing the main story plots and twists. Then start writing. I'll add notes, change ideas, and throw away stuff as the story is written. Usually, when I'm done writing, my original outline is nothing like the story.

 

[Stefan_J]

I don't do outlines at all for short stories, if i were doing a novel, that would be different. I have a page dedicated to ideas, but all that's for is so that i don't forget an idea while i'm in the process of already penning one.

On the whole, usually i'll sit for a day or so and think about it in my head, i'll plot out characters, dialogue, story direction and the scene mentally, then go and write it all down. It's a strange process but it works. Other than that, anything i add is simply on the fly as i go through the story, i find it more fun to just see what the character is going to get up to, because really, they take on a life of their own at times.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

*only came back coz I was told there was an AV of a huge dick in here*