To Outline or Not to Outline, That is Our Question...

[ladyseishou]

With apologies to The Bard, how about it, Nano Writer? Are you what one might colloquially call a "panster" and write your novel "by the seat of your pants"? Or are you more of an "OP" - an Outline Person?




Not sure? To help you decide what fits better, why not try this

Author James Scott Bell offers the following "unscientific" quiz in his book Plot & Structure:

[ A ] When you go to a party, you most look forward to:

1. Seeing old friends
   
   
2. Meeting new people

[ B ] If you had to choose which music to listen to, you would choose:

1. Classical
   
   
2. Rock

[ C ] What subject are/were you better at in school:

1. Math
   
   
2. Art

[ D ] How would your closet friend place you between:

1. Control freak
   
   
2. Wild child

[ E ] Whom would you rather spend an hour with:

1. William F. Buckley
   
   
2. Jack Black

[ F ] You most like:

1. Security
   
   
2. Surprises

[ G ] You would be happier as a:

1. Software developer
   
   
2. Poet

As you might have already guessed, Mr. Bell suggests that if you chose mostly ones in the quiz, you might be an "OP." If you selected more twos, you're probably a "panster."

For writers that fall a little into both sides of the debate, he suggests the following:

1. Use the LOCK system (Lead/Objective/Confrontation/Knockout Ending)... these are the elements that give you a solid foundation for your novel.
   
   
2. Write the back cover copy. This is the marketing copy that compels a reader to buy your book. This is what you see on the back of paperback novels in your bookstore. What you want to do is create a few paragraphs that excite your own interest...

This is not bad advice for any Nano Writer whether you prefer the excitement of writing by the seat of your pants or need to write out detailed character biographies and pages of narrative outline, before November 1:

Identify your main character and your main conflict and how you think the book will end.

For OPs and other interested writers, more on various plotting techniques later!

Until then, keep writing!

Bibliography:

Bell, James Scott. Plot & structure techniques and exercises for crafting a plot that grips readers from start to finish. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books, 2004.

Comments

[everchangingmuse]

In general, I end up being a "pantser," although I've never used that particular term. The more colorful phrasing my dearest uses to describe my writing is along the lines of "spew words on a page." Of course, this might be why a lot of my non-nanowrimo writings end up unfinished.

I've found when I try to outline too strictly, I end up getting annoyed at or bored of the story, because I have trouble making myself go from A to B to C and so on. Whereas if I just write, I'll end up hitting the major plot elements I've thought up eventually, and ramble on to the end. I tighten and cut a lot in the editing process. That's where outlines are far more useful for me - I outline what I've written, and then figure out the structure that would be best for the story from that, and rework sections to match the new structure.

A vague outline can be useful for me, though, but anything too detailed ends up hurting more than helping my efforts.

[dragonjournal]

I usually end up doing both. I'll keep a running list of plot points that "need" to happen in a story, and that's about it. Otherwise I just end up rambling.

What's the saying: "Write crap, edit beautifully"?

[mbeancntr]

I took the quiz, and it says I'm an OP, which I can't disagree with, except I only start with an outline. My outline goes through as many revisions as my story until I have no outline and end up being a panster. I think you need to have some sort of outline to start and to keep your story moving forward, but it's the panster part that makes it fun - at least for me and I think many would agree.

[lassarina]

I do sort of a blend of outlining - I don't have to know how everything happens, but I usually have a broad listing of the items in a timeline sort of order. I did a long post on my outlining process here, but basically it boils down to "I need the big strokes, and the rest fills itself in as I go."

[meleanna]

I would have said I was a pantser- but just this week I wrote myself in a corner because I hadn't planned where to go with a storyline...and every one I actually finished had an outline and character index.

so much for my spontaneity!

[veryroundbird]

I outline like crazy—I tend to have a really good idea of how I want stories to begin and end but get stuck in the middle unless I have a solid outline. The one time I won at NaNo I had sixteen chapters of outline going in, and while I eventually ended up going past what I had planned out, by that time I had momentum enough to carry me to the finish line, so to speak.

[sandrafowke]

I'm a pantser who wants to be an outliner *laughing* but if I outline a story the creative writer in me sees it as written and moves on. So I tend to get a basic grasp of my characters, jot down any main plot points that I really like and might use, then go at it guns a-blazing.