Create a Plan to Guide Your Writing: Part I

Did you see Jocelyn Reekie’s posting (http://thescribes.ca/write-your-book-now-skip-the-outline/) about writing without an outline? Jocelyn is a confirmed “pantster” (working by the seat of her pants). I’m not a full on “plotter,” but I like to work with a bit of structure. Here’s the first of several short posts with thoughts about various ways to approach the planning phase. 

The pros and cons of outlining are hotly debated, especially among fiction writers, some of whom take weeks—or months—to prepare complex outlines. Nonfiction writers seem to hover on the margins of this controversy. Our genre can usually be managed with less rigorous pre-thinking because the story is laid out for us and because our usual flow is chronological.

No matter your strategy, planning can provide narrative clarity and save a lot of time. Your thoughts move deeper into the subject as you outline, so you can make changes early on, before you invest in what later proves to be needless research and writing. And for some, a structured plan increases comfort and confidence.

Fiction Writers` Strategies for Outlining Can Also Apply to Nonfiction

Sarah Domet, in an article in Writer’s Digest Magazine http://www.writersdigest.com/, described three options:

Structure Plus: This is a common method, with detailed descriptions of every scene, laid out in the classic three act structure of beginning, middle and end. You create notes for each scene, setting, characters, purpose each serves in the story’s plot and structure.

The Signpost Outline: You make brief notes of the types of scenes (dialogue or action) needed, maybe just a list, including characters and setting, and a general idea of what happens. You let the nuances and details develop as you write.

The Notecard Technique: This is akin to portable flash cards, on which you make notes similar to the signpost method. The advantage here is you can move the order of the cards around.

Questions to Guide a Writing Plan

Writer’s Digest contributor K.M. Weiland has a more methodical process that starts with key questions:

1. Who is your protagonist? What is the situation? What is the protagonist’s objective? Who is the opponent? What’s the problem and conflict?
2. Write a four or five sentence paragraph that describes the premise of the story, including the answers to the above questions. Now sketch out your scene ideas.
3. Make notes about your character(s), with particular attention to traits that drive the plot.
4. Explore the setting.
5. Write your outline in full.
6. Condense your outline.
7. Write the first draft.

My next post will provide some thoughts about outlining techniques I use for historical nonfiction.