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There seem to be two main approaches to writing. There are those that want to outline everything in advance and there are those that just start writing, letting the story lead them wherever it may go. In my case, I did heavy outlining because the story was generally already in place.
An outline is sort of like a road map. You can see where you are and you can see where you are going. You can see which route you are going to take and maybe even where some other roads cross your path several times.
But when you are writing you are actually on the road driving. You might know there's a town up ahead but you don't know what it looks like and how the people act until you get there. Or maybe there's a roadblock and you have to take a detour on one of those side roads. Unlike looking at a road map, you can look out your window and enjoy the scenery.
I'll quit stretching the analogy. What I'm trying to say is that no matter how much you have outlined, you are still going to be surprised. I've always heard writers say that characters write themselves. Or maybe they thought they were going to take the story one way until a particular character jumped up and said "No! I'm going this way!"
Guess what? I now totally understand that. It really does happen.
As I began writing, I discovered ways to involve my characters in a tighter narrative. What I mean is, there would be a scene that would involve characters A and B. As I wrote the scene, character C would show up. I wasn't expecting it, but C kind of popped up and told me that he belonged there.
This happened several times and what quickly emerged was a more cohesive throughline to the book than what I had planned. Plotlines that were going to appear disparate at first began to flow into my keyboard much more intricately woven than I had anticipated. What a wonderful surprise that was!
I also figured out very early that a character I introduced early could fill the role that was going to be needed at the climax of the third book. It would have been a mistake to have a newcomer show up in the third act and play a large part in saving the day. Much better to have a well established character do that.
I'm still amazed at the phenomenon. I'm the writer of this thing. I'm holding the magic roadmap in my hand that shows me every road and small town. I guess I forgot that just because someone draws up the cartography, it doesn't mean they also populated the towns. Even though I had this all outlined, the story still has the capacity to surprise me.
This is fun! You create a setting and a problem. You give your characters a personality trait or two and an agenda or motivation and then just let 'em loose.
As of this writing, I'm about 27,000 words into my novel. So far, there have been two occasions where I was stuck. I knew for plot purposes I had to get from point A to point B, but I couldn't figure out how to get there. Both times a character stepped up and took care of it for me. I just came up with a scene that involved several characters with different opinions and goals and let them have it out. Thanks, guys!
It works. It really works. And that's an amazing discovery.
Next: the importance of using dialogue over descriptive passages
To me, that is one of the best things about writing. While I didn't physically write down my plotlines and characters, I had a good idea of where I wanted it to go and how I wanted it to end, but oftentimes, characters would surprise me by what they said or did and the story would just take off in another direction I hadn't foreseen, but worked. I do wish I had taken the time to outline and plan in more detail before I actually wrote the first draft. I think it would have saved time in drafts 2 and 3. It is amazing how your story and characters can take on a life of their own, and even though it's your idea, it doesn't even feel that way sometimes. It was exciting when I wrote my first draft because it was as if I was reading a new story for the first time and I was surprised by many things that happened. It's hard to explain to someone who hasn't written before, but you understand perfectly well.
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't like to over-think these things (I worry that too much analysis will actually interfere with my natural story-creation process), I do like to think it over a bit in general.
ReplyDeleteI outline very heavily, but I also allow for lots of changes as I go. The key for me is to get to know my characters well. Once you know the characters, they do begin dictating the action (via their responses to situations).
This is much preferable to "forcing" action onto characters. Character should come first.
Here's a current example: I needed a new character for a small role in the 4th SENTINELS novel. As I began to think about him, his role began to grow. The more I knew about him, the more story ideas suggested themselves.
At this point, he's become *half* of the plot of the next book, and will be involved in 5 and 6 as well. All that from just a bit-player for an early scene in book 4. That amazes me, but it shows sort of what you're talking about here.
(For those reading the Sentinels books, his name is WOLF.)
I outline very heavily, but I also allow for lots of changes as I go. The key for me is to get to know my characters well. Once you know the characters, they do begin dictating the action (via their responses to situations).
ReplyDeleteExactly. I'm all outlined but I find the characters come to life as I write them. The key is to know your characters well enough that you know how they will react to certain things. Once you are at that point, I'm sure it gets a lot easier.
I've had minor or throwaway characters grow in their role to become very key, but that happened to me as I outlined.
I'm sure as I get more into the book that I will have times where I want to write one thing but a character demands something else entirely.