I know pros who don’t necessarily write a book from start to finish but do so in pieces, as things occur to them. Some of these friends also don’t write to outline anymore, though they used to. For a lot of us in work-for-hire, outlines and proposals are/were de rigeur. You have to be able to show the editor where you’re going, how you’re going to get there. It’s how I learned to plot and write everything from my work for hire stuff to original works. (I’m still sometimes asked for outlines for short stories, too, in plotted universes. I understand that.)
So I’ve never written anything out of order or without an outline . . . mostly. But I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.
THE DAY
A slow start because I’d had such a late night, what with being on a tear and wanting to finish that bloody section. I also had a headache. So I was feeling grumpy, out of sorts, and certainly NOT like writing. I farfelled around for a while and then, finally, driven by guilt–and this blog–sat down to write.
I’d already outlined this section, by the way. I knew what was supposed to happen, and it sure made sense to me. Unfortunately, it only made sense in outline. When I started, I just couldn’t get my fingernails under the section at all. Finally opened up another document and just started typing out ideas for what to do, how to start things, and found my way back to an earlier idea that I’d actually written as the end bit for the section I’d finished before the part I started a few days ago (and which I’ll tack on to the beginning). You follow? Good, because I’m not sure I do (which is where I wonder about writing out of order and without an outline).
Ennyway, that turned out to be have been the right thing, even if the people involved in the scene had totally changed (as well as the locale). Because of what I’ve been doing the previous few days–tacking on and layering in–the structure and themes kind of changed, too (for the better, I hope).
So wrote for about two hours; then broke off for the next 90 minutes or so to talk to contractors about the deck. My goodness, what a project this is turning out to be; the deck’s about 20 years old and falling apart. In hindsight, I really should’ve had it inspected, but we were in a rush. Anyway, because of our location on the mountain, we have to get the city involved in slope development and yada-yada . . . I figure the whole permit and inspection thing will run a cool $2-4K before we even get started, which just hurts. There was one deck guy who was, look, don’t tell the city; just do it. But I simply don’t want to run afoul of anything here, and besides, if we’re caught, that’s a tear-down and then an inspection and even more costs.
Then went back to work, liking how things were taking shape. Broke off to go to the bank and then do my 90 minutes of aerobics. By the time I got back home, it was 7-ish and time to get dinner started. Went back to work while things baked, managed another page or two but I could feel myself beginning to flag. So I made some notes and called it a day/night. I’m kind of beat.
WRITING OUT LOUD
GHOST IN THE MACHINE
Day 1: 4326
Day 2: 2085
Day 3: 3011
Day 4: 2652
Day 5: 3210
Day 6: 3450
Day 7: 0
Day 8: 2756
Day 9: 4580
Day 10: 2670
Blog Post:
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So this whole outline thing . . . I’ve always written that way. My outlines are much shorter than they used to be and I find that I’m not slavishly devoted to them anymore either (unless I absolutely must be because it’s a wfh universe or I promised an editor I’d do things a certain way). I did write one book pretty much free form, and it was torture. I felt like I was spinning my wheels.
I feel somewhat the same here, more so than I expected, considering that I DID/DO have an outline. But things have taken some bizarre turns, and so I’m just going with them, trying to trust that my unconscious knows what it’s doing.
But it also means that I am doing things somewhat out of order. All of a sudden, I know I need a character I had introduced before but never developed. So I tacked her on/layered her in. Did the same with another character. Wonder if I need to do the same with yet another. It’s not writing out of order so much as trying to make everything flow.
I know that some writers who work this way talk not about re-drafting but looping back, slotting things in . . . whatever. To my way of thinking, it’s still doing another draft even if you don’t call it that. All you’re doing is reworking something you’ve already done, only you’re not plowing through all the way to the end and then starting at the beginning again and going all the way through . . . I’d be interested in knowing if you really save time that way. Me, I’ve never gone through with the idea of “fixing” things on the redraft, but I also don’t kid myself either: I know that I have to reach the end, walk away for a couple days, and then dust the thing off and go through it again. Is that redrafting? I don’t think so, though I do tighten and rewrite if I see problems.
But does it matter? Really? No one way is better than another, and don’t you ever let anyone tell you otherwise. Writing is not one-size-fits-all. Everyone finds their own way.
I just wish mine felt a touch easier.
OTOH, seeing the problems now is much better than reaching the end, seeing nothing wrong, and then wondering why no one likes the book. (If you’re going the traditional route, that is. If you’re going indie, I know people who will send to a first reader and then put something up provided there are no major problems–and you know, there is a reader out there for everything. If I ever go indie, I’ll have to tackle that problem of a first reader, since I’ve never had one. I guess you’d say that editors are my first readers.)
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What I’m Watching
The Astronaut Wives Club (two more episodes; got to the part where Grissom’s dead; I’m sad. I remember that happening and the headlines).
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What I’m Reading
In a few more minutes, going to dive into The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel; already read the first chapter in between other things, and now I’m curious to compare how they adapted a nonfiction book into a TV series.
Okay, I’m out of energy. It’s time for bed.
Oh, and the husband goofed and made plans for us for *4* nights in a row next week. I may not survive.
