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Writing and Speaking > Writing > Writing a Novel on a Part Time Schedule: Why Outlines are a Necessary Evil
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Article rating : 0.00, 0 votes. Author : David Tucholski
So you want to write the great American novel, but you can’t afford to quit your day job as an accountant? Did you know that Einstein was working full time as a patent clerk when he wrote his famous papers on the theory of relativity? Ok, so maybe you’re no Einstein, but if old Albert could find time in the busy world of patents to think up undoubtedly the most important scientific theories of our time, literally spawning an entirely new science known as quantum physics, than an accountant can find time to write a murder mystery.
Now, if you’re one of those lucky writers who has the ability to disappear into the wilderness for two years like Thoreau to work on your masterpiece, than perhaps this article is not for you. But if you’re like the rest of us with a family, bills to pay, and a full-time job that has little or nothing to do with writing, than read on. Here I offer a small bit of insight into how I was able to manage my time between a 40-hour-a-week job in computers and writing my first novel.
First off, if there is one thing I hate doing, it’s writing an outline. Not only does it feel as though you are being forced to follow a structured process, when creativity by its very nature is anything but, it also keeps you from the one thing you love the most: writing narrative, which is the reason you got into this in the first place, right? (If you answered, “No, I got into this to become rich and famous”, than once again, this article is probably not for you). Moving on! Having said all this about outlines, regrettably I must concede that they are an important part, I dare say essential in fact, to writing a novel on a part time basis. An outline can actually save you time, and yes, frustration, when you finally do start writing narrative and realize that you have no idea where it is going and perhaps even forgotten where it has been. In my experience, using an outline is paramount to getting the most out of your limited writing time.
How do you write an outline, you ask? Well, it doesn't have to be a complicated process. It all starts with a single premise. That’s the main idea of your story. Without the premise, you’ve got no story. So you have to determine this first. It’s a simple question, what’s the story about? Now, determine who the main characters are. You might want to give them some distinguishing characteristics here, but in my experience it’s not necessary to get too detailed at this point. Some authors will actually go so far as to create meticulous bios and histories before they even develop their plot, knowing full well that 70% of that will never make it into the final story. While this can help to really sharpen your characters, which makes them more believable and real, I have yet to find it necessary. I actually find that the characters will develop themselves as I write the narrative, and in their dialog and actions I will begin to discover things about them that help me to create their individual personalities. But this is of course all up to you. It all depends on how much time you are willing to put into the pre-writing process. I guess I’m just too lazy to come up with twenty different character bios.
So, now you have your premise (which can also be centered around a theme, i.e. if your premise is a young man becomes addicted to drugs and destroys his life in the process; your theme would be, addiction destroys lives). And you have your characters (and by the way, you will discover that there are more characters in your story than you plan for, but not until you start writing your prose, another reason writing bios doesn't work for me). It’s now time to develop that plot! This is the fun part for me, since you now have to use what you know about your characters to drive the events that will take place in order to fulfill the premise. I usually will begin going over possible scenes in my head. Where do the characters start off, and who are they when they are there? Then, where will they go and how will they change as the story progresses? Some authors say that they will actually
write the scenes down on sticky notes or index cards and tape them up on a wall, kind of like storyboarding a movie. This helps them to visualize the story. Once again, I have never done this because it seems as though it would take an awful lot of prep time and as I said before, I’m a lazy writer. However, if this works best for you, than sticky note away!
Now, once you have the initial scenes worked out, then it is time to really determine the sequence and timeline in which they will take place. This is where the outline begins to take shape. There are not too many rules on how to construct your story, since it is after all your work of art, and who am I to interfere with art? However, if you want to keep your reader’s attention, you should try and follow a basic plot sequence. The standard one is: Initial Situation, Conflict, Complication, Climax, Suspense, Resolution, and Conclusion. Now this sequence can often be broken, but it takes a master to do this and pull it off well, so for now it’s probably a good idea to stick to the convention. But we’re not here to get into the dynamics of plot, just how to write a basic outline. So, I will continue.
I will typically break my outline up by chapters, meaning each section is a new chapter. Inside each section I will then place individual scenes as subsections. A side note here: depending on the number of sections (i.e. chapters) you have, you will want to introduce your main conflict no later than a quarter of the way into the story, since your reader will get bored very fast if you wait until the middle to show them the dead body. So, if you have twenty chapters, your main conflict should appear no later than chapter five. (Then of course there are the other plot elements that need careful placement, like climax and suspense, but you should refer to more detailed writings on technique.) Also, each chapter should be considered, in itself, a mini plot sequence. Like the novel, each chapter should contain an initial situation and build to a conclusion. That’s not to say that they all need a climax or resolution, but a chapter needs to keep a reader’s attention on its own, rather than relying on the story as a whole. One more thing, it’s good practice to try and keep each chapter around the same length. Readers might get annoyed if you have several ten page chapters and then hit them with a thirty five pager. However, the story comes first. If you have a scene that’s essential to the plot and it takes thirty five excruciating pages to tell it, than by all means, take the thirty five pages.
Now that you have completed your outline, what’s next? Writing your narrative of course! And by following the outline, this task will come to you easier than you think. But going back to what I said about the nature of creativity. Depending on what genre you are writing in, the outline has different degrees of importance. For example, if you are writing a murder mystery, than it’s probably a good idea to stick to it thoroughly, since the sequence in a mystery is essential to an effective plot. However, if you’re like me and write literary stories, an outline is less of a blueprint and more of a guideline. In this case, don’t get bogged down in following the outline to the letter. A novel is a living thing, and as such can sometimes take on a life of its own. Let it happen. If suddenly in chapter 8 you discover that you have drifted completely away from the outline, don’t despair, after all it was your outline that got you to chapter 8 in the first place. Use it as a starting off point and then allow your creativity to take flight. You might actually amaze yourself by the results.
© 2005 by David Tucholski
This article comes with reprint rights providing no changes are made and the resource box below accompanies it.
David Tucholski is the author of the novel, The Good I Stand On (an iUniverse Editor’s Choice pick), available at Amazon, as well as several other works that can be found on his website: http://www.davidtucholski.com
Visit http://www.thegoodistandon.com for more about his debut novel.
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