We have been working on our outline for the November writing in where we try to get 50K word written in a single month. it is called a novel because we try to get the full story down in the month, which is also why we are setting up the outline. The month goes fast once it gets going and often there is only a limited amount of time carved out to write for this project. Life doesn’t stop while you are working on it, unfortunately. So we create the outline with the bullet points.
It can be a real life saver when you get started.
I will admit though, that I almost never follow the outline exactly once I get writing. Which sounds strange as I am putting so much time into setting up the outline. There are several reasons I am doing this. First is that it lets me see the shape of the story I want to tell without getting sidetracked during the month. There isn’t time for getting too far sidetracked. So even though I may not exactly follow the outline exactly as I write, I have a cheat sheet of what I want to go into the story. It lets me focus on writing without too much staring off into space and thinking about what I want to add. I can bounce through the outline and pull the threads I have already set up. Often I treat it like a checklist and mark off the elements I have used already.
The second reason is that I can see where I need names and locations so I can get those together before I start writing. I like thinking about my character names and places and I really don’t like having to come up with them on the fly, and as mentioned before, we will be moving fast through the month.
The third reason I like setting up this outline is because it establishes a time in my brain for working on this story. Working on the set up every weekday in October at the same time sets the schedule in my brain. It becomes routine before November and the first writing even starts. And I have found over the years that building the routine and making it a habit before I NEED it to be a habit, is the best way for me to do this. So in October I get it into my head that this is the time I work on this story. Every day, no exceptions. It becomes habit and then I shift relatively easily into November. It helps me out.
So even if outlines aren’t your thing, they can be helpful. I suppose that was a lot of words to say something so simple, but there you go. And now, you know what is coming…
Task #192 (Nano #26): Write a sentence or two describing your chapter 14. Be certain to add bullet points below so you remember what you want to include when writing.
As always, happy writing.
