Holy Rocking Outline Batman!

Yesterday I had 9 burgeoning editors and a professional editor read my chapter by chapter outline for my new WIP. This was by far one of the best experiences I’ve had when working with editors (Excepting you Dorrie!) They read the outline ahead of class as homework, then for nearly 2 hours in class we brainstormed, filled in blanks, poked at plot holes and patched them up.

We went through extraneous characters and how to use them better (thanks Shawn!) and many great ideas were put forth (thanks Amanda, Jessica and Sandra) and I know that many of them will be used in the next outline. The whole class was a great experience, mostly because the book is not yet written, so I’m not tied to any particular scenes (don’t make me cut that one, it’s my favourite!) and I’m completely flexible on moving around the chain of events and the development of the characters and the plot.

They asked questions, why, what, where, how come and made me think about my back story and how I was going to develop it. (Thanks to Danya and Karen). They pointed out inconsistencies in my theories as well as my plot (thanks David).

This might sound painful, but it wasn’t compared to the alternative. Was this easier than working with an editor AFTER I’ve written 90k words and don’t want to be told it isn’t quite right? Hell yes! In an instant I would tell any and all author’s that this is the way to develop your story. Find a group, whether it be online or in person and go through this process, before you write anything. It will save time, heartache (no cutting those favourite scenes) and it will allow you to have a full outline to write from. No more. “Where do I go from this scene?” angst.

I still think it would be great to help other’s do this, but I know there is a lot of fear of idea stealing in this industry, warranted or not. Soooo. If anyone wants to contact me by email you can and I’d be happy to help you with your outline.

A Storyboard Conference and You

I've been taking an editing course as some of you may recall and my third class is tomorrow. Lots to learn from the editing side of things, but what I want to share with you is something called storyboard conferencing.

The basic gist of this is to have an author lay out their novel in a chapter by chapter summary, hitting on the plot points and any major information. Each chapter summary should be no more than a small paragraph to begin with. So a 30 chapter book will take up something like 6 pages or there abouts.

As the class needed someone to volunteer their material for this portion of the course, I said I would do it. I outlined my paranormal romance novel and then fleshed out each chapter, working with the teacher on smoothing out the sentences and making the whole piece flow better. (It looks suspiciously like a synopsis to me but I refuse to call it that.)

After this, the other students will have the piece sent to them and then we will all come back next week and they will have suggestions on how to make the plot better and the characters and story more believable. Cool huh? Apparently this is how things are done in many publishing houses, you have a conference with several editors and work out the kinks in your story BEFORE you write it. Freaking genius if you ask me. (This from the seat of your pants type of writer that I am.)

I was sad that not all of us get this opportunity and then I had a thought. Why not? With the group of on-line writers that I've met, I don't see why a few couldn't get together and help each other BEFORE they even write their next great masterpiece. Of course the storyboard conference can be done after a manuscript is written, but there is more difficulty in that if you cut something there has been a lot of time put into it.

For those of you interested in doing some of this storyboard conferencing, hold tight and I'll tell you my final thoughts next weekend, after the results of the class. But I think that it's safe to say that this idea has definite merit, don't you?

Me and Rumpelstiltskin

Working on novel # 3, the first being an absolute bust, the second getting very close to publication (Speaking positive here) I'm learning that I don't always learn my lessons the first time through.

Not that I'm thick headed, more like stubborn. I want to believe I can be like all those writers whose plot lines, character development, sub plots and nifty twists at the end of the story get spun out of thin air like Rumpelstiltskin spinning straw into gold. My straw doesn't turn into gold, it's still straw. Dang.

So with the realization that I'm not like all those fancy pants writers, I went back to the drawing board, took my bare bones outline for book #3 and spent a few days fleshing out the background, jotting down ideas and just generally brainstorming. Then I re-wrote the outline, giving it more detail and depth, not just leaving it up to guesswork on how to get from scene 1 to scene 2.

Amazing, but true, I then went on to writing the thing and miracle of miracles, no brain freeze, writers block or freaking straw. I started to spin out some gold. Maybe not 24k, but gold nonetheless. So that's what I learned about outlining, you have to do it, it will help, it will make the writing go easier. And this is only the second time I had to learn this lesson. Not bad, not bad at all.

Outlining = Good

I have never, never been the writer who outlines work. I just go with the flow, write what comes and see what happens. And in the past it has all been fine and dandy.

Not so much now. I am beginning to realize that not only is an outline a good thing, it can actually generate excitement to write and get going on a project. It helps to know where you are headed I guess.

With that in mind, I just finished the outline for book # 2 in the Chronicles series, which is now totally different than the original idea I had. And I am part way through the outline for book #3 in the same series. Of course, I am also working on my revisions for book #1, working on my new series (which is all done in outline form first) and don't forget my full time job. Yet somehow, it all seems to be coming together this time around. I don't feel overwhelmed or under major pressure.

Must be the outlines. :)