Eiji Tunsinagi

I'm not asking why outline......I want to know how. Should I do chapter by chapter or what? Does it matter? How do you outline (if you do)?

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"nothing is perfect, nothing lasts, and nothing is finished."

"how will you go about finding that thing the nature of which is totally unknown to you?"

DawnMorningStar

I'm usually rather lazy with this, though for most stories, I DO outline. A lot of times, I'll know the basics of my story and have them written down. Then I simply add ideas that come to me as I go along. There are times when I begin outlining things chapter by chapter, but it usually doesn't go very far because it becomes too tedious and I get bored. Using this new story software, I'm forced to really think things through and I think it's helping me tremendously. I guess we'll see once the story is finished.

Kermie04

I don't outline in the traditional format per se. When I outline, I just write down basic ideas that I have for characters, setting, and plot. I try to break it down into chapters but that is not always the case. If I have my characters, setting and basic plot written down I can then start writing and fill in the holes. A more traditional outline might work better for you, so I think that you have to set up your outline in any fashion that will work best for you and for your story.

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Love,
Kermie04

Eiji Tunsinagi

When you outline its much easier to know whats going to happen next for sure (because you already planned it) so writers block might not happen (if thats one of the reasons you HAVE writers block.)

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"nothing is perfect, nothing lasts, and nothing is finished."

"how will you go about finding that thing the nature of which is totally unknown to you?"

DawnMorningStar

I agree with that, and I think that if it's a story you're going to try to get published at some point, that it's pretty important to have a concrete plan as to how the story will progress, etc.

I've written may stories without a real backbone like that, and I think they've come out fine, but I wouldn't attempt an actual novel without knowing exactly how the plot will progress, who all of my characters are and how everything ties together.

Eiji Tunsinagi

"Everything starts with a plan" ----(I'm sure somebody said that)

And if you dont have a plan and you just start writing a freakin novel, your bound to screw up at one point or another.

__________________
"nothing is perfect, nothing lasts, and nothing is finished."

"how will you go about finding that thing the nature of which is totally unknown to you?"

Talia_Brie

You just did.

I outline event by event. Sometimes the different events only take a chapter, sometimes more.

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Eiji Tunsinagi

How many do you usually end up with (compared to te length of novel you want)??

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"nothing is perfect, nothing lasts, and nothing is finished."

"how will you go about finding that thing the nature of which is totally unknown to you?"

Talia_Brie

How many events? I usually end up with more events than I started with, and many more chapters than events.

An example might be, Talia arrives in Averson, for example. Four words, took three chapters to complete, and two other significant events occurred.

I also usually end up with lets say five or six outlines of differing lengths. As new significant events occur, the outline of events then changes, and needs to be adjusted. I liek to keep it flexible.

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AdamR

I never come up with an offical outline. "Offical" as in 1-2-3 with a.b.c in between. I always have notes and ideas that put somewhat in order to get the general idea of where I'm going with the plot.

I never separate this "outline" into chapeters or parts--I feel the division between segments comes naturally to the story.

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"Excellence in all things, and all things to the glory of God."
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