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Outline troubles with When She Calls
Aug. 30th, 2006 09:30 amI am an outliner. I didn't believe it was true and I even fought the label for a while, but then I realized I always had a mental outline. Having a paper one increased my speed and allowed me to conceive of projects, put them aside, then pick them up again without much lag time.
What does this have to do with anything? Well, I've reached the point in my outline of When She Calls that I always reach and yet it always surprises me. This outline was written way back in the beginning (June 2006 I believe) when I had the story in my head but nothing on paper. Since then, if you've been following this tale ;), I've found significant flaws (things where scenes never made it to the outline or where the outline was too short for the book). However, as I've been writing, I've been correcting the outlines flaws, tweaking it, reshaping it, but always guided by the outline itself so my progress never stalled.
This is my normal process. The completed first draft almost never resembles the original outline completely. And I'm okay with this process because the outline keeps me moving but does not in any way restrict what is necessary for the story.
Until I reach this point. The point that comes as a surprise every single time, not because I don't know its coming, but because I don't know where it will fall and I shove it to the back of my mind as much as possible.
Due to the accumulation of small changes, little nudges, tiny revisions, Neither of the last three scenes I've written resembled the outlined scene at all. Well, the first two had the same characters, even the same locations, but what happened there could not happen any longer in the way it occurred. It just wasn't possible.
So, I've lost my trusty safety net. I have less than 15k still to write (assuming the number of scenes stays remotely accurate) and no clear guiding light. Sure, I know what's going to happen. I might even know some of the details of what is going to happen, but I don't have the reminders, the little hints that allow me to slap out 1k an hour when I'm doing a push. Instead, I need to be thinking and rethinking each step. I've raised a character in importance, I've added an almost conversation about Father Pelet (almost because neither really wanted to dwell on it). Next I have to pad out a wondrous scene note that says essentially: Andon gets bored with temple life and craves the outside world. Thanks, Margaret. Very helpful.
This complicates my current word count challenge a bit, but I'm not declaring failure just yet. My characters are living and breathing. They know what they want and are willing both to compromise (Garum) and twist the world (Andon) to get there. I just have to make it plausible, interesting, and succinct ;).
And stats:
69 scenes
59 complete - 86% of the novel
10 Scenes remain
14002 Remaining word count
96611 Estimated length - with an average of 1400 words per scene.
82609 Current Total
What does this have to do with anything? Well, I've reached the point in my outline of When She Calls that I always reach and yet it always surprises me. This outline was written way back in the beginning (June 2006 I believe) when I had the story in my head but nothing on paper. Since then, if you've been following this tale ;), I've found significant flaws (things where scenes never made it to the outline or where the outline was too short for the book). However, as I've been writing, I've been correcting the outlines flaws, tweaking it, reshaping it, but always guided by the outline itself so my progress never stalled.
This is my normal process. The completed first draft almost never resembles the original outline completely. And I'm okay with this process because the outline keeps me moving but does not in any way restrict what is necessary for the story.
Until I reach this point. The point that comes as a surprise every single time, not because I don't know its coming, but because I don't know where it will fall and I shove it to the back of my mind as much as possible.
Due to the accumulation of small changes, little nudges, tiny revisions, Neither of the last three scenes I've written resembled the outlined scene at all. Well, the first two had the same characters, even the same locations, but what happened there could not happen any longer in the way it occurred. It just wasn't possible.
So, I've lost my trusty safety net. I have less than 15k still to write (assuming the number of scenes stays remotely accurate) and no clear guiding light. Sure, I know what's going to happen. I might even know some of the details of what is going to happen, but I don't have the reminders, the little hints that allow me to slap out 1k an hour when I'm doing a push. Instead, I need to be thinking and rethinking each step. I've raised a character in importance, I've added an almost conversation about Father Pelet (almost because neither really wanted to dwell on it). Next I have to pad out a wondrous scene note that says essentially: Andon gets bored with temple life and craves the outside world. Thanks, Margaret. Very helpful.
This complicates my current word count challenge a bit, but I'm not declaring failure just yet. My characters are living and breathing. They know what they want and are willing both to compromise (Garum) and twist the world (Andon) to get there. I just have to make it plausible, interesting, and succinct ;).
And stats:
69 scenes
59 complete - 86% of the novel
10 Scenes remain
14002 Remaining word count
96611 Estimated length - with an average of 1400 words per scene.
82609 Current Total
