Just when I think I have a firm grasp on just how I write, along comes another shift and I’m once again left clueless.
For the longest time, I resisted writing outlines. Then, for quite a while, they looked something like this:
Chapter One–Billy finds the dead cat.
But now, for some strange reason (I’m guessing it’s Dillon’s way of reminding me he’s not Vlad), the outline I’m doing for Wonderland is closer to this:
Chapter One–Billy walks into the old house. It smells like mold and dust, but he keeps searching the building until he comes across a shoe box. He knows what’s in the shoe box before he removes the lid, but does it anyway. Inside is his grandmother’s cat, dead.
I’m filling my outline with much more detail this time around. Why? No clue. (And just so you know, there is no boy named Billy, nor are there any dead cats featured in Wonderland) But it may be that I’m still finding my groove in this writing gig. Or it may be that my groove is full of changes, that I’ll never settle on one specific way to do things for every book I write. After all, my life is ever-changing. Why not my writing methods?
The important thing is to trust yourself. If you feel inclined to write a detailed outline (or to resist writing one altogether), go with it. You have to find your way of doing things.
If I ever find mine…I’ll let you know.
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I visited with a writers’ group this weekend, and I perceived there to be just a little bit of a bias against writers who outline first. Now, I don’t outline, either; I can’t work that way. But I’ve also learned that every writer works differently, and that some people benefit greatly from sitting down and trying to organize their thoughts first.
So you’re right – there’s no one way to do this; you just have to keep trying until you figure out what works for you.
Plus, what works for you for one book might not necessarily work for your next.