TO OUTLINE OR NOT TO OUTLINE-THAT IS THE QUESTION

 
I don't know how you feel about it, but the amount of information out in the world about writing can be overwhelming. 

Everything we learn about must start at the beginning. Start with the outline. 
OMG, every author I have listened to or read about has an opinion about an outline.
So why should I be different. I'm an author, I have an opinion, and here it is.

When I began, my first three books, MY DAIRY MY LOVE, THEY TRY TO THINK LIKE US, REMAIN ALIVE, grew as I wrote them.
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I had no idea where the stories would take me, but off I went into the unknown.

They were coherent and each had a beginning, middle, and an end. It was fun and exciting, I literally had no idea what was next. I was going to discover along with my characters what was down the empty road or over the next hill.

​One day I was listening to James Patterson on Masterclass and his lesson about outlines.

I figured with his success rate he must be doing something right and I've got nothing to lose. Right?
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​Since I had already written the fourth book, THE MOUSE THAT BECAME THE CAT and the fifth MY BEST FRIEND IS but neither had been edited I guess you could say they were elaborate outlines.

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​It wasn't until the sixth book LAYERS OF DECEIT, which comes out in May of this year that I wrote my first true outline.

25,000 words. Did it help, yes.

I found that I could outline each chapter, walk away, and continue on. No worries about editing, grammar, punctuation, etc.

Outlining the story offered me a great amount of freedom and flexibility.

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For me the big takeaway has been that there is no right way or wrong way when it comes to outlines.

The seventh book's outline flowed out of me and in less than a month I had written 41,000 words. Now, it's sitting in the freezer aging. I don't worry about it because when I go back to it and refine it it's done.

The next book, number 8, has an outline of 12,000 words,  

Recently I took myself on a field trip and went to the criminal courts building in downtown Los Angeles. I went only as an observer.

I wanted to see the legal system at work. I'll write about research in another post.

That night, I wrote a 3000 word outline, which is small in comparison to my other outlines.

The excursion downtown produced a new protagonist, a scary antagonist, and best of all a potential pair of characters for series of several books.

Since I have now written books with and without outlines I can now give my opinion for what its worth. I'm leaning towards "yes" do an outline. I think an outline is a good tool which allows the writer to see the story unfold without devoting unnecessary hours. If the outline is never completed the story will never be written. I'll move on. If the outline is completed I now have a road map to navigate with.

However, if a writer finds that writing a story, one chapter at a time, from start to finish works for them, then I would say go ahead and write. There is a point to all this. I repeat, there is no right way or wrong way to get your story out of your head and onto paper.

                    There is one point though that can never be disputed. That is if you want to                                                write-------write. No excuses, no delays, just write. 

                                                                                                       #jamespatterson,#outline,#outlineyourstory,#beawriter,#fearofwriting,#learntowrite,#masterclass,#noexcuse,#lovetowrite,#howtowriteastory

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