This outlining thing is killing me

[melkahb]

I'm trying an experiment: I'm changing my outlining process for a book I'm really interested in. I usually create a broad framework and fill in supporting details as necessary, then add the filigree (as it were) as I go. This allows me to keep the enthusiasm relatively high and perpetuate the joy of discovering the story, which generally serves to

Comments

[e_bourne]

I salute you. I don't believe I could do that. I usually know beginning, end, and what I call "tent poles" bu are essentially as you describe.

I'll be curious how your outlining works. I'm not just saying that. It's an unimaginable thing for me, so genuinely curious.

For me, just being disciplined works. Oh, and getting off the meds my doctor prescribed for me while Mark was in the hospital. Yeah, that's made things better too. Weird.

[melkahb]

Really? Getting off of things designed to keep you floating and calm helped with the writing? Huh. :P

Discipline isn't the issue. I lack it, sure, but the problem is that I get to a point in a story where I realize something's gone wrong, or it's veered away from where I wanted it to go, or I've got a serious error somewhere in my structure or other fundamental, and I get bogged down in trying to fix that detail. Other times, I find I'm dragging my pace down by writing pages and pages of things I can summarize and still get the same effect. I'm hoping this fixes that. It lets me check the map, so to speak.