On Writing Steve/Tony Part 5: Chalk Outlines on the Sidewalk

[tsukinofaerii]

The outline is where the meat of writing starts, where the brainstorms and daydreams come together to form a plot. Outlines are hugely individual. One author may write down every scene to a fare thee well, another may just have notes on the general plot arc. Some people just have them entirely in their head, and some may keep charts. Outlines are

Comments

[muccamukk]

Okay, I take it back, I totally do outline.

I was thinking of you and Elspeth when I said I didn't. I find that if I write anything that detailed, muse calls that story done, and moves onto something else.

I do however tend to draw spider web for plot points, and then keep that. Or make a list of research notes, before I start writing, and keep those around. I also talk out the arc on chat, or make it up in my head.

After that, I start writing, and when I hit the half way point, I often write a list of events in the story, and a list of things that still need to happen.

I currently have something superbasic for A-Team Bang I'm working on that goes like this.

Character stuff
B.A. and Pacifism.
Face Doubting Hannibal.
Hannibal Doubting Hannibal.
Murdock coming out to B.A.

Ray and the farm
A series of unfortunate events.
Legal troubles.
Fixing things.
Assassination attempt.
Team Saves Everyone.

Trouble with the Law
Face and Sosa find no help.
Hannibal's bridges burned.
Patriotism.
Murdock and Comics.
B.A. and Pacifism.

[tsukinofaerii]

Do I get to do an Evil Laugh™ and say I Told You So? (No? Drats.)

Remind me to watch the A-Team movie one day so that I can read that fic. Ray and the farm? Rly? :o!

I think that one of the reasons why Outlines tend to be disputed is that people think of them as this JK Rowling-like mountain of notes, charts, lists, etc, and no one likes paperwork. But little spiderwebs, or posty notes stuck on the side of the screen, a .txt file with a couple of lines of dialog... The entire point is to make it work for you. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

ETA: Why does post comment button work so easily?

[muccamukk]

You can if you like. I enjoy a good Evil Laugh™ myself.

It's... not the best movie ever made, but I enjoyed it.
Ray is a character from the show. He has a farm. The team save the farm from the Villains of the Episode.

Yeah, I tend to associate outlining with that one grade eight English course I took, wherein you had to write out everything that was going to happen. It killed my creativity dead.

[tsukinofaerii]

:D

Mwahahahahahaha!

I remember watching it when I was teeny, but I don't really remember much. At the very least, it looks like a good laugh and some nostalgia bait.

Yeah, I tend to associate outlining with that one grade eight English course I took, wherein you had to write out everything that was going to happen. It killed my creativity dead.

(wince) Oooh, ow that would do it. For me, outlines give me something to keep pushing for. It's like, okay, so Tony staring at a computer is boring to write. But according to my outline, once I get past this, Steve will totally come out of the shower in a tiny sports towel! Incentive! But I almost never actually manage to stick to it. Writing an outline and following it would be painful. D: It would become Zombie Fic. Alive only through the darkest of arts. D: D: D:

[illuminatius]

This is highly informative. I need to try to write an outline; I have plot points in my head, but being the scatterbrained individual that I am, they get fuzzy. I'm going to jot down an outline. And hopefully, it will make some sense. I'll also have to check for plots (main and extra), and really think of what I am trying to say.

Those TV Tropes links were interesting to read; even if TV Tropes steals away your time and your soul, they are informative. Very much so. Especially The Brick.

About Steve leading SHIELD...yeah, that felt very "out of the blue" to me. They could have fleshed it out a bit. Also, I will find a way of using the term "Bucky Sue" in my fic even if it kills me.

Steve as gayer than a Pride Parade

This reminds me of something I heard in a Weeds episode: "gayer than a purse full of rainbows".

Shield porn. Drool.

[tsukinofaerii]

Some people are so organized, they can keep it all in their heads. The rest of us? Need HALP.

TV tropes is the black hole of the internet. I know some people who have gone in and never returned. To this day, their browsers always have at least one TV Tropes tab open. Let it be a warning to you. But it's is so useful! D: Which means it's also tempting.

About Steve leading SHIELD...yeah, that felt very "out of the blue" to me. They could have fleshed it out a bit. Also, I will find a way of using the term "Bucky Sue" in my fic even if it kills me.

Pigtails. :D He has the hair for it, and he has to sleep sometime.

Yeah. I mean, I'm not happy about it at all, but they could have explained it better, and I'd grumble less. As it is, I can only sulk and wait for Cap's movie. They will have to have him back in the Red White and Blue by then.

This reminds me of something I heard in a Weeds episode: "gayer than a purse full of rainbows".

My heart is forever with Sir Pterry, and 'gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide'.

[illuminatius]

Some people are so organized, they can keep it all in their heads. The rest of us? Need HALP.

Yeah, I am one of those people that need HALP (damn, now I want to play P3 again). My mind tends to wander off; I find that it's more productive if I write down ideas. So far, I got the themes and three plots (one main and two extra). Still need to check 'em for bricks.

I has to Google this PTerry fellow. Neeever read a Discworld novel (although I have heard of them, many times).

TV tropes is the black hole of the internet. I know some people who have gone in and never returned. To this day, their browsers always have at least one TV Tropes tab open. Let it be a warning to you. But it's is so useful! D: Which means it's also tempting.

God, yes. I mean, I'm reading one trope, then it refers to another trope which I start to read and that trope refers to another trope and before you know it, I have twenty trope tabs open and my soul has been snatched. D: The price you pay for knowledge. I'd ratver give my soul than an eye.

Pigtails. :D

[tsukinofaerii]

I has to Google this PTerry fellow. Neeever read a Discworld novel (although I have heard of them, many times).

I'm pretty sure not reading Discworld is against my religion. You should stop being blasphemous and go check it out. (nodnod)

God, yes. I mean, I'm reading one trope, then it refers to another trope which I start to read and that trope refers to another trope and before you know it, I have twenty trope tabs open and my soul has been snatched.

There is even a trope for that! You have gone on a Wiki Walk. TV Tropes Will Ruin Your Life and, also, Your Vocabulary.

Lawl. Tony giving him pigtails after sex, when Bucky is too tired and post-coital to know what's going on.

:D :D :D

I can live with Bucky being Captain America, but how Steve became the head of SHIELD I'll never understand. Not sure if I like him like this.

I'm consoling myself that it can't last forever. Writers move on. We just have to be patient.

[m_steelgrave]

Man, I love me some outlines. I tend to just list a bunch of notes at the top of a document, but I am also a fan of Notecards of Doom when I'm tackling something bigger. I'm a very visual person and the act of actually moving cards around to find the suitable order of events really helps it stick in my head as I write (I do find that Scrivener is an awesome compromise, though).

I would totally read the story that might come from that last outline. Those poor lucky AIM guys.

[tsukinofaerii]

Notecards of Doom! \o/ I could never use them (I would lose them), but I hear they are very functional and made of yay.

XD I suspect that the audio file will be carefully stored away in AIM archives. For research. Or something. Really!