A Voice on Outline Driven Writing

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As some of you know I’m working on a deadline, trying to get Timber Point ready for submission to a publisher whose window closes on Saturday. So, I came across a perfect post to reblog instead of writing one, and save myself time in the process. Win win. Hope you enjoy it. And please, tell me what you think.

Next up: I’ll continue with the series, Badass in Heels.

Have a great, productive day, all!

James L'Etoile

Outlining versus Free Form writing is a hotly contested debate in author circles.  I know, I know, the subject doesn’t carry the weight of  discussing a solution to violence in Afghanistan, or searching for a missing jetliner in the middle of the Indian Ocean.  But the fact that writers seem willing to spill blood over the issue, says something about us – we’re a bit too tightly wound for our own good and the voices of the characters in our heads start to take over if left unattended too long.

Image courtesy of getkjfit.com Image courtesy of getkjfit.com

I’ve written a few novels using a detailed outline and others in a free-form, or more commonly called the seat of your pants method, used by “The Pantser.”   Both methods work, but recently, as I wrote a section for a novel from an outline, a voice called out…

Voice:  Hey!  Whatcha doing?

Me:  Writing.  Hush…

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7 thoughts on “A Voice on Outline Driven Writing”

  3. Really interesting discussion on outlining vs ‘pantsing,’ Sue. Thanks for sharing it here. I tend to be somewhat of a planner, myself. But at the same time, I think you have to leave room for spontaneity. That can give a story a certain liveliness that it might lack otherwise.

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