How to Outline a Story

In my previous post, Advantages of Giving It a Go, I revealed I'm a reformed pantser, proud of casting off my old ways to plot out my stories before I write them. In the comments, M Pax asked, how then do I outline? She stumped me with the question because I hadn't thought about it before. The amusing thing is, I approach outlining much the same way as I used to approach writing: by the seat of my pants. This led me to realise there is no one true method. Each writer who wants to outline has to find a way that works for them. However, to answer Mary's question, this post is my attempt to explain how I go about outlining my stories. It's much like building a fire:

The Spark: Every novel begins as a tiny spark in the writer's mind. The ideas can come from anywhere and everywhere. One of my sparks came from a two second scene from a Shakespeare movie trailer and turned into a novel with a potential for a trilogy. The novel has nothing to do with the movie or scene which sparked it all. Of course, not every spark will catch and turn into a roaring fire that will keep the writer fuelled long enough to complete the novel. Each spark needs to be tested.

Testing the Spark: I collect sparks. I have a little notebook where I write them all down. Some ideas are a mere sentence, a 'what if?' Some are paragraphs, some are scrawled pages of notes. I recorded my latest one as a diagram. When I'm ready to begin outlining, I go through the ideas and see which grab my interest. I then focus only on the big picture: What do I want the story to be about? This is a great time to play with possible taglines for the novel. Sometimes this works for me, sometimes I need to fan the fire.

Turning the Spark into a Flame: The characters are what drive the stories for me. Some writers will do character interviews, hunt the net for pictures of actors who look like their characters, write up extensive backstories. I do none of that. Instead I pick a major weakness to give my main character, one I can exploit, one the character can overcome over the course of the story. From there the fire grows, other characters spawn as foils to the main character, and the story starts to evolve.

Feeding the Fire with Kindling: Working out the setting is a great way to feed the fire, to add those extra details to expand the ideas. In my latest work in progress (WIP) the setting came first. It developed like a main character. World-building became so crucial to the story that I wrote a novelette to gain a greater understanding of the world.

Feeding the Fire with Logs: This is my favourite part of outlining, the part many would consider the 'true' outlining. I use a mini notebook and pour out the story, chapter by chapter, from start to finish. I keep it brief. Sometimes it includes dialogue, but mostly it includes, 'this happens then this happens.' I write it fast and let the story and characters guide me.

Keeping the Fire Contained: To keep my ideas from going wild, I try to keep an eye on the big picture through the whole process. I do this by using a whiteboard and writing down each chapter in its most basic form on post-it notes. For details on how I use the whiteboard, see an older post, Writers' Tools: The Whiteboard. I'll adjust the scenes, slot in any ah-ha moments that spark, and build a cohesive story, checking the character arcs and the pacing.

And voila! This can take anywhere from one to two months. It might sound like a long time, but it saves me a lot of time and hassle in the revision stage.

Did I scare anyone off from outlining? How do you go about developing your stories?

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Congrats to Suze of Subliminal Coffee for making it to the finals (top three, with the winner to be announced in September) for her novel in an international contest, Mainstream/Literary category. Woo hoo!! I'm not surprised, girl!

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10 Stages of Story Development

1. The idea. It could come from anywhere. It could start with a character, a place, a scene, or simply a vague concept. I often have more than one idea, especially when I’m actively looking for them. I’ll write down all my ideas in a notebook.

2. World-building. Sometimes the idea will start with the world first. If I fall in love with the setting/world then I will pursue it further and set up the history, the politics, the ‘rules’. Even if these details don’t make it into the story, they are important to think about. The world will often dictate what kind of story it wants to tell.

3. Character development. I start thinking about the characters and give them names, appearances, traits and desires. Sometimes the characters will come before the world, depending on where the idea starts.

4. Character arc. For me the main element that drives my stories is character so I think about the character arc early on. This is where the plot begins to develop.

5. Outline. This is where I work out a beginning, middle and end. I used to just wing it, but I found I had to do a lot of rewrites to get it right. Outlining reduces those rewrites and it helps me to see the big picture before I get caught up in the specifics.

6. First draft. This is the mad frenzy of pushing out the story onto the page. I usually set myself a goal of 7000 words per week if I’m being kind to myself, or 10 000 words per week if I want to push myself. I prefer to push myself, because my best writing happens when I don’t have the time to over think everything.

7. Break. This is where a break is essential. It’s a good time to start expanding on other ideas or to write a few short stories.

8. The read through. Also essential. I think it’s important to read through your novel from beginning to end many times over the course of development.

9. Editing. This is when I allow myself to slow down and take the time to get the wording right. I look at pacing, motivations, sentence structure, chapter length etc. 

10. Critique partners. I’ll send out my manuscript to trusted critique partners and friends. Then I repeat stages 7-10 until I’m happy with the story.

How do you develop your story ideas?

Thanks to Suze at Girl Wizard for tagging me where we were supposed to tell 10 things about ourselves, but I adjusted the rules. I’m such a rebel.

Also thanks to L. G. Smith for the 7x7 Link Award. Again, being the rebel, I have linked back to her blog, Bards and Prophets, and ask that you visit and say hi from me.

How to Immerse the Reader

I always say a great story is the most important element of a novel. We can have a great concept, a great structure and great characters, but if we stop there, our stories will lack magic. The readers want to become engrossed in the story. They want to be immersed and live the story experience in their minds. They need to see it, hear it, smell it and more.

The sensory details will bring our stories alive. They can capture mood and atmosphere. They can reflect emotion and tension. They can enhance the feeling of conflict. They can add that extra dimension.

To get it right we need to become observers of life. We need to practise awareness and take note of everything around us – especially of the little things. To write a scene well, we need to see it--not as actors on a stage, but characters in a real, living, breathing setting.

To bring authenticity into our stories we also need to write in specifics, not generalisations. If you want a car going by, what kind of car is it? If you want birds chirping, what kind of birds are they?

We all lead busy lives, so how do you practise awareness? Why do you think you find writing descriptions easy or difficult?

How to Know if Your Story is Worth Pursuing

Writing a story takes time, dedication, and a huge amount of angst, sweat, and passion. It would be a shame to put that much effort into a novel’s creation only to discover at the end no one is interested. So, I’ve listed some ways we can discern which story ideas are worth pursuing:

Research the Market. Agents and publishers will always be more interested in a story that easily fits into a market. The stories that have no clear place or genre will more often be the ones that wallow in the slush piles. Research the market so you have an understanding of what sells and where it sells. This doesn’t mean we have to stick to the current trends. Usually a trend will die by the time we’ve finished writing our novel—which brings me to my next point:

Seek Originality. If the story idea is just another rehash of novels already in the market, then it’s probably best to either walk away or come up with an original spin on the story. Karen Gowen said it well in her post about themes: there are no new themes, only new stories. Find the twist that will make your story stand out from the rest.

Create Engaging Characters and Conflict. Before we pursue a story idea, it’s important to remember a great concept won’t necessarily be enough to generate a fabulous story. Readers want relatable, interesting characters to engage them. They want drama and conflict. They want to loose themselves in the story. A question worth asking is: will there be enough page-turning elements?

Think about it. This might sound obvious, but we don’t always turn on our brains. At least, I know I don’t. I learnt it’s worth finding out personal likes and dislikes in a story. To do that, we have to read a lot and think about our reactions to the stories. We can then ask ourselves whether or not our potential novel will have similar elements.

Find the Passion. If you can’t summon a deep excitement for a story, then perhaps it’s not worth pursuing. Stories shine when the authors care. It’s not always about getting published. It’s about the joy of creating the story. Without the passion, the project may never get finished.

What is it about the stories you like to read most?

Ways to go from Plod to Plot

Many stories fail before they begin. They lack that special something that engages the reader. The story may be self-indulgent. It may lack focus and plod along without any clear direction. These things will cause the reader to put down a book and never pick it up again. Below are some tips on how to keep your readers from boredom and frustration:

Story:

• Have a beginning, middle and end. They don’t necessarily have to be in that order.
• Make sure you grab your readers on the first page of your novel, on the first paragraph, on the first line.
• Take out any scene that doesn’t add anything to the story
• If you are bored writing a scene, then the reader will be doubly bored reading it. Remove it or change it.
• make sure there is something new and interesting about your plot otherwise the reader will feel like they have read it all before.

Characters:

• Create believable, relatable characters.
• Don’t use names that are long and difficult to remember or pronounce.
• Characters need conflict but often it’s how they react to conflict that makes them interesting.
• Take out any character that doesn’t add anything to the story. If two characters perform the same function in your story then remove one.
• Weak and whiney characters will make a reader put down your book.
• Readers want to see growth and change in the characters.

Description:

• Weave in description rather than dropping in a solid block of it. Many readers skip descriptions anyway.
• There’s no need to describe every detail in a room or every action a character takes. Readers have a vivid imagination so our descriptions should only be enough to pique their imaginations.

Pace and Rhythm:

• Times have changed and continue to change. The majority of the population prefer a faster paced book than they did 20 years ago.
• Rhythm is the music of your novel. It’s the subtle magic that keeps the reader’s eye dancing across the page. Match rhythm to pace and even a slow scene won’t become a plod.

What do you do when your stories begin to plod? Can you think of any other tips?

The Strength of a Story

I’ve read poorly written books with fantastic stories and I’ve read beautifully written books with unsatisfying stories. Which one would I recommend to others? The one with the great story. The same thing goes for a movie. The film might have breath-taking imagery, it might have amazing special effects, but if the story is lacking, then I won’t come away feeling satisfied.

Because story is so important, it needs attention. It can start with a single idea, but then we need to build up the inspiration, develop the characters, discover the setting, decide on a pace. We need to ask ourselves, does my story have a punchy beginning? Have I given it a satisfying end?

On top of all that, a story will only stay strong if it doesn’t wander off the track without reason. In other words, no part of the piece should ever exist outside the story. In my latest WIP I wrote an amusing scene. It flowed beautifully, it made me laugh, but it had a fatal flaw. It didn’t add anything to the story. After much angst, I had to let the scene go.

It takes courage and practise to keep a story tight. This doesn’t mean it has to be simple, but it does have to have focus.

How do you develop story? Do you have the beginning and end in your head before you even start? Or is it a slow process involving much gnashing of teeth?

Story is…

Have you ever wondered about story and why it captures our hearts? Have you wondered why storytelling has endured through the ages?

Though it started as a teaching tool to pass knowledge down through the generations, story has evolved into something greater. Story is more than an explanation, an opinion, a vision, or a dream. It’s more than a memory, a journey or a destination.

Story is more than a moment captured in time. It’s more than the mundane and more than the extraordinary. It’s more than reality and more than imagination.

Story is a vehicle to carry not only the plot, a sequence of events, but it’s also the binding agent of character, conflicts and concepts. Story reflects drama, silence, and atmosphere.

Story starts as a spark of creation but then it travels beyond the stage. It reaches into our hearts and plays with our emotions. It’s a glimpse of something grander, whether it’s about a rise, a fall, a comedy or a tragedy.

Story is greater than the writer. It goes by its own rules and is swayed by neither beauty nor ugliness. It goes beyond revelation and delves deeper than secrets. The written story is the essence of each other captured on the page…and more.

For me, story is a dance of many or few steps.

What is story for you?

Top 10 TV Shows

I’m taking a break from my usual posts to take part in Alex J Cavanaugh’s Blogfest. Are you ready to see how geeky I truly am? 

1. Babylon 5 – In short, it’s about a group of people on a space station named Babylon 5. It was made in the 90s. I loved this series because of the awesome dialogue. Check here for cool quotes.

2. Firefly – aired in 2002, it lasted only one season as a series, but it was brilliant. It was a Space Western. I loved the characters, the dialogue and the world. 

3. Friends – Apart from some of the hairstyles and outfits, this series hasn’t aged since the 90s. The stories and characters are still relevant and amusing.

4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The early seasons were the best when it didn’t take itself too seriously. It was just a bit of fun.

5. Dr Who – A British scifi that’s older than me. I think it started in the 60s but it’s still going strong. It never had a big budget and some of the monsters and sets used to be dodgy, but it proved that story drives a good show.

6. Masterchef Australia – it’s taken from a British show, but we’ve made it our own. It’s similar to Top Chef but without the backstabbing. It’s about amateur cooks vying to be titled Masterchef. It’s the only reality show I watch these days.

7. Misfits – This is also British, about a group of young offenders forced to work in a community service programme, where they become imbued with supernatural powers after a strange electrical storm. Due to its success they’ve started filming the second season in May. There are some rough language and elements in the story but I enjoyed it anyway. I think it’s labelled as a dark comedy. 

8. Stargate SG1/Universe – two great series. I enjoyed the characters and the stories. SG1 has a great re-watchability to it. 

9. Star Trek – Original – Sure, it’s dated, sure I only ever watched it as reruns, but I loved the spark between the three main characters. The stories were imaginative at the time, they didn’t take themselves too seriously and it was fun to watch.

10. Fawlty Towers – A British comedy made in the 70s and only had 12 episodes, but they were all memorable in their silliness.

So there you have it. This list shifts and changes a lot for me, depending on my mood.  And I'm sure I've forgotten a few which deserve to be on this list more. If you haven't taken part in the blogfest, I'd still love to hear which tv shows are your favourite.
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