Yesterday I figured out why I was having trouble getting beyond the first few pages of D&D. Lack of preparation. I did my spa research. (And in a future post I'll talk about just how much I'd like to visit a few.) I did my character sketches for the main characters. I know who gets murdered and whodunnit. So what was missing?
My scene outline. I know a lot of writers just wing it. Or they can plot out mentally and be okay working from that. I have to have an outline in writing. It's not detailed to begin with, but I have to know where my "turns" are, as Jenny calls them. And it's nice to have a list of scenes I know I'll need. So yesterday I wrote the outline and made a list of scenes. I know I'll be adding as I go, but just having the basics down let me relax enough to prewrite two scenes.
Are there certain things you need to do before you can begin? Or can you freestyle all the way through?
2 comments:
I'm totally a free-styler when it comes to short stories. I bounce ideas in my head and then kind of spew them out all at once.
However, I'm planning on planning my novel (the fantasy one). Once a project gets to a certain size, I just don't feel comfortable winging it. So I'm going to work on an outline. Don't know how detailed or not yet. We'll just have to wait and see.
I've never done the outline thing with success. I usually like to have a mental outline, though, a jist of where I'm going and how I'll get there. I guess I'm an in-between-er.
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