tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094552273106925575.post6852623672427684161..comments2024-01-16T01:02:45.391-08:00Comments on 3 Boys and a Novel: The Writing Process - Part 2Megan Reyeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05455391897018825109noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094552273106925575.post-44876540976268196202013-11-14T19:00:46.658-08:002013-11-14T19:00:46.658-08:00I hate outlines. Hated them throughout grade schoo...I hate outlines. Hated them throughout grade school and high school English classes. That and diagramming sentences which only improved my artwork on drawing stick people. When I first started writing using an outline I found my stories to be stiff, less organic and more predictable. I really felt too constrained using an outline. Once I disposed of the outline technique I found writing to be easy and my narrative more free flowing. To me, outlines are a waste of time. If you give your characters free will, they will grow in ways you never anticipated, and they take the story places you could not have predicted, raising themes you might or might not have intended to explore. Characters shape events; events illuminate the characters. the people in a story begin as seeds, become buds, and blossom in ways that surprise the author, precisely as real people frequently surprise each other with their intentions and capacities.Bill Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11129675346217178644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7094552273106925575.post-58418640619617856572013-08-10T09:40:58.970-07:002013-08-10T09:40:58.970-07:00Hi, there! I do a combination of both. I start wit...Hi, there! I do a combination of both. I start with an idea (a character, a setting and a situation) and begin writing. Often the beginning comes to me. Then I work my way through the book with frequent halts to figure out what's next. Sometimes when writing a mystery, I don't even know who dun it. <br /><br />Lately, though, I've gotten contracts for mysteries and the editor wants to see an outline. After groaning, I actually enjoyed working it through to the solution. And it did make the writing go more smoothly. I did change it somewhat as I went, to make the story better.<br /><br />So toying with the idea of at least a general outline for other projects.Liz Penneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13616005136130181910noreply@blogger.com