The other day, I had to reconstruct a chapter-by-chapter outline of my first novel. I found my chapter outline from the very beginning of my writing process; the outline basically consisted of a one-sentence description of plot developments in each of the 36 chapters. That original outline bore only a superficial similarity to what I eventually wrote as the novel progressed.
The discovery of the drastic difference between the original outline and my final product was reassuring to me as I start my second novel (or contemplate rewrites of my first novel). As an organized plotter, I want to have a perfect chapter outline in place before I begin. In reality, my writing process doesn't work that way. My characters didn't spring to life immediately for my first novel; I had to write them into existence. Only when my characters started to "live" in my mind--when they took on flesh and became three-dimensional--only then did the plot of my first novel start to work itself out in organic ways. Coming to this realization about my own writing process relieves some of my self-imposed pressure to design the perfect outline.
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2 comments:
How fascinating that must have been to see your "child" grow up!
What you've shared is so encouraging to me as I write my novel. I too am an "organized plotter" --I put pressure on myself to have it all figured out before I put finger to keyboard. To some extent my characters feel like flat paper dolls in my hand, but this gives me hope that they'll breathe and take on shape as I press on, and then rewrite...and rewrite... =)
I'm not terribly successful at fluidly organizing a book chapter by chapter. I create an overview of beginning to end, and then fill in the fluff to make the end come about. However, I seldom follow the blueprint of my original design. In fact, I find my stories are more interesting when they have that less structured approach. Maybe because I'm able to produce a surprise here and there that even I don't expect. I donno. I'm just not good at organization.
One thing I've seen other people do is rewrite and rewrite until they have ruined their novel.
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