Monday, April 7, 2008

Organic or Outline?

I tend to be an organic writer.

In other words, I conceive an idea and begin writing. I don't spend weeks or months carefully plotting out what-happens-next. I simply write.

There's a downside. I sometimes write myself into a corner. I seem to be particularly adept at writing a knock-out, leave-you-breathless chapter ending, only to have no idea what's happening next.

What was that unusual sound? Why was Mr. Blankensnort standing by the lake without any clothes on? Who screamed? What's around the bend? How is this all related, anyway?

It can get messy.

Naturally, I've always got a notebook on hand. Notebooks are for working out plot points, scribbling down backstory, making sure everything works. In that sense, I suppose I'm not one hundred percent organic, in that I do need to stop from time to time and get back to my little notebook.

But there are those writers who plan down to the last quotation mark exactly what's going to happen, chapter by chapter. They've got a beginning, middle, and ending, all roughly outlined and ready to be developed into a well told tale. Once the grunt work is done, it's a matter of letting those words flow.

I admire writers like that.

But I also admire writers who can sit down and spin a tale without having to work so hard before they start. For some, the gift of storytelling comes easily. Complicated plots and subplots are a matter of course, like eating three meals a day and putting gas in your car. They're part of your day, and you don't have to think really hard each time you do one of them.


For me, the writing part comes more easily. It's the storytelling that makes me sweat. Even still, I'm at my best when I'm writing organically, trusting the details to work themselves out as I go. And when I do have some behind-the-scenes things to figure out, I actually enjoy crawling into bed early with my notebook and pen, in order to work out my latest story, develop my latest character, solve my latest problems. Dozing off notwithstanding, it can be a highly productive time.


So tell me -- are you organic or outlining? Or a synthesis? Or neither?

12 comments:

  1. I love your term "organic", I've always just thought of myself as disorganized for not using an outline:)
    YAmom

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  2. I've gone both ways. My first YA was completely organic. My second, a historical fantasy, built on a loose outline. And that outline changed a lot as the story unfolded. So I guess you could say it grew semi-organically. I never feel married to the outline. It's just there to help me keep my rows straight. And sometimes, I have to pull down the string and reset the rows! But it can help remind me of the subplots I started three chapters back, etc.

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  3. Latteya -- LOL! Your welcomed to use "organic" to describe yourself. I personally prefer it to "disorganized." :D

    Ghost Girl -- Sounds like you use a blended approach. What time period is your second novel set in?

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  4. Definitely organic. A term I like a lot better than "hopelessly disorganized." I love love love having no idea where my story is going. Somehow (and somewhat crazily, I suppose) I always think my characters know; I'm just waiting for them to tell me.

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  5. I'd probably say I'm a mix of both. I like some measure of planning or else I invariably get stuck and have a dang hard time figuring out how to fix the corner I've written myself into. :P

    However, I don't like super-detailed outlines to start because I NEVER follow them and I like the leeway to let the characters take the lead (shhh, just don't tell them--they're rebellious enough already).

    Shorts are the exception--I can start writing them on occasion and finish without a lick of planning; but they are rare and only a few have worked out. :P

    I like to have a semi-road map for myself because it just makes revising a lot easier for me. ;)

    ~Merc

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  6. Oh. You write like me. A block busting first sentence. Something very "Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again." kind of sentence and an ending scene worthy of a blockbuster movie starring Meg Ryan.
    Then out comes the notebook.

    I use a board and a notebook. A bed. A steering wheel and a long drive. And a shower. I am irreverent at plots. My characters for the WIP are my best friends and come with me wherever I go.

    I don't know if you get to see this but if you do. I'm only just aware you are back and I've missed you. I see the killer mutt has been superceded by a pussycat... I hope he is doing well in retirement.

    Pennyoz

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  7. Hmmmm. Organic? My style is more like controlled panic or learning how to drive a paragraph with a stick shift. Only after chugging through at least 15 chapters do I outline . . . and then freak out. But I have fun doing it. Grandkee

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