[stylist] Novel Outlines

Sun Jul 11 22:24:56 UTC 2010

I pretty much do as Jewel does.  Even though I write  mostly poetry I do 
sometimes keep a note folder, especially for a longer piece  or a piece that's 
more of a narrative.  And yes hard copy, hard copy, hard  copy.. I had a 
friend drill that into my head a long time ago and it's one thing  that has 
stuck.  I mostly write notes on characters giving them different  qualities 
and then I do the same with differing scenarios.  I look upon as  a puzzle to 
put together.  Now this might be why I do not write many short  stories and 
have not as yet attempted a novel but this works for me.  

In a message dated 7/11/2010 5:11:33 P.M. Central Daylight Time,  
herekittykat2 at gmail.com writes:

The  books I'm working on have no outline. However, I type them all up
on my  computer. Each book has a older, and within the folder, I have
folders for  each character and each setting. For example, one book is
about a girl  named Erica who has dreams about a well and who "falls"
into a dark place  whenever she has a bad moment...so, I have a folder
called "erica" which  contains a description of her physically and
emotionally, a background file  that talks about her history before the
book (which starts when she's 16 or  17) and a file that talks about
her connections to other characters. I have  a folder for her mother,
who is a big character, and for her sister,  another major character.
These folders contain the same basic information  about the character.
Then I have a folder about the dream...what is the  dream, where does
it come from, how does it affect Erica, etc. Another  folder is a
description of Erica's home, one for her town, and one with  events of
the times (what's happening in the rest of the world) that I can  refer
to for scenes. Since Erica is interested in psychology, I also have  a
folder with psychology research, and one about soccer since  Erica
plays soccer.

So, no outline, but as you can see, I get pretty  organized. Everything
is in folders. Story bits are placed within the main  folder with an
appropriate name (ex. Dream- May 8, 1998)...sorta like a  journal.
Eventually I will combine like dates and create chapters out of  them.
Still in the beginning process, though, and the characters  aren't
quite telling me what to do yet.

~Jewel

On 7/11/10,  James H. "Jim" Canaday M.A. N6YR <n6yr at sunflower.com> wrote:
>  p.s.
> I should have mentioned in my comments: use braille absolutely if  you
> know it!   use braille for the outlines, sketches,  journal,
> etc.  hard copy is very good for the human  brain/mind.
> jc
>
> At 04:21 PM 7/11/2010, you  wrote:
>>Hi Joe,
>>Glad to hear you're having some forward  progress. Mine is almost
>>done, and yesterday I had a major  break-through and wrote the last
>>chapter. I knew what was supposed  to happen, but not how I wanted to
>>tell it and/or not tell it.  Inspiration is a wonderful thing when it
>>finally  hits!
>>
>>As for outlines ... I didn't use an outline like  you would use for a
>>term paper, but I did plan ahead and used a  calendar, which I guess
>>was a sort of outline. I did a lot of  off-paper thinking about the
>>events that happened prior to the  beginning of the book, the
>>character' lives prior to the book, etc.  and I kept notes -- on tape
>>in those days -- about my thoughts,  including my conflicts about
>>going in different directions and how  that would impact other parts
>>of the story. Everybody has a past,  and I wrote up back stories on
>>the major and some of the minor  characters. That was very helpful in
>>giving me an idea of how they  would respond to a given situation.
>>Initially, I wrote out a broad  overview of what happened in the
>>book. I did have a list of  chapters, which was helpful, but it has
>>changed a  bit.
>>HTH,
>>Donna
>>
>>Read Donna's  articles on
>>Suite  101:
>>www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/donna_hill
>>American  Chronicle:
>>www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3885
>>
>>Connect  with Donna  on
>>Twitter:
>>www.twitter.com/dewhill
>>LinkedIn:
>>www.linkedin.com/in/dwh99
>>FaceBook:
>>www.facebook.com/donna.w.hill.
>>
>>Hear  clips from "The Last Straw"  at:
>>cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill
>>Apple  I-Tunes
>>phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244374
>>
>>Check  out the "Sound in Sight" CD project Donna is Head of  Media
>>Relations for the nonprofit Performing Arts Division of the  National
>>Federation of the  Blind:
>>www.padnfb.org
>>
>>
>>
>>Joe  Orozco wrote:
>>>         Hello  all,
>>>
>>>Okay, so my so-called novel is coming  along at a decent hum.  Who knows 
if
>>>it will ever amount  to anything, but damn it, at least it's coming 
along!
>>>So, my  question:  How many of you guys use outlines to write, and if  
you
>>> do,
>>>what kind of format do you use?   I'm considering a few different 
outcomes,
>>>and although I always  hesitated to use outlines for anything other than
>>>academic  pieces, I think I'd better become more organized.  Any  
thoughts,
>>>tips, suggestions would be most appreciated.   Thanks.
>>>
>>>Joe
>>>
>>>"Hard  work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their  
sleeves,
>>>some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at  all."--Sam  Ewing
>>>
>>>
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