[stylist] Novel Outlines/research

[loristay]

I don't use outlines per se.  Sometimes I'll write a short story, then expand on that.  If I know how it ends, well and good.  I don't always.  That sometimes means I have to toss out material that doesn't work.

What I do find some writers do is to write without researching, and then they get caught in a glaring error.  One recently gave me material to read in which she said her main character's father died in battle in 1820.  So I asked, who was fighting in the U.S. in 1820?  I knew about the war of 1812, and the Alamo, which I'm told is 1836, and the civil war, about 1858, but not 1820.  When I asked about it, she said, "oh, I just picked a date."
Now it's possible there was some fighting going on in 1820 in some obscure place.  But she hadn't done her research, and I picked up on it.  I'm not a historian, so if I picked up on it, so would just about anyone who read the piece.
Lori

On Jul 11, 2010, at 5:45:43 PM, "James H. \" <n6yr at sunflower.com> wrote:

From:   "James H. \" <n6yr at sunflower.com>
Subject:    Re: [stylist] Novel Outlines
Date:   July 11, 2010 5:45:43 PM EDT
To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Joe,
if you look back a few issues of slate and style, you can find my 
article "herding your ideas" where I deal with this.

outlines are not the end all and be all.
I think for nonfiction they're pretty much a requirement for a piece 
of over 500-words. but for fiction, authors have used all kinds of methods.

for organizing fiction writing for myself I don't use something like 
an outline, nowhere near that organized or precise.
I take ideas and elements and string them together into what I call a 
"sketch" just written like a paragraph only I use telegraphic 
language since I'm the only one who's reading it.
then I can go back and stick in other elements or cross connections 
once I have the plot line put together.

as I write from one of these, I sometimes find I have to reorganize 
during the composition, usually putting things together in a different order.

some authors journal while they write. the journals allow them to 
quickly put down ideas related to other story elements where they're 
not composing at the time, or to other pieces 
altogether. journalizing allows those ideas to be dealt with quickly 
to avoid distraction during composition.

hope this helps Joe.
jc

At 02:55 PM 7/11/2010, you 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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