[stylist] Novel Outlines/research

Wed Jul 14 04:07:02 UTC 2010

these days Lori,
it is so cool to read the local paper of some locale online!   you 
can often get all kinds of such info.
jc

At 10:40 PM 7/13/2010, you wrote:
>Agreed.  I've had my own adventures with lack of research, mainly 
>about the character of places.  If not for my travel (Join NFB, see 
>the country!), I'd still be thinking Beverly Hills was flat, that 
>Boston was mapped like a grid, that the hills in Ithaca were 
>actually climbable... Well, you get the idea.  I have had to junk a 
>couple of stories because the geography wasn't like Long Island, 
>which is flat, flat, flat, and reasonably navigable, with the 
>exception of Levittown.
>Lori
>On Jul 13, 2010, at 9:58:16 PM, "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net> wrote:
>
>From:   "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
>Subject:    Re: [stylist] Novel Outlines/research
>Date:   July 13, 2010 9:58:16 PM EDT
>To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>Hi Lori,
>Thanks for sharing this. I think it is so important to be well informed,
>accurate and consistent in writing. Calling it fiction doesn't excuse
>anything. The more realistic your work is -- even the fantasies -- the
>more believable. There might have been some battles with native
>Americans in 1820, but your budding author friend should have
>thought/researched her subject a bit more thoroughly. It is amazing how
>little things like that can ruin a perfectly good story.
>
>Donna
>
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>
>loristay wrote:
> > 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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