I’ve been writing short stories for many years. Now, I’m writing novels, hopefully to publish one soon. Whether writing short or long fiction, I learned not to write an outline.
When I’m ready to write, I had already been thinking about the story for so long that I don’t need to write an outline. I think not writing an outline is what most fiction writers do.
Some writers just start writing something and some say they start with an idea only. But, I think most are like me and have thought about the story enough that they have the story outlined in their thoughts. Except, soon after I start on a story, about when I discover the main character and plot, I write the ending.
This becomes my outline. A start and a finish with only the middle to be written. Fairly simple process, like coming to a fork in the road and knowing which one to take. Yet, by the time I’ve completed the middle, a lot of times my ending and beginning have changed and taken the other fork in the road. Sometimes, even my ending is better as the beginning and vice versa.
My characters are at fault. While they have not entirely changed things, they tweaked enough to make the story start and end as they wanted it. I let them since it is their story, anyway.
I’ve tried writing a story without first writing the ending and I’ve ended up with a story without an ending. Maybe an outline would solve this issue. The problem is I wouldn’t follow an outline if I wrote it.
At some early point in writing the outline, I would be writing the story.
Outlines can be good for a lot of things, such as writing business plans or a technical manual. Even some fiction writers do well with an outline. Writers should not get lost in outlines. Do the minimum and go write.
What really matters is the story.
Quote: A fork in the road. Classic cliché. Most people write about how they don’t want to go left (or right). It is better to write how it is good to go in the other direction. Granted, the choice may lead the traveler off a cliff, but it was good up to that point.