Planning Update

Yes, I am outlining this year's opus. Which doesn't mean I'll win. Outlined last year and reached just 6,000 words before throwing in the towel. Don't think outlining had much to do with it, though. There were other issues...

So. Here we go again. Since I began my writing hobby with a completed 3-Day Novel some 25 years ago, I've always been a seat-of-the-pants (SOTP) writer. Won Nano the first time I tried. And all the Nanos I've won were SOTP. Every one I lost, I lost with an outline. Was it me, or the outline? I had to find out.

To answer that question, I began collecting books on outlining. Here's my short list:
The Marshal Plan
First Draft in 30 Days
The Snowflake Method
From First Draft to Finished Novel
Write Away
One Way to Write Your Novel
The Weekend Novelist
The Weekend Novelist Writes a Mystery
Save The Cat!
Save The Cat Goes to the Movies
20 Master Plots
Plot and Structure
Write a Movie in 30 Days
Syd Field...

You get the idea.

After all that reading and practice, I still feel ambivalent about outlining. Many say it is more efficient knowing where your story's going. Granted. But sometimes I just want to throw stuff against the wall and see what happens. However, I want to exploit outlining to the maximum before dropping what could be a useful tool. And this year I want to win, and have a decent story to show for it--or at least a decent start.

So I'm outlining. Big time. I'm using elements from the following methods: Snowflake, Save The Cat!, First Draft in 30 Days and Master Plots. Found a way to tweak yWriter5 to accomodate the different styles in the same project.

Here's how it's working out. I've done the basic Snowflake summaries, character bios, a couple dozen scenes blocked out like in 30 Days, and I'll finish with "the beats" in Save The Cat. Sounds like a lot of work, but I'm truly enjoying myself.

Let's hope the fun continues when it comes time to actually write the book.