Love this. Quick question: Would you say it's possible to apply the outline technique to a novel I've half(?) finished? Is it too far gone at that point? Can it be salvaged? Okay that turned out to be three questions.
Take what you're happy with and then start plotting out the rest of the book. If this is the novel I read of yours last year, I think you have a very solid start. So I'd take where you're at and start planning where you want it to go and how to get there. Since you have multiple threads, I think making an outline might be especially helpful.
Yes, that's the one! Thank you. It's been simmering in my brain now for months, so I don't want to let it die. I can't believe it's already been half a year...!
I'm working on this with my students and I tell them to go back to a foolscap first. If you can one-page your novel, and the material you have survives it, there's no reason not to outline the rest.
I've been using, or trying to use, outlining to tackle the opposite problem of having unrestrained writing. I turned to similarly half(?) finished pieces, contemplated their outlining, and shrieked away. It felt somewhat perilous, like fitting an already albeit half baked cake into a mold, feeling certain that it would squash what's already there.
Frankly, that I haven't done it, rather opting to “do it with my next new piece,” was due to laziness. But I think the effort has merit. It's work that would have to be done anyway, at least in the end, when you go over the manuscript and edit. Instead, you do it now, outline what you have the way Cliff Notes might do to your published work. It puts the progress of the writing into a hiatus, but I imagine would let you run with it quicker once you have taken stock of your structure.
That's a good way of putting it. Outlining definitely slows you down at first, but I like the phrase "slow is smooth and smooth is fast." I don't get as tripped up down the line, at least so far. I get to sit down and focus on the fun part, and everything that would have tripped me up was either pre-planned in outlining or can easily be fixed in the second draft.
Love this. Quick question: Would you say it's possible to apply the outline technique to a novel I've half(?) finished? Is it too far gone at that point? Can it be salvaged? Okay that turned out to be three questions.
Definitely worth trying!
Take what you're happy with and then start plotting out the rest of the book. If this is the novel I read of yours last year, I think you have a very solid start. So I'd take where you're at and start planning where you want it to go and how to get there. Since you have multiple threads, I think making an outline might be especially helpful.
Yes, that's the one! Thank you. It's been simmering in my brain now for months, so I don't want to let it die. I can't believe it's already been half a year...!
That happens! I have several novels I've started that have big chunks completed but they've been basically in stasis for years.
I'm working on this with my students and I tell them to go back to a foolscap first. If you can one-page your novel, and the material you have survives it, there's no reason not to outline the rest.
Great idea. Thank you. I'll try that.
I've been using, or trying to use, outlining to tackle the opposite problem of having unrestrained writing. I turned to similarly half(?) finished pieces, contemplated their outlining, and shrieked away. It felt somewhat perilous, like fitting an already albeit half baked cake into a mold, feeling certain that it would squash what's already there.
Frankly, that I haven't done it, rather opting to “do it with my next new piece,” was due to laziness. But I think the effort has merit. It's work that would have to be done anyway, at least in the end, when you go over the manuscript and edit. Instead, you do it now, outline what you have the way Cliff Notes might do to your published work. It puts the progress of the writing into a hiatus, but I imagine would let you run with it quicker once you have taken stock of your structure.
That's a good way of putting it. Outlining definitely slows you down at first, but I like the phrase "slow is smooth and smooth is fast." I don't get as tripped up down the line, at least so far. I get to sit down and focus on the fun part, and everything that would have tripped me up was either pre-planned in outlining or can easily be fixed in the second draft.
Hey dude, this sounds interesting! I dropped you a DM.