October Novel Prep Challenge

Well, I still don't like outlining. But I recognize a need for it.

When I write, I usually write linearly. There's a movie playing in my head, and I write it down - though I have to pause, rewind and fast-forward a lot.

But people who make an actual movie have an outline to work from: A script, and storyboards. And in both cases, things can get shuffled around in pre-production, and sometimes even post. And you may or may not know this, but movies are rarely shot in the scene order you see. Nor do you have to write the novel in the order it's in when it's finished.

I think one of my mental blocks is that once I have something on the outline, it's set in stone. But it's not. I can move it around, delete it, expand on it. And that ties into the chronological timeline. It happens that what I have in mind lends itself most easily to a linear narrative with flashbacks. But if I outline Scenes A, B and C, and later decide that C should come before A, it can simply move - unless there's a causality in Scene A that affects Scene C.

This is why outlining is important: if I decide to go C, then A, then B, I can decide this at the outline step, and not worry about having written something in Scene A that causes Scene C, and have Scene C happen first chronologically.

So, while I'd rather not mess with outlines, it's a good thing the Prep urges me to do so.