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Rated: 13+ · Message Forum · Writing · #1474311
A month-long novel-planning challenge with prizes galore.
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Oct 7, 2024 at 9:50pm
#3686875
Edited: October 7, 2024 at 10:06pm
Re: Outline
I understand what you are asking.

This is the process of outlining. The reason why we are asked to work on our climax this early is because we want to know where the story is going.

For example, in this case, you'd have worked out how your story begins. You need to know how your story ends, usually what the climax is so you know how to work your way there and build the story towards that direction.

While a lot of people are not used to idea of working their story this way especially when they are so used to pantsing their novels, personally, my issue—as it is for many writers—is that we tend to write the story off to Timbaktu and have no idea how to end our story.

In my case, during my much more amateurish novel-writing years, I have consistently gotten stuck after writing 20k words because I no longer know where the story is going.

Outlining and working out your climax early in the story will help you navigate out of there. At the same time, it would help develop your sense of story.

I say that because we can build a perfectly good outline, but at the end of the day, during the writing process, I have experienced how my actual writing takes off in a different direction from what I have outlined.

That is okay. Just let your fingers lead the way, but always bearing in mind the story structure, labelling what part of the story you think it is so that you could have some sort of guide to what happens next to finally reach the end.

Sometimes, when we write without thinking, we find that we build more problems into the story, not resolutions that we have outlined enough for a trilogy instead of a novel. That is why I mentioned that we have to be mindful of which part of the story we are at when we write a certain scene or a vignette.

Hope that helps. *Heart*
MESSAGE THREAD
Outline · 10-07-24 4:55pm
by Espero Author IconMail Icon
Re: Outline · 10-07-24 5:31pm
by QueenNormaJean snow?forgetit.. Author IconMail Icon
Re: Re: Outline · 10-07-24 5:37pm
by Espero Author IconMail Icon
Re: Re: Re: Outline · 10-07-24 5:49pm
by QueenNormaJean snow?forgetit.. Author IconMail Icon
Re: Re: Re: Re: Outline · 10-07-24 5:51pm
by Dawn Embers Author IconMail Icon
Re: Re: Re: Re: Outline · 10-07-24 5:53pm
by Espero Author IconMail Icon
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Outline · 10-07-24 7:45pm
by QueenNormaJean snow?forgetit.. Author IconMail Icon
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Outline · 10-07-24 8:52pm
by Dawn Embers Author IconMail Icon
Re: Re: Re: Re: Outline · 10-08-24 4:25pm
by BrandiwynšŸŽ¶ Author IconMail Icon
Re: Re: Re: Outline · 10-07-24 10:27pm
by BrandiwynšŸŽ¶ Author IconMail Icon
Re: Re: Outline · 10-07-24 5:39pm
by Espero Author IconMail Icon
Re: Outline · 10-07-24 9:35pm
by Anders-Yuletide Uni Graduate Author IconMail Icon
Re: Re: Outline · 10-08-24 4:27pm
by BrandiwynšŸŽ¶ Author IconMail Icon
*Star* Re: Outline · 10-07-24 9:50pm
by Elfycia Lee ā˜® Author IconMail Icon
Re: Re: Outline · 10-07-24 9:54pm
by Elfycia Lee ā˜® Author IconMail Icon
Re: Re: Outline · 10-08-24 4:29pm
by BrandiwynšŸŽ¶ Author IconMail Icon

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