Speed Up with an Outline

Janet here. Posting in March during SpeedBo scares me spit less. Speedy I’m not. I struggle to free myself from that internal editor claiming squatter rights on my shoulder. For more on shutting up that harpy, see last year’s post here.

In that post, I suggested the easiest way to turn off that internal editor is to feed her substance. For me the meat and potatoes of story are Goals, Motivations and Conflicts and Scene & Sequel. The point of SpeedBo is to get the entire story onto paper as fast as we can without that inner editor stifling our creativity. Still, writing fast won’t get us anywhere if our scenes don’t matter, don’t forward the plot, don’t raise the stakes.  

But more than a huge tendency to revise slows me down. I seem to get lost in the story. So this year in preparation for SpeedBo, I decided to try something different. Using GMC and Scene & Sequel, I wrote a scene by scene outline. This is much more detailed than a synopsis. In this outline I planned as many scenes as I could. I didn’t rack up the number of chapters I’ll need for a 70-75,000 word book. But I had enough solid planning to set my fingers flying on the keyboard. I’m sure I won’t follow the outline exactly, but this technique is helping me write faster and better. To write that outline I used, you guessed it, GMC and S&S.

Here’s the briefest peek at Goal, Motivation and Conflict with apologies to Deb Dixon for skimming the surface.

In a romance both the hero and heroine need a book-length EXTERNAL goal. Something tangible. Something they want so badly that their motivation will keep them working toward their goal for the entire book, even in the face of strong opposition/conflict/trouble.

Both the hero and heroine need a book-length INTERNAL goal. Something intangible. Internal conflict stems from back story. What these people have experienced determines who they are.

We writers decide what those goals are before we write. And make sure the goals put the hero and heroine in conflict. Conflict is story. Embrace conflict. Conflict is our friend.

Here’s the briefest look at Scene and Sequel with apologies to Jim Bickham. Scene and Sequel ensures that we won’t write a bunch of words that are tea scenes and don’t forward the plot and must be deleted later. If the character isn’t pushing toward her book-length goal, her scenes can feel episodic.

1.       In each scene give the point of view character a well-motivated goal.

Decide what the POV character wants in that scene and why. I'm talking about our story people’s goals, not the writer’s. Make sure what s/he wants feeds into the book-length goal. S/he should be working, taking action, toward obtaining this goal all the time.    

2.       In each scene give the point of view character conflict. Either conflict from another character or internal conflict with themselves or conflict from outside story events.
In other words, give the character trouble. Trouble raises the stakes and keeps readers turning pages. At the end of the scene, make things worse. Trouble makes your characters grow and change. Story people aren’t going to change by the end of the book just because you want them to or because they should. Something has to force them to change.

3.       In each scene, at the end, give the point of view character a new decision for action.
By scene's end, whether the point of view character gets his goal or not, things should have gotten worse. When things get worse the character fails. Your character is forced to make a decision for a new action, a new way to obtain the goal. That leads to the next scene you’ll write. Isn’t that nifty? Action is key. The decision and the action s/he decides to take can be shown in the next scene or even a couple of scenes later.

In the outline of each scene, I listed the POV character’s goal, the outcome and new decision. In other words, I write a fleshy, overweight outline. Contradictory I know, but I want a map for the entire scene. This is an example of what I did for one scene in my wip: I gave my heroine’s scene goal: Wheedle information from her opponent in hopes of reaching her story-length goal. The outcome: The information she gets not only dashes her hopes, but what she learns connects the heroine to her opponent, which adds conflict and makes things worse. Her new decision: To build on that connection in hopes her opponent will help obtain her goal.  

I’m guessing talking about outlining a story is making some of you nauseous. Outlining a book to Pansters must be like water boarding or wearing a too-tight girdle. Anyone remember those? LOL Okay, if you’re a Panster, move on to the buffet. We’ll be there soon.

For the rest of us—I hope someone is still with me!—let’s chew on the benefits of outlining.

·       The more we plan, the faster we’ll be able to write. Yes, the outline took time but without the distraction of other craft issues, I got the story down on paper in a matter of days. 

·       An outline doesn’t have to stifle creativity. We can do whatever we want if the urge strikes. An outline helps us see if we’re raising the stakes and reminds us what must happen in each scene. 

·       Like a map, an outline keeps us from meandering off on a path that leads to a dead end. 

·       An outline can help us see if we’re building tension and conflict. An outline makes us look at the bones of our book without our pretty words and sigh-worthy romance distracting us from the plot.  

·       An outline helps us decide how much back story to reveal when. It helps us see if there’s enough twists and turns and what secrets our characters keep. With the basic plan laid out, I found ideas came more quickly.

I had the first three chapters written before I outlined. Always the easiest part of writing the story for me. When I started writing Chapter Four, I copied and pasted the first scene outline into my manuscript and that became my guide to write the scene. Of course all my plans in that outline may not work. Or as I go along, I may think of something better. I’m in charge, so I can do whatever I please, within the limits of my genre and my editor’s preferences. Will I outline every time? That depends on how this goes for the entire book, but so far so good!

How to you prepare for SpeedBo? Do you outline your story before you write? If not, are you tempted? Or just tempted to take a ripe tomato off the buffet and throw it at me? LOL If you don’t plan, how do you keep your head wrapped around your story? Thanks ahead of time for sharing. I love hearing how differently we all write. Viva la difference!  

I’ve brought scones, bagels and hard-boiled eggs, juice and coffee for breakfast. Come back at noon for an array of fruit and salads, the leafy variety but also tuna, chicken, ham and egg salads. Girl Scout cookies for dessert.

Couldn’t resist reminding you that The Bride Wore Spurs releases April 1. You can preorder here.

 

Check Out the Speedbo Prizes and Rules Here