At Blogchatter, we had a creative writing e-course and when we were planning the assignments to be given to the participants, we decided to personalize it by asking them a simple question – what do you need help with.
The top concern, to my surprise, was writing an outline.
One of the things I love about working with Blogchatter is: I am at once the authority and the student. So, when the question of writing an outline came up, I thought to myself – what is my opinion, as a writer, on this point.
The answer came immediately: I don’t understand it.
And hence was born today’s blog post, because bahut gyaan ho gaya, now it is time for something fun:
Writing outlines
While I get the merit behind it, the one time I did write an outline, when I was young and attempting a manuscript for the first time and following all the rules like a good girl, I checked back months later and realized I had completely deviated from it. There was nothing common and though the outline had some great ideas, what I finally wrote was better. And then I came to know people outline their chapters.
Knowing everything about your character
I remember seeing this video of JKR where she drew Newt’s family tree going back and forward three (or more?) generations. While I was suitably impressed, I have no clue who my character’s ancestors are. Forget ancestors, I don’t even know what they’re going to do in the next chapter! Apart from a basic understanding of who they are, I like to discover them as the story progresses.
Spending months on planning
While I do have a notebook filled with ideas for my manuscript, I think I spent barely a week planning how I’ll go about writing it. I am usually quite eager to start and often under plan. I do get annoyed with myself when I’m in the middle of the story and feeling a little lost, but I can’t help myself! I get bored of planning and end up retracing my steps to figure out how to go forward.
Now that I have told you my 3 things, its only fair you tell me your 3 things. Ready, steady, go!
The whole of September, I will be sharing posts on things I have learnt about writing. I am taking my blog to the next level with Blogchatter’s #MyFriendAlexa.
tales of Suchita 
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