Peter Gunder
asked
David Dalglish:
Do you create an outline when you start a new book? And if so how in depth are they? I've read about authors who have outlines that involve specific dialogue and descriptions for each paragraph.
David Dalglish
I used to completely wing it, making drastic changes to storylines and introduce characters far earlier than planned, etc. The more I've written, and the more I've published, the less I do that now. What used to be single-page outlines have slowly become a chapter by chapter summary, usually fairly simple, and never longer than a paragraph, detailing what I expect to happen in that chapter.
Speaking solely for myself, this feels to help a bit more in keeping me on track. I'll still deviate, and sometimes what I expected to be a chapter ends up less than 1k, and I'll merge it with another chapter. But when I do make significant changes based on gut instinct of how the story is flowing, it's easier now to go through the pre-planned chapters and tweak around things, put in reminders to address certain changes, flip some around to keep the chronological stuff right, etc.
As for specific dialog/descriptions: I'll write a line of dialog down if it's in my head, and sounds awesome. Those lines, however, have about a 50% chance of actually making it into the book. What sounds awesome out of context doesn't always fit when I get the characters in the chapter talking...
Speaking solely for myself, this feels to help a bit more in keeping me on track. I'll still deviate, and sometimes what I expected to be a chapter ends up less than 1k, and I'll merge it with another chapter. But when I do make significant changes based on gut instinct of how the story is flowing, it's easier now to go through the pre-planned chapters and tweak around things, put in reminders to address certain changes, flip some around to keep the chronological stuff right, etc.
As for specific dialog/descriptions: I'll write a line of dialog down if it's in my head, and sounds awesome. Those lines, however, have about a 50% chance of actually making it into the book. What sounds awesome out of context doesn't always fit when I get the characters in the chapter talking...
More Answered Questions
Brandon Daniels
asked
David Dalglish:
Hey Mr. Dalglish, i just read the paladins series through the text adventure available on Google play stores, and i am absolutely in love with your writing. I am just curious as to which novels are about Dezrel, as well as which order would be best to read them in? Thanks in advance, a new fan.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more
