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
Tiffany Faulkner
asked
David Dalglish:
I finally got my husband hooked on your books as well. He's listened to all of the audible audio books and has re-read the Shadowdance series twice now. Currently, he is developing a concept of a Jedi warrior as a cosplay idea. His idea is to make Haern into a Jedi. Our current discussion is how many cloaks to create for the look and how short the lightsabers should be to emulate your character. Any tips? :)
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