R.C. Dilan asked R.C. Dilan:

Do you work with an outline, or just write?

R.C. Dilan I think it's important for new writers to work with some sort of an outline. Before I wrote my first book, I had this image in my head of great writers and how they sat down at a computer or typewriter and wrote an entire story off the top of their head, while drinking scotch and smoking cigars.

After trying to write a book without an outline a couple of times, failing to get past the first couple of pages, and now after finishing my first novel, I realized it is really hard to write an entire book that way. Looking at an empty page with only vague ideas of what you want to say, and knowing that you have to try to fill a couple hundred sheets of them with words is intimidating and can seem impossible. When I broke things down into smaller parts and chapters, and then wrote a vague outline of what I wanted to say and do with each chapter, it made the whole project feel more manageable.

Also, writing an outline doesn't mean you are beholden to it—unable to change ideas as you go. It just gives you a general idea of where your runaway train of ideas is going to end up.

flag