Well, lookie here. We're already almost halfway through September. When did that happen?
With September flying by, November is quickly approaching...and you know what that means.
...
Seriously? You don't? Oh, fine then. Be difficult.
It means that, in less than two months, National Novel Writing Month will be upon us; which means plots filled with holes, characters filled with inconsistencies, and late nights filled with caffeine-induced slurs of words. Hooray! (Note to self: buy coffee. And sugar.)
It also means the ever-present debate on whether or not to outline everything before the month starts.
I'm pretty much on the fence about outlining. I feel like my story and my characters are going all over the place without one; at the same time, I'm too lazy and impatient to take the time to create a proper one.
Sometimes, I feel an outline is necessary. Like with The Decagon Project, a current WIP of mine which involves a love decagon. (That's a 10-person love triangle, for those not up-to-date on your terminology.) There are so many characters and events to keep track of that I feel like I need to at least record them, in summary or list form, for reference. (Which I still haven't technically done, but I digress.)
I also needed to create an outline for Reincarnation, a Legend of Zelda fan comic I produce and post over on my deviantART page. (Yes, I am a nerd.) Over the past few years I've learned that making a comic is an incredibly long and painstaking process--props to you professionals out there. I don't have the time or opportunity to go back and make changes to the story--especially when I'm posting it online as I go. I need character references and plot outlines and the like to make sure everything stays consistent, and that I'm not deviating from the story too much.
In some cases, outlines do diddly squat for me--like with an old novel project I abandoned back in high school (which I am now starting to consider reviving). I made outline after outline for that thing, and it didn't help the story whatsoever.
What I'm getting at here is that outlining, while it is always hard work, is sort of hit and miss for me. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't.
Sometimes I wish there was an easy, step-by-step process to writing. A guide, if you will.
But that would take the fun out of it.
Until later,
- Justyne
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