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Tried outlining a novel vs pantsing it and the winner surprised me
I spent 2 weeks mapping out a 50-page outline for a mystery novel last summer. Color coded characters, plotted every chapter, the whole deal. Then I got bored halfway through chapter 3 because I already knew everything that would happen. So I scrapped it and tried writing without any plan at all. That first draft was a mess - plot holes everywhere, a character who vanished for 15 pages. But I actually finished it in 6 weeks because I was curious how it would end. Now I do a loose one-page outline at most and it keeps the fun alive while stopping me from writing into corners. Has anyone else found a middle ground between planning too much and flying blind?
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ben4023d ago
Color coded characters and plotted every chapter" sounds like you were treating a novel like a project management spreadsheet... is writing really that complicated that it needs a whole color system? I mean, it's a book, not a mission to Mars. Minimal planning works fine for most people without turning it into some big psychological discovery.
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