November is coming and for writers that means National Novel Writing Month.
National Novel Writing Month is when crazy author people sit down at their technology and attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days.
There are two types of writers… those who outline and work from the outline and those who don’t prepare at all, preferring to work by instinct. Those who don’t prep for their writing and just work by instinct are called Pantsters… as in “writing by the seat of their pants.”
Because creativity doesn't always confine itself to parameters, writers announced that October would be called ‘Preptober' - as a prelude to National Novel Writing Month.
October was to be devoted to preparing to write.
As people attempt to heal from trauma many professionals claim that writing things down helps. However, trauma can scramble brains so that writing and processing the events seems impossible.
This is not true, but it is important that you listen to your healing process. There are levels of protection that the brain and body have installed which need to be respected.
When putting events to paper - where fiction or non-fiction, there are going to be scenes and situations that are easier to write than others. But these scenes and situtions won’t make sense outside of context… and that's where preparing an outline comes in.
An outline is just a series of events that you want to happen, in their hopeful order. You can have as much detail, or as few details as possible.
Its usually written in three sections, at its minium. Those three sections are:
Beginning
Middle
End
They can also be rephrased as:
Problem
How to Solve the Problem
The Problem is Solved
Some writers find outlining helpful, others find it as a creativity killer. I use a combination. If I’m writing along and I know what happens next, but don’t have the energy to finish the scene or story, I write myself a note in the document of what happens next.
This has been extremely helpful because sometimes I haven’t gotten back to the story for years. (I’m trying to change that habit!) My notes always guide me back to the place where I can pick up writing again.
Here’s an example without spoilers from an uncoming novel:
Basically, she pulls an Avengers Hawkeye and rescues as many as she can, while doing as much damage as she can with homemade explosives, flaming arrows, sabotage and chaos. It works and she succeeds… healing/gaining some resolution from the past.
It tells me what my character is going to do next, how she’s going to accomplish that task, and the outcome - both for her as an individual and also for the plot
To compare that to the outlines mentioned above:
Beginning/Problem: It’s implied that some people need rescued.
Middle/How to Solve the Problem: Pulls an Avengers Hawkeye with varying types of homemade weapons
End/The Problem is Solved: It works. She gains resolution. People are rescued.
And then I move onto the next piece in the plot.
PS: From October 4-8, 2022 - I have a freebie archaeology spy story on Amazon, The Guatemalan Debriefing. Download and leave a review. Your reviews help push the story higher in the Amazon ranking system. Thanks!
Your stories are amazing!
Chronic Writer