Withoutline

By Alison

So, I'm chugging towards the finish line on my WIP. Everything is going according to plan, with the big confrontation scene between a possible killer and someone near and dear to her/him (Sorry for the vagueness, but I don't want to give crap away.) Near-and-Dear is bludgeoning Possible Killer with questions -- it's clear NaD is onto PK's deepest darkest secret life. What was supposed to happen -- or at least what I thought would happen -- was a big argument, culminating in PK admitting the truth... well, some of the truth. But what did happen was PK locked him/herself in the bathroom and overdosed on Valium.

I wasn't expecting that.

This WIP -- now officially titled HEARTLESS for those of you who remember my titling trauma -- has been a totally different experience for me that TRASHED or YOU KILL ME because everything pretty much after chapter two has been written without the aid of an outline. I know who the killer is, his/her motivations, backstory etc. I know who is going to get killed and why and how, and I have the last scene in my head, but, while TRASHED had an outline of 36 single-spaced pages I abandonned HEARTLESS' outline after the second chapter because it just wasn't working. As a result, my characters will just up and do things like attempt suicide, and I'm left there at my keyboard going... okay. Now what? Sometimes, I've wound up taking these actions back, rewriting 30 or 40 pages in order to accomodate the change, but other times, the plot has wound up going in a direction I actually like. The jury's still out on the Diezepam OD, but for now... for all my bitching and moaning about how much I suck (and yeah, I still think I do) I'm really enjoying this risky, safety-net free writing experience. With my characters a little freer to act on their own, without a plot being imposed on them, I feel like I'm writing something a little more character-driven this time around...  which could either be a good or a bad thing. I'll let you know.

But I do have to say, it's a fun (if sometimes terrifying) experiment -- and anyway, it's only the first draft.

Have you ever written something on deadline without an outline? If so, how did it turn out?

Comments

[Clea Simon]

I have and I don't know yet - I've set it aside to re-read between Christmas and New Year's. Hoping it's in English and makes sense, but suspect I'll have to do some cutting. Curious to hear how you like your freer WIP!

[Karen Olson]

I wrote three of my books without an outline, and while I didn't have an official deadline, I had a self-imposed one. I had a proposal only for Shot Girl, which is number four, and I will honestly say that most of the book looks nothing like the proposal envisioned it. I do much better without an outline, letting the story move along at its own pace and in its own way.

[Jeff Shelby]

I have outline phobia, so I've never used one. I would actually like to be hypnotized and then have someone say "Shazam!" and then be able to outline without thinking about it.

[J. Carson Black]

I'm such a middle-of-the-roader, I have a sort-of outline and yet a large part of the book isn't outlined at all. But like Karen, at a certain point, I'd have to produce something for the publisher. I like Elizabeth George's way of outlining the next four to eight scenes, and having a general idea of what happens (who the killer is, what the climax might be).

I find that the extent of outlining or not outlining varies from book to book. I don't begin to understand it.

[Stacey Cochran]

Great question, Alison. It's really neat to read everybody's responses to this, Jeff, Karen, Clean, and J. Carson.

I don't actually outline anything on paper, but I usually know the major plot points I'd like to reach before I get very far into a novel.

As long as I have those 2 or 3 major scenes in mind, I can fill the space between them.

[Charlene Teglia]

I pretty much always write without an outline. I'll have a basic map for the story, but it's very character driven and for me, half the fun is the surprise of seeing the twists and turns unfold. I do "write towards" big key scenes, so it's not like there's no plan at all, but I am not even capable of writing a detailed outline for a book that doesn't exist yet.

[toni mcgee causey]

No outline for book 2, a really crappy first draft, and no idea if it's turned out okay after all of the epiphanies and polishing.