Outlining revisited

[khiemtran]

One of the reasons I outline is because I'm worried about losing all the stuff in my head before I have time to write it down properly. I don't get much time to write each day, and sometimes I might go for days without a chance to do some real writing. And I also tend to over-revise a lot, so my net output is actually quite slow.

My thought today is: maybe this is one of those crisis/opportunity things. I wonder if next time I should try writing a draft with absolutely no outlining and to use that fear of losing stuff as a positive thing - to force me to get the draft down on paper/disk before it fades.

Comments

[dendrophilous.livejournal.com]

I find that it's impossible for me to forget it anyway, if there's a bit of plot I've been working out for awhile.

[sciamanna.livejournal.com]

Alternatively, as a sort of halfway house, you could try a somewhat "looser" way of making notes -- rather than properly outlining, just jotting down key items (events, snatches of dialogue, etc.) This seems to be what I'm doing at the moment, but admittedly I'm revising rather than writing from scratch. It keeps some of the urgency that may be lost in outlining, but at the same time it also "keeps" some good bits that might otherwise be lost.