I realized as I was writing last night that I’m going to have to backtrack a little in my workflow. Normally I will sketch out an outline at the very beginning of a project and stick to it like glue until I get the story completed. I sketched out the outline for my current project over a year ago with lots of details and lots of plot notes, but coming back to it just doesn’t feel right. My characters want to go somewhere else, and so does the plot. So, I’m going to have to go back and re-outline the story. There just isn’t any other way.
I’ve tried to write without an outline before, and in theory it is very freeing and fun. But I can only complete short stories that way–I absolutely cannot write a novel without some kind of a roadmap that I can check off as I go along. I’ve been writing for only two days on this thing without a proper outline, and it’s already driving me crazy.
I also have to get the facts reorganized. I had to scroll up and make notes quite a few times on some of the plot points I started writing when I first began the story. It’s been long enough that I can’t keep track of who is who, who did what, and where they did it! Since I’m not doing the bulk of my writing on the Mac, I can’t use Scrivener to keep track of things like I used to. So, I can either go the software route and create a database of characters, plot points, and locations, or I can do it the old-fashioned way and freaking write it down!
I think I’ve decided to take a “write it down” approach initially just to get it all out of my head. I have a stack of index cards that I’ve punched with my Circa punch and plan to put on some extra Circa disks when I get home tonight. It’ll be easy enough to keep them together and get them organized while I work, and then when I have it completed, I think I may use a program like BasKet Note Pads or SuperNotecard to get it all organized on the eeePC.
So, fellow writers, how do you keep your work organized? I always love hearing about people’s workflows. Talk back in the comments.
Word Counts - Today: 542 | May: 4,173 | 2008: 4,173
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
The Host: A Novel
One Hundred Years of Solitude
The Buccaneers (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century)
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