Outlining Your Story

[Zkribbler]

I came the across an unfinished detective story of mine last night, and in reviewing it, a secondary reason for outlining became apparent.

The primary reason, of course, is that you wouldn't start building a skyscraper without a blueprint. Why would you start writing without knowing where you're going and why?

My detective is a Mexican-born California deputy attorney general, investigating the possible misused of trust funds. They are being spent on a purported time machine which supposedly sends people back in time to witness the birth of baby Jesus. If this is true, how is it possible? If it's a scam, why are there so many satisfied customers?

This is where my story petered out.

I had fallen into the "trap" in writing detective stories. It's easy to believe the story is all about the goal of solving the crime. This is only a part of it. K.M. Weiland explains in outlining your novel, the interplay of goal, desire, and motivation. The goal is solving the crime. This goal is born from the detective's desperate desire to solve the crime, and this desire is fueled by the detective's motivation. In sum, a good detective story is more of an investigation into the character of the detective than into the crime itself.

My detective has already left me one clue when he commented that Bethlehem was a lot like the little Mexican village in which he grew up. I'm not sure what this means, but it's a start.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Okay, now you need to find out how they're similar. Do they look alike? Are there similar people living there? Is the political situation similar, both within the village and between the village and the larger centres? Where do travelers in this Mexican village sleep if the hotels, motels, hostels, campgrounds, and B&Bs are full?

 

[Zkribbler]

Okay, now you need to find out how they're similar.

Well, that didn't work. It turns out that historically there were two Bethlehems, one in Galilee and one near Jerusalem. Scholars argue over which is the birthplace. There's no detailed description of either of town.

Instead I used the passage from the Gospel of Luke about the shepherds watching over the flocks by night, and juxtaposed it with a memory of my main character helping his uncle with the family flock.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

My detective has already left me one clue when he commented that Bethlehem was a lot like the little Mexican village in which he grew up. I'm not sure what this means, but it's a start.

The time machine actually goes to the future where the Mexican village has become a theme park for gullible time travelers from the past.

 

[Zkribbler]

My story has been dead in the water since 2008. However, now that I am focused on developing the main character instead of the plot, it's moving ahead swimmingly.

Now for the bad news.
I've known since Day 1 how, in theory, the time machine works, but I've never had a clue as to what it looks like or why.
After one more sequence of events, my character will launch a criminal investigation. I don't know nothing about how to conduct a criminal investigation. Luckily, I do know how to use the internet.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

My story has been dead in the water since 2008. However, now that I am focused on developing the main character instead of the plot, it's moving ahead swimmingly.

Now for the bad news.
I've known since Day 1 how, in theory, the time machine works, but I've never had a clue as to what it looks like or why.
After one more sequence of events, my character will launch a criminal investigation. I don't know nothing about how to conduct a criminal investigation. Luckily, I do know how to use the internet.

All I know about such things are from watching decades' worth of Law & Order episodes, plus a few other police/lawyer TV shows. Oh, and reading Lindsay Davis' 1st-century Roman murder mysteries about Marcus Didius Falco.

It's certainly not from real life, given the less-than-stellar results I've ever had from the local police...

I've got a couple of how-to books about writing science fiction on order from Amazon. They should be here by the end of the month.

 

[Zkribbler]

After a nine year hiatus I should be finishing up the story today. Developing the characters rather than focusing on the plot really got things moving.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Excellent!

 

[Zkribbler]

After a nine year hiatus I should be finishing up the story tomorrow. Developing the characters rather than focusing on the plot really got things moving.

Fixed. I had already worked much of the night when I originally wrote that. Today, I'm as flat as 12-year-old soda pop. So...tomorrow.

 

[Zkribbler]

Done, done & done!

Just sent it off to my editor.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Yay!

 

[Zkribbler]

My editor reports she's done. I've sent off the ransom money. So soon...

 

[Zkribbler]

My editor is so savvy! She spotted all the weaknesses I had doubts about and some others I have to agree with. I need to make a bunch of repairs.

 

[Zkribbler]

I was watching an interview with Terry Pratchett. He says, although he has a general idea where he's going when he's writing a story, he never outlines it.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I was watching an interview with Terry Pratchett. He says, although he has a general idea where he's going when he's writing a story, he never outlines it.

Some authors are like that. Isaac Asimov related a conversation with Robert Heinlein, when he asked Heinlein about his approach to editing. Heinlein answered, "Why don't you just write the story correctly in the first place?" (paraphrased).

So apparently Heinlein never needed to do anything but sit down and write a story. Mind you, that doesn't mean he had a perfect record. He had to change parts of Podkayne of Mars and Stranger in a Strange Land.

 

[Buster's Uncle]

Asimov himself said he'd sit down with an idea of the ending and write until he reached it.

I happen to have posted this trio of articles on outlining or not last night:
Writing the Rough Draft