Every novelist will tell you that writing the actual novel is the fun part. Unfortunately, that’s the “game time” at the end of preparation. In my case, preparation means outlining.
Outlining is okay at times, but it can be tedious. The reason is that I want to write. I want to actually tell the story. However, I also know me and realize that if I
write without outlining, as I’ve tried in the past, the result will be shit. So I have to outline to a certain point
before I attempt to write.
I also can’t outline the entire story, which can be just as
maddening. I’d like to get outlining out
of the way so I can focus on writing, but if I outline too far, the story will
eventually not match the outline. So it
becomes a process of stops and starts. The
temptation, of course, is to shortchange the outline, but that’s also folly
because that provides the foundation of what I write.
All of this reminds me of football players who say that
they love playing on Sunday, but the rest of the week is where the work comes
in. Outlining is that rest of the
week. It’s necessary, but I just wish it
would go faster so I could write…which is what I got into this to do.
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