Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline (WMG Writer's Guides)
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Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline (WMG Writer's Guides)
writing into the dark takes a belief system in story. It takes a trust that your creative voice knows what it is doing.
Dean Wesley Smith • Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline (WMG Writer's Guides)
No uncertainty in the plot at all, and as a reader, I could see the ending of the book ahead. So I got bored and put the book down. Most readers are like me. Not all, but most. When a reader realizes that they know how the book will end, they stop. It might not be a conscious thought. It might be just putting the book down to go get a cup of tea
... See moreDean Wesley Smith • Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline (WMG Writer's Guides)
Uncertainty, if looked at correctly and embraced, is a positive aspect
Dean Wesley Smith • Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline (WMG Writer's Guides)
Uncertainty, when not controlled and used to push forward, causes problems. Lots of problems.
Dean Wesley Smith • Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline (WMG Writer's Guides)
CHAPTER THREE THE JOY OF UNCERTAINTY
Dean Wesley Smith • Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline (WMG Writer's Guides)
The moment I see the ending of the book—which for me is usually about four or five chapters away—I stop doing this outline as I go. I no longer need it, and I never think to do it in the typing rush to reach the end of the novel. And I never save the outlines unless the book is part of a series. Then I toss the outline and character details I have
... See moreDean Wesley Smith • Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline (WMG Writer's Guides)
since I never reread what I write after I get to the end, how do I know to cut out something? Simple. It shouts at me from the structure of the outline that I wrote as I was writing.
Dean Wesley Smith • Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline (WMG Writer's Guides)
It is amazing how clear a structure becomes when just spread out in notes beside the computer, in a quick summary of what you have written.
Dean Wesley Smith • Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline (WMG Writer's Guides)
Again, we can’t hold a novel in our minds, so later in the book you are writing, when you start worrying about the novel structure, whether are things moving too fast or too slow—you know, standard worry questions—you can glance at the outline page and just see the structure.