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)
There is a straight line through the book. Front to back. Reading is a very lineal process. And we are all readers. So when we come to writing, we have the experience as readers. After all, we’ve read thousands and thousands of books, haven’t we? We believe that from front to back must also be the experience of the writing process. We believe,
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Just write one more sentence. You can do it. Then write one more sentence. Repeat. You know the drill. It really does work.
Dean Wesley Smith • Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline (WMG Writer's Guides)
The truth is that the creative process is far, far, far from lineal. In fact, when looked at in a hard light, the creative process is a jumbled mess.
Dean Wesley Smith • Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline (WMG Writer's Guides)
that follows logically through the character from the previous sentence. And repeat until you find the end of the story.
Dean Wesley Smith • Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline (WMG Writer's Guides)
I want to give you a basic writer trick you can use when that happens. Sleep on it. But before you call it a night, start off by taking a short break. Sometimes just five minutes will get you back to the next sentence. And do not focus on how you need to end the chapter, or some plot thing. Just focus on trying to figure out what the character
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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)
Instead of looking back through the book to see what the character was wearing and where did I leave them in their last scene, I just glance at my notebook and go, “Oh, yeah.” In essence, that yellow piece of paper is an external memory drive for me. The more complex the book or the plot as it develops, the more detail I put into this outline as I
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two years after that realization, mad at myself for not finishing a novel and for making novels into something “important” instead of just fun, entertaining stories, I sat down at my trusty typewriter and thought only about writing ten pages a day. I had no outline, nothing. My focus was on finishing ten pages. Period. Thirty days later I had
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So in that series, I often write a bunch of side roads just for myself. And I accept that and enjoy it. Expect to write extra, for whatever reason, when writing into the dark.