While editing my rough draft (and researching how best to approach the editing for my rough draft), I’ve been overtaken by the urge to plot! I am a plotter, I always have been, but it is quite time consuming. I’ve outlined 25 chapters so far, and pushed another 15 off to the side while I figure out the ordering.
Over the years, when people talk about plotters / planners, I’ve heard a lot of negative opinions. Outlining isn’t writing. Planners obsess over details and never finish. Those kinds of comments weigh on my mind while I’m adjusting my plot structure, and the pressure dulls my concentration. I end up feeling too guilty to continue most of the time.
Recently, I heard another take on plotters. Planning is the architect laying the foundation. You can’t build a house without framing. I find I enjoy referring to myself as The Architect.
What I love about thoroughly outlining a story, is being able to pick any point in the narrative and write. I don’t have to write linearly, from start to finish, with everything in a fixed order. If I get stuck, I can jump to another section and continue on. This is why plotting works for well for me.
I wish I wasn’t haunted by negative thoughts and opinions of others. It’s a repetitious cycle of write, negatively reflect, break from writing that I’m still struggling to overcome.
Oddly enough, this week I asked my tarot cards if I should continue writing, and they told me that the answer was irrelevant. I know I’m going to keep writing. I always do.
Perhaps it was a little premature for me to start a writing blog before I’ve published anything, but I really hope that I can look back at this whole process one day and see how far I’ve come.
For now, I’m working on my outline.