outlining out of order
May. 1st, 2023 11:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marycatelliOne advantage of a plot structure -- Save the Cat, Hero's Journey, Lester Dent's, what have you -- is that it gives you a place to put story ideas in order when the story is incomplete.
A simple outline can work like that, too. Just a list of scenes or whatever level of detail suits you best.
Nothing prevents you from having the idea for the climax and working back. Or for the midpoint and working back and forth. And while there may be a jumble of ideas while you just take notes and try to figure it out, you do not actually have to pick a starting point, even with the knowledge you are not wed to it, to outline. Plop it in and work.
Be warned that it's an art between being aware you can still move things around and knowing that you have to fix things down to get the story into shape.
A simple outline can work like that, too. Just a list of scenes or whatever level of detail suits you best.
Nothing prevents you from having the idea for the climax and working back. Or for the midpoint and working back and forth. And while there may be a jumble of ideas while you just take notes and try to figure it out, you do not actually have to pick a starting point, even with the knowledge you are not wed to it, to outline. Plop it in and work.
Be warned that it's an art between being aware you can still move things around and knowing that you have to fix things down to get the story into shape.