11
That morning at the bus stop in Austin changed how I outline stories
I was waiting for the 7:22 bus near South Congress, and this older guy started telling me about how he writes every single scene on index cards before typing a word. He showed me his stack of maybe 200 cards for a 300 page novel. I had always just jumped into writing with a rough idea in my head, and it always fell apart by chapter 4. That conversation made me switch to a full outline method, and now I spend 2 weeks planning before I write a single sentence. Has anyone else had a random chat that completely changed your process?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
joel_hall171mo ago
Did the index card guy mention how he handles scenes that don't work once he starts writing? I tried the full outline method after a similar conversation, but I got so locked into the plan that I couldn't adjust when a character started acting different on the page. That's the part I'm still figuring out, how to keep the structure but not kill the natural flow.
8
riley431mo ago
Take the index cards and group them by act or character arc, then treat each group as a flexible zone instead of a fixed sequence. When a character goes off track, just swap that card with a new one or move it to a different zone and see if the story still holds together.
5
young.kim1mo ago
Honestly, the index card method works best if you treat them like sticky notes not stone tablets. You just flip over the card that's not working and write a new version on the back instead of trashing the whole system.
6