It’s been a while since I’ve posted. Normally I try to write a new blog at least once a week, but things have been hectic around here (as they have been around the whole world). Don’t believe me? Here’s a photograph of my hand coming through our living room ceiling:

But instead of getting into all that I want to continue my series on creative writing outlines. Specifically I want to talk about the most important thing you have to remember when writing an outline.

I’ve heard a lot of writers say that outlines are like road maps in that they are guides that get you to the end of the story. I have to respectfully disagree. Personally, I think they are more like auditions for a play. But instead of auditioning actors, you’re auditioning characters, plot points and scenes, deciding what works and what needs to be used elsewhere (Never forget, just because an idea doesn’t work in one story, doesn’t mean it can’t work in another).

And here we get to the most important point about outlining:

Just because it’s in your outline doesn’t mean you need to include it in your story.

Memorize that. Stick it on a sticky note. Tattoo it on your arm.

I know you’re thinking, “No kidding, Mike. Everyone knows that.” However, not thinking critically of your outline, blindly following it and including scenes and characters just because you planned them out is one of the biggest pitfalls of outlining (The #1 pitfall, of course, is that you spend all your time outlining instead of actually writing). This is a mistake I’ve made and plenty of other writers I’ve talked to have made as well.

For me, an outline is most effective when I use it as a tool to get all the bad ideas out of my head. For example, I could outline a chapter where a drug deal is going down in a seedy motel. While the scene is forming I might realized I’ve already seen/read this chapter a thousand times. Therefore I could brainstorm how I could make it fresh. One strategy would be to alter the setting. For example I could move the characters from a seedy motel to a nursing home where their grandmother’s live. This could change things up and inject some humor into the scene. I could have come to this conclusion by just writing out the scene, but then I would’ve taken the time to write an entire chapter rather than just a few moments to create an outline (try very hard not to spend more than a handful of minutes when outlining).

The purpose of outlines isn’t to be a map or even a guide it’s to get the creative muscles flowing. It’s to look at what ideas you have, and decide what works for now, what needs tweaking and what should be saved for other projects. Every once in a while I realize that nothing I have outlined is usable. I end up throwing the whole thing out but just by writing down the bad idea I have thought through the chapter and now have a better grasp on the story I need to tell.