Plotting, Outlining, and Writing, Oh my

I recently had an opportunity to beta read a plotting book. I have been trying to up my plotting game and I feel like this book added in a few more pieces to my process as well as expanded on some I already used. Over time, I have been trialing many outlining and writing tools and have cobbled together a few pieces over time to help me get the most from my outlines. After writing my first novel and experiencing a disaster of successive edits, I have since been looking into better ways to organize my thoughts, the story, and making the writing and editing process easier.

Since reading yet another plotting book, I have since gone over my outline and modified several aspects to add in emotional details for the characters as well as more about their internal struggle as they deal with everything that is going on to them and around them. Time will tell if these pieces will remain a permanent part of the outlining process, but as of right now, I have made several passes through the outline to add in more details I would never have thought to add that I feel will make for a stronger character and better story.

Outlines seem to be pretty controversial, some authors love them, others hate them. I tend to love them because feel like I have hammered out all the big details and explored all the rabbit holes before writing, and now I have a tight outline that I can follow not only for faster writing but for easier editing. This worked well with the short story I recently submitted to Writers of the Future so I can't see why it wouldn't work for a longer novel. I write so much faster when I have a roadmap, something that jogs my memory of the scene and allows me to watch the scene unfold as I madly write everything down.

The good news in all this is that I should be able to start writing very soon. I have a couple more scenes to give the above treatment too followed by a quick read through for continuity. I'm feeling much better about this story now. And since I have been thinking about it for some time, I have also been able to add in details that will begin in book one but only become relevant in the following book.

August will bring more editing of another short story for another Writers of the Future submission as well as writing book one of the Spirits of Choice arc. I am still awaiting word from my previous quarterly submission. Time to get the book written so I can move ahead with the others in the arc.