I lean discovery writer. I try to outline, but I can't get my head around the story unless I'm in it with the characters. So instead I do discovery writing, with the knowledge that a lot will get cut. Then I make an outline of my draft and tweak the story, write a new draft, repeat until it's right.
Are you more of an outliner or discovery writer? Something in between? What do you do before writing, and then during?
#WritingPrompt
May 3, 2025 14:42Another trick is, when I outline, I make a list of everyone important each scene and write out what they're thinking. Sometimes I write the whole thing from their POV. I have pages of off-screen dialog.
This lets me see the complete picture and gives depth to all my characters. I know what everyone is thinking and feeling, their motivations and actions that my POV character can't see. I also find all the plot holes, which for me turn out to be loose threads that get turned into interesting subplots
Also my outlines and off-screen narratives are often rambling stream-of-consciousness that sound like they were written by Cher Horowitz from Clueless. Ex: "So she's in the forest and there's wolves and they eat all her food, so she's like wtf, and then she's lost and she has to eat bugs."
The plot holes become subplots thing has been huge, in hindsight. My first book now has a lot of these little, subtle threads that all get woven through the story until they meet and get tied together at the end. I keep wondering how I did that, and the answer is I know *everything* about *everyone*
Another important step is that I read through my work a *lot*. I read out loud to proof read and get the prose rhythm right. But it means I know the story inside and out.
My biggest shortcoming is that I know it a little too well and forget my readers can't see what I see.
