Using an Outline as a Roadmap to Keep a Story on Track

Neil V. Young — Fri, 28 Jun 2019 19:35:33 GMT

Current Revision posted to Plot Planning by Neil V. Young on 6/28/2019 7:35:33 PM

Having an idea is easy, but expanding that idea into a cohesive story takes a lot of time and work. Writers have many tools available to them when going through the creation process, and one of those tools is an outline. Whether a plotter or pantser, all fiction authors walk into a story with some kind of idea or plan. They have some insight into the story they want to tell or explore, including central characters, setting, or conflict. Neil V. Young, author and technical writer, explains why and how he uses an outline as a part of his preparation process. As someone who is easily distracted, Young finds it important to outline a story before he begins the first draft. This story roadmap keeps him on track and focused, allowing him to avoid making decisions he'll regret later. Young has found that when he tries to write by the seat of his pants, he often writes himself into a corner with no way out. But that doesn't keep him from improvising or exploring every now and then. Listen to the clip below to learn more about how Young decides when to improvise and when to stick to an outline!

www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../UsinganOutlineasaRoadmaptoKeepaStoryonTrack.mp4

Tags: fiction, Subscriber, video

Using an Outline as a Roadmap to Keep a Story on Track

Neil V. Young — Fri, 28 Jun 2019 16:41:18 GMT

Revision 3 posted to Plot Planning by Neil V. Young on 6/28/2019 4:41:18 PM

Having an idea is easy, but expanding that idea into a whole story takes a lot of time and work. Writers have a few tools available to them when going through the creation process, and one of those tools is an outline. Whether they’re plotters or pantsers, writers walk into a story with some kind of plan. Whether they’ve chosen a central character, setting, or conflict to build the story around, they have an idea of what story they want to tell or explore. Neil V. Young, author and technical writer, explains why and how he uses an outline. As someone whose mind wanders, he finds it important to outline a story before he begins writing. This roadmap keeps him from writing tangents and making decisions he regrets later. He found that when he wrote by the seat of his pants, he often accidentally wrote himself into a corner. That isn’t to say that he stays to the outline in a strict sense. Listen to the clip below to learn more about how Young decides when to improvise and when to stick to an outline!

www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../UsinganOutlineasaRoadmaptoKeepaStoryonTrack.mp4

Tags: fiction, Subscriber, video

Using an Outline as a Roadmap to Keep a Story on Track

Neil V. Young — Fri, 28 Jun 2019 16:39:40 GMT

Revision 2 posted to Plot Planning by Neil V. Young on 6/28/2019 4:39:40 PM

www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../UsinganOutlineasaRoadmaptoKeepaStoryonTrack.mp4

Tags: fiction, Subscriber, video

Using an Outline as a Roadmap to Keep a Story on Track

Author Learning Center — Fri, 28 Jun 2019 15:42:26 GMT

Revision 1 posted to Plot Planning by Author Learning Center on 6/28/2019 3:42:26 PM

Tags: fiction, Subscriber, video