Checklist Part 2
6. Outlines.
I find outlines to be as useful as free writes. In a sense, that is what they are, but with a few differences. When one is doing a free write, it is with the intent to allow free thought to flow. However, an outline is more directed towards a specific topic. The purpose of an outline is to give you a rough guide on where you are in your story and where you want to go. In no scenario (unless you’re doing something technical that calls for step- by- step direction; though I would venture to say that wouldn’t exactly fall under the guise of an outline), is an outline meant to be followed to the letter. I often find after writing the outline, I’d reread it over again a couple of hours later, and add to it. Even after all of this, I usually end up using pieces of the outline, while rejecting other sections. In the coming weeks, I’ll provide an outline for Crow & Soul.
7. Community.
Community is very important. When I was in college, I was heavily involved in the writing groups on campus. After I graduated however, it took me awhile to get serious about writing, and still longer to get involved in a writing group. I owe thanks to a dear friend for pushing me to get connected to a group in Collegeville, PA called ‘Just Write’. My one regret is not getting involved earlier. So if you are a writer or an artist of some type, there is a community out there for you. Get involved now!
8. Character Profiles.
Personally, I’m not a real fan of creating a profile for my characters. I like to first start writing, and slowly have the character reveal themselves to me. There are times, however, when facts about your character’s personality that were expressed in a previous section of your piece, gets muddled in the section your currently working on. For example, your character’s wife (let’s assume he’s married) died in horrific dinosaur invasion of 2016 (hey you never know, it could happen). But in the next section his wife is at home baking the kids because there is a potato famine (see a Modest Proposal, by John Swift), and she has a particular craving for children. Now you have a problem. Either your character’s wife is dead and he is a widower (he’s probably better off anyway), or he is unhappily married to his cannibalizing wife, and may be on her next shopping list. Unless, of course, you specifically state that your character’s wife somehow managed to survive the dinosaur attack (very unlikely, though it would explain her mental state) or your character remarried. If that is the case, then he has poor judgment in women (but hey, that’s just my opinion). If you do run into this problem, don’t fret. This is what first drafts are for. Just leave yourself a note, either in the text or in a bubble on the side of the word document.
9. Writers block & blank pages.
Writers block is a plague that affects all writers. If a remedy is desired, there are several steps that can be taken to relieve the unbearable pressure. First you can do a free write (see step three), to see if that doesn’t change something up that’ll provide a spark to light that engine in your brain. There are times when getting up and doing something else is needed, like hitting the gym. It is also handy to have one or two more projects on hand. In this way, you don’t get burned out on one project. Now when it comes to blank pages, I suggest doing a free write, and launching from there. If you have a project already underway, always end your days writing in a place that’ll allow you to pick up the next day. For example, if you look back to last week’s blog, I mentioned what I was going to write about this week. An hour or so ago, when I sat down to begin this week’s blog, I referred to the checklist, and started with the first thing on the list. In the case of a new world, or if your piece is broken up into sections, you might find it useful to have part of your other section on the page you’re working on, so that you’re not working on a blank page. You can always go back and correct it later.
That about wraps it up for this week. Next week, I intend to provide a sample of my first steps of reviewing and writing an outline of Crow & Soul.
Sincerely,
Richard M Polk
