You Need an Outline
Weâve all seen it happen a lot, maybe more than others if you happen to frequent the NaNoWriMo forums. Much love to wrimos, this is not a diss on the NaNo format, I wouldnât have gotten to my current writing place if it werenât for that group.
Pantsers. People who write without an outline, without a plan in place, or even a concept of where the story is going. All you know is the idea that jumped into your head a moment ago, and maybe some of the details of your cast.
 You might be thinking, Hey! Thatâs just because Iâm so inspired by the story, I donât have time to sit down and plot it all out when I could be writing! Isnât that the whole point of being a writer, actually writing?
WellâŠyes and no. Yes, writers write. Thatâs what defines us as a species. But to get a functional novel that you donât have to completely rewrite afterwardsâŠyou need to know where itâs going. You have to have more than just a sparkling idea that excites you.
Think about it like a relationship. Good looks are the spark that carries you into NRE(New Relationship Energy), but without a solid foundation that relationship will fizzle out and youâre going to break up sooner or later. Hopefully sooner, or else youâre going to have wasted a lot of time.
Writing a book is exactly the same. Sometimes NIE(New Idea Energy) will carry you half way through the book, sometimes only a few pages, but you will always hit that point where you wonder why this was even a good idea to begin with, and where is it all going? Some novelists will continue to bang out the words with the motto in mind that âevery rough draft sucksâ and âeveryone has to rewrite anyways.â And while itâs true that the grammar, formulation of a scene, or balance of show and tell likely suck in most first draftsâŠa well plotted story wonât need an actual rewrite.
If youâre defending your time so fiercely, why not actually put in the effort to make a solid outline that will carry you through the moments of doubts and what ifâs, so that you can write the story you want to writeâŠthe first time.
Build the foundation, move past NIE, and love your novel.
