Outlining

[scarlettina]

So I'm wondering how people feel about outlining. I started this book by pantsing it (in other words, writing by the seat of my pants), trying to just write it as it came, and what ensued were structural issues, idiot plotting, and uneven characterization. I'm outlining now in a very abbreviated way, a way that Mark Teppo calls the Hardy Boys method: Select a number of chapters (he recommends 26, at 3-5K or so words, a modest, achievable length, at least initially), and then to name each chapter as the chapters in a Hardy Boys book were named, following the three-act structure as you go:
Tom goes fishing with Spotty.
Tom discovers a monster in the lake.
Lake monster eats Spotty.
Tom battles the lake monster.
And so on....

There's more to the technique than that; I'm truncating it here for simplicity's sake, but you get my point. (Teppo's a smart guy; this description doesn't do the technique real justice.) I'm finding this act of simple outlining kind of fascinating because I find myself wanting to do more, add sub-bullets and more detail, but needing to stay succinct so I can see the structure as I go and stay focused on the mission immediately at hand. Structure, somehow, has become very important to me. I suspect that once I have the 30,000-foot view of the story and structure, getting into sublevels will make more sense. Some of this, I suspect, has to do with what jaylake calls span of control, how much I can keep in my head and manage at a time. I wonder if I'm overthinking it. (It wouldn't be the first time. Or maybe this is the first time I'm thinking about this particular thing in this particular way and it feels big.)

So...thoughts? Who's a pantser and why? Who's an outliner and why? Thoughts on outlining generally?

Comments

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

I think it depends on where in the cycle I am - all shorts and 1st book - total pantser. 2nd book is largely pantsing - but i got myself lost in the environment and will have to chop off a good chunk rewrite - so a little outlining. Sounds like Hardy Boys sort of - but for me it's "the following things must happen in the following order. Don't forget these bits and you must address these bits before finishing." Mind you, the 2nd book is a sequel of sorts (serial urban mystery - same main characters, different story) - so there are things that have to be remembered, which is I think where the pantsing went wrong in book 2.

I REALLY prefer pantsing. Outlining feels too much like writing the story 2x. I'm still looking for a way to pants without losing the bits I need to keep on my plate. I may go for a "recipe" approach - listing the things I need to hold on to without any real outlining.