Donna Maree Hanson, Author, Phd in Creative Writing

I wrote this post last weekend and it has taken me until now to put it up. I’ve started a cake decorating course, which I’m a bit obsessed with. I’ve been creating fondant bugs and flowers. Today was all about baking and the baking day has been a big fail. Not sure what caused it. Oven settings. Me. So I thought I’d throw this blog up while the second batch of cupcakes are in the oven.

So to outlining…

I think I alluded to the issue in my previous post that I had not written down things about the paranormal romance I’m writing. I’m trying to do remedial outlining lessons and encourage my partner, Matthew Farrer, do a post here or on his blog about how he outlines. As he writes tie-in novels (mostly), they require quite specific outlines to be submitted before the novel is commissioned. Another writer friend also outlines for the novels she is paid to write and I remember her saying to me on one writers’ retreat we were on together: Haven’t you written an outline? I had written something like a short synopsis, which usually has a great introduction and then the ending and nothing in the middle. Not really useful for outlining as it was barely more than an elevator pitch. This probably mirrors the ideas that I have when I write a novel as a pantser—I know where to start and where it ends and the rest just comes.

I’ve been thinking about this lately. This has worked for me in the past where I’ve written the bulk of a novel at a writers’ retreat, two solid weeks of immersion and writing, which allow me to experience a creative ‘zen zone’ that carries me through with the draft. The draft gets revised and tweaked until it works. However, I don’t always have the luxury of going on writers’ retreats for two weeks and what about when I’m writing during the other 50 weeks of the year? Sometimes the impetus from the retreat carries me through, particularly if I’m continuing on with the story. Where it hasn’t seemed to have worked for me is this paranormal fantasy, which I have picked up, started, stopped, put away and pulled out again. The momentum is lost. I know the beginning and the end but what about the in-between bits? I need to write down an outline. I need to decide on the key plot points—like who is the baddy? Why are they the baddy? Why does X choose to do Y? etc.

There was always going to be a point where I hit a wall, where I had to get with the program and do some thinking, do some plotting. So I haven’t quite got an outline written but I have instead written down a series of questions to help me think things through. These questions are things like: Why does X do that? Did the person that killed person b also kill person c? Is the threat internal or coming from outside? (I had to do a serious think here because another novel has a magical society and I had to make sure I’m not doing the same old, same old). Also, I want to make sure that the mystery/thriller aspects of the story are robust. Paranormal romance readers need a good story to hang the romance off. I want to do a good job, of course. This takes serious thinking and hard work—that is the reality of the situation.

So right now I’m having a writing afternoon with Nicole Murphy (link) and I’ve cataloged all my questions and I’ve answered them. By answering them I mean I’ve developed the characters and the plot that will carry my story. I’ve also worked out who the baddies are and what motivates them and that then gives me ideas to fill up some backstory, which I have to go back to the beginning put in. Also this exercise has given me heaps of ideas and structure to go forward with because I have mapped out the essential plot points. Now, I have a worthwhile story to put between the sex scenes. Although, Nicole tells me that I don’t need too much plot between those.