Squiggly Lines

Here's what I've been up to lately. I built a fire of creativity, and I stuck every iron I had into it. I have this new story I'm planning for November, and I have at least three old stories I'd like to revise. I have all this stuff, and I'm not really doing anything with anything on a daily basis.

I need to pick one project and go with it. My next NaNo novel is the obvious choice. Everything else can wait until December. Cold Blooded (the vampire one) will probably be the first revision project, because it has the most usable material to work with. After that is done (yes, done, not just half-done and abandoned), then The Long Road (the road trip one) and Cape Nowhere (the Victorian X-Files one) can get their chance.

But in order to make any of these stories really work, I'll need to do some planning.

I read an article on the NaNoWriMo blog about outlining. I actually read it a year ago, and then again the other day. If you don't want to read the article, I'll give you a summary. You design your outline like a subway map, with different elements (subplots, characters, imagery, etc.) occupying different lines. Each scene is a stop. Some stops are on just one line, some are where lines meet. You really should just look at the article. It has pictures.

I find this way of outlining fascinating. If you've been following me for any length of time, you know that outlining is my downfall. I know it's a thing I should do to help my stories flow better, but I've never quite managed to do it. So I'm always looking for shiny, new methods of outlining.

I like pictures. Something that lets me visualize the flow of the story. My only successful outline was for a short story, where I drew a plot arc and placed events on it based on how dramatic they were. Trying to do the thing with an inciting incident and pinch points and just trying to put points in a story where they belong in this list of things when they don't fit anywhere… I can't do it. I'm not good at proper plots, I guess. I don't know. That kind of structure feels so limited and confining, like no story I want to tell fits into it.

But shapes and squiggly lines, I can do. Squiggly lines don't hold me down and force me to conform.

I think the subway method might work for Cold Blooded, because it has several different subplots as the different aspects of Des' life. There's the ice cream shop plot, and the serial killer plot, and the punk rock plot. And they intersect each other as the story goes along, with characters moving from plot to plot.

*Ahem* But that's December's problem.

For the moment, I just need to focus on my new NaNo story, which shouldn't be that difficult once I figure out the general premise and why terrible things keep happening to Steve. I'll keep you updated. Probably.

I'll see you next week.