I don't outline. But neither does my new BFF Stevo, so there!

As I have started my revision I have struggled over this whole outlining thing. The truth is that I have never outlined. It’s not that I don’t know where my book is going - it’s just that I find it impossible to be creative in an outline. I can only think out of the box while I’m writing (or chatting on the phone).

I have great friends, like Shelli, who are incredible outliners and are able to get way creative during that process, but me? 'Fraid not.
Those short sentences feel like jail bars. I can’t do it. I just can’t!

BUT, by God’s grace, I picked up On Writing, By Stephen King, this week. This book has been sitting on my bedside table in a big stack of books for over a year. I was hesitant to read it because the truth is that I can not read horror books - or watch horror movies. They scare the crap out of me and I assumed that I wouldn’t be able to relate to his book. But boy was I wrong!

It’s a book about process. It's not scary at all! In fact, it's rather fascinating.

And guess what? He doesn’t outline either, so I’m a new fan.

Therefore Dear Readers, I give you the FREEDOM to be the creative souls that God made you and write however it flows out. Perhaps I am a strange breed of savant, whose creative process defies logic like Chris Martin’s. And perhaps so are you! (His "process" is about 7 minutes in and it's almost exactly like mine - fragmented and random - but the whole interview is great.)
I wonder what else lies in wait on my bedside table?

Katie

PS. Speaking of “FREEDOM”, I use this now and love it! But you have to have a Mac to use it - sorry. (Did I punctuate that sentence wrong?)

Scrivener--where have you been all my life??

I just downloaded a free thirty-day trial of Scrivener on www.literatureandlatte.com  (sorry all you PC users--it only works on a Mac), and I am in LOVE!  What a great writing program!

I was a little skeptical when I began to use this program--I often find things like Scrivener to be more trouble than they are worth.  For example, I have tried using a palm pilot for scheduling, but I prefer carrying around a small dayplanner in my purse, and I (gasp!) write things on it with an actual pen.  I love the pen-to-paper exercise and the ability to circle things and to physically mark them off.  So, I approached Scrivener with the expectation that it would be a procrastination tool, at best.  Boy was I wrong!

I watched the video introduction that is offered on the website, and then I went through the guided tutorial a couple of times.  It took me an afternoon to really get comfortable with the program and to figure out what all it would do for me.  It really is an easy program to use--and I really mean it.

Scrivener allows you to put an entire manuscript into a virtual binder which you can divide up into chunks of text.  You can easily manipulate these chunks of texts around, view them together, and merge or separate them.  You can write synopses of these chunks of texts which Scrivener will put onto color coded index cards for you--and you can view them on a virtual corkboard.  The program will also put these synopses into an outline form for you. Manipulating and experimenting with text is simple (and, the program allows you to take a "photograph" of your text before you switch things around--so if you change your mind, you can restore it to its original layout).  

I have exported my middle grade novel into Scrivener, and I am going through each chapter and writing a synopsis for each one.  I am color coding my chapters based upon which plot line is developed.  I am about halfway through, and it is unbelievable how many plot holes were revealed to me through this exercise.  When I read the notecards in order, there were some very noticeable gaps that I needed to fill.  Plus, I noticed four green cards in a row--four straight chapters that dealt with one certain character, so I quickly realized that I needed to break up these chapters with some different storylines.  I finally feel like I am making some real progress!

Scrivener also has a place for you to write plot notes and research notes or files.  You can view these pages in a split screen form which is incredibly helpful.  For example, one of my characters is bipolar, and I had several research files bookmarked and downloaded in my computer.  I was able to drag all of those files into my binder, and I could look at that information while I was typing away on my manuscript without opening another file.

I do miss the physical pen-to-paper revision process a little, and I have run into a few problems because I'm working with the rigidness of a computer program (some chapters deal with two plot lines, for example, and I'm not sure what color to make the card).  Overall, though, it is an incredibly efficient way to plot and revise, and when my thirty day trial is over, I'll be forking out $39.99 to own this gem of a program forever.

Sarah Frances