Silk & Shadows

The path from my head to the written page is more like a wild animal trail through the jungle than an actual path. Sometimes it’s so indistinct that I get lost and miss the watering hole by a continent. Other times, my verbal machete is sharp and I cut through the wandering prose vines with a purpose that makes my imagination sigh with contentment.

Unfortunately, my sense of direction sucks. I’m not one of those writers who can dive into the jungle, follow only gut instinct, and miraculously end up at the long lost city of Eldorado. Nope, when I’m writing I need a guide post. Sometimes I can get by with just a compass in hand and an end point. Most times, though, I need a map. A rough sketch of the major landmarks (or plot points) and roughly how far I must travel.

So, I create a basic plot outline.

Once I have my map, I feel comfortable wandering into the mysterious world of my imagination. I know I won’t stray too far from my ultimate goal and end up writing myself into a place I can’t get out of. And yet, I don’t feel I need to stay on the defined path either. As long as I don’t lose track of my landmarks, I’m free to take whatever new trail comes along.

I don’t find my outline stifles my imagination.

When I create my map, it’s from 30,000 feet and the details aren’t clear. The map is mostly about direction. When I’m writing, the jungle is right there in my face. I can smell it, taste it, feel it—and the sensory detail changes everything about the story. The pacing changes, the characters change, and the conflict changes. And I go with it. The map didn’t show me that big black jaguar crouched in that kapok tree, so I couldn’t possibly have planned for an attack. I didn’t know my main character would be forced to drag himself to Eldorado with an injured leg. But I do now.

I find the outline keeps my second and third draft edits to a manageable size. Yes, the plot sometimes needs to be modified to suit the conflict and character changes. But the big pieces tend to remain the same, which keeps me on target. I may take the long way to Eldorado, but at least I get there.

So, let’s get a show of hands. Who likes to travel wild and free with just an airplane ticket and a knapsack? Who prefers to book a tour? Who falls somewhere in between—with an airplane ticket, a hotel reservation, and a guidebook?