Oh, and I forgot. At the beginning of every outline, I list the main people in the book and provide an overview of where they were (are) when we last saw them. I do this mainly for my editor, so she is back in context when she reads the material, but it’s also a reminder to myself about where things left off.
Here are some common questions that folks ask me about my outlining or outlines in general:
1. Do I get it all correct? Yes, in the sense that I think through the pitfalls in a book before I start drafting. What I’ve learned over the years is that it’s far better to get in the weeds in an outline, than in the actual writing of a manuscript. The BDBs are long and complicated—they’re like steering an ocean liner. As a result, I’ve got to make sure that I know where I’m going because pulling a course correction three hundred pages in is not only inefficient, it can potentially cause a problem with the deadline and I make it a personal mission never to blow them barring extraordinary circumstances (for example, the stomach flu got me and I missed THE THIEF’S manuscript delivery by seventy-two hours—and I hated missing the deadline more than being sick).
2. Do I follow my outline? Absolutely. Except I’m careful when I create it. I’m a control freak, but I have learned that I cannot force the stories in any particular direction. I have to sit back and let them breathe. I’m also careful to include things that make no particular sense (like the coffins). Generally, if I see something, even if it’s not pertinent in the current book, I have learned over time that it will show up somewhere else.
3. Do I add anything to what was in my outline when I draft? Always. As I start to draft, the superstructure of the books is set solidly, like the frame of a house—I mean, a good eighty percent of the final book is in the outline. But the twenty percent I add while I write? That is always some of the best stuff in any story. It’s like the book breathes and expands to fill contours I didn’t see. These “decorative moments,” if we want to follow the house building analogy, never change the layout of the rooms or the heights of the ceilings. But they always make things more vivid and complete.
4. How long are my outlines? The quick answer is, “As long as they need to be.” But the page count answer is anywhere from a low of about twenty (for a shorter book) to a high of sixty (THE KING, LOVER AVENGED). My outlines are single spaced, Times New Roman 12 pt., with a double space between paragraphs, and I write them in the present tense—which is weird because my books are in the past tense. Why I do that? No clue, I just always have. Back to the length. Over the years, I’ve gotten more efficient, but even with that, my outlines are long.
5. Have I ever been a pantser? Yes, in the beginning, when I was learning craft. I totally winged it with LEAPING HEARTS, my first published book—and I certainly winged it for the partials and the one book I finished before that. I think most folks start out winging it. I know for LEAPING HEARTS, all I had was an initial scene and an idea—and I can remember where I was when they both hit me. I built on them while I was writing, and kind of felt my way around the story—which was okay because I had no deadline to worry about and the story wasn’t a complicated one. Also, that’s what you do when you’re starting out and learning your craft. Let me note, however, that some people, even after years, are still pantsers because that’s what works for them.
6. Do you use a writing program? Okay, so I’m not even sure what these are. I type my outlines and books on MS Word and am as computer literate as a squirrel. I’m assuming that folks are referring to some kind of organizer? I am afraid I know nothing about them, but I’m sure that there are writers out there who can comment and benefit from them. Again, there is no right way of doing anything, and if these programs help people, then that’s the right answer for them.
7. Do you ever find yourself “written out” by the time you finish the outline? In other words, do I put it all into the outline and then have no more interest left in the book itself? No, I’ve never had that experience, but then Sue (Grafton) always said, “Don’t talk out a book. If you have an idea, sit on it, tap on that vein, and don’t talk about it. You’ll exhaust the idea. Save it for the writing.” This is very true. I don’t discuss my books with anyone or use people as sounding boards. I might tell my family about a scene that has made me laugh or cry, but I hold on to the material and keep it close. I have heard other authors say that they don’t outline for precisely this reason, however. For some, by the time they’ve outlined their book, they’re done with it, and I get how that could happen. Again, whatever works for you is the right answer.
So that’s what I know about outlines! If you want to see what one looks like, I included the proposal for DARK LOVER in the firstInsider’s Guide. Now, I will say that that was many years ago, and so I was really still figuring things out in terms of craft and the BDB world itself. You’ll see what changed between the outline and the book—and there are some noticeable alterations. But on the whole, it’s all there.
Please remember, that everything is right as long as it works for you!
Continuing Education
As some of you may know, I’m a lawyer by training, and for folks who work in the law, as in fields like medicine, accounting, etc., there is a yearly requirement of continuing education (there are lots of fields that have this). Continuing Ed has always been seen by the attorney folks I knew (and still know!) as a pain in the butt. A waste of time, diverting from the billable hour. And given how busy I was, I agreed.
Flash forward twenty million years later, and here I am, totally non-lawyering—but still a professional. I am a professional, commercial fiction writer. There. I said it. As a businessperson and someone who rebels against frivolous nonsense, I have rejected all along that I’m a creative person, a writer.
This, in spite of the fact that I type all day long about worlds and people who do not exist. *rolls eyes at own silliness*
I still think it’s debatable whether I’m creative given how the stories download into my brain, but Iama writer. And lately, a couple of things have stood out to me:
1) I am outlining THE SINNER and it is wicked complex and I want to make sure that everyone who liked THE SAVIOR gets that same mix of romance and pathos.
2) I made a mistake in BLOOD TRUTH and missed one instance where Butch “dematerializes” even though he cannot.
3) A person on my team sent me a review that had a personal letter in it.
Now, as for 3), I do not read reviews, as I’ve stated. That’s a private space for readers to talk to other readers. But this review, on BLOOD TRUTH, had a personal letter in it and my staff thought I should see it.
The letter was lovely. And sad. It commented that my books don’t have the passion they used to have in them—and the reviewer wasn’t talking about sex. She—I’m assuming it was a she?—said that she loved my books, and would continue to read them. That she loved BLOOD TRUTH. That she was a fan for life (or something to that effect). But she felt as though I wasn’t as passionate about the world or the people in it as I used to be (I’m paraphrasing here). Specifically compared to the first ten books or so.
The letter stopped me in my tracks. It was not one of those character assassination things. Those are so easy to ignore because I’ve gotten a hundred thousand of them. No, this letter was thoughtful and sincere, and instead of getting all defensive, I reread it. Three times. And thought about it for days.
And I decided I needed a refresher course in my own world.
That conclusion was a product of the 1, 2, and 3 up above. And I decided to reread LOVER REVEALED first because THE SINNER has a lot of Butch in it and because THE SINNER is the culmination of theDhestroyerProphecythat was laid out in LOVER REVEALED.
Now, I HATE rereading my books. I despise it with a passion. All I notice are mistakes that I can’t change. But that reader’s letter really got to me, and I wanted to see if I saw anything she did in the writing. If I could relate to her statements in any way. If I could use what she said to help me find a way to write better books in this BDB world that I love so much.
Conclusions thus far (I’m halfway through Butch’s book):
1) The chapters are shorter and the POVs are shorter.
2) There’s more story, less introspection.
3) All subplots funnel into the main romance, no matter how tangential they appear in the beginning.
4) V’s cursed hand has tattoos on both sides, and I had forgotten that.
