A Call Out To All Fellow Writers

United States
July 2, 2007 7:33pm CST
Hi Everyone! Ok, so I have come up with a great plot line for a novel. It's going to require some extensive research which is fine (I was the dorky kid in high school in college with two whole packs of notecard research for term papers). However, I am scared to death to start it. I actually feel like a deer caught in oncoming headlights. Has anyone else felt like this? I have written two novels, both during National Novel Writing Month (which is basically just writing your stream of consciousness--that's the only way to make the 50,000 word count!) Now, of course, I have procrastinated and not done anything with those two novels. They're just collecting dust on my hard drive. I am wondering if this "writing anxiety" is from the fact that I don't want to invest so much of myself and my time into something I may never completely finish? But on the other hand, I have never felt so connected to a plot or the characters before (I've done a lot of work in my head over the past few days). So here's my question since I have never went about "formally" writing a novel: Do you feel that it is better to have an outline in place before writing or to just dive in?
2 people like this
1 response
3 Jul 07
You need to have a proper outline before you begin.Everything in life needs proper planning
1 person likes this
• Philippines
5 Jul 07
it always helps to have an outline of your plot, and then you could just make some changes along the way.
• United States
5 Jul 07
I was thinking of just sketching a "bare bones" plot. However, I don't want to get too detailed, otherwise it seems like the creative process gets squashed.
1 person likes this