…if you came here looking for my bare legs, sorry. I know, I know. I’m such a tease.
Pants! Actually, let’s be more accurate, here: pantsing! Not the really mean kind where you sneak up behind someone and remove their lower garb, but rather the kind where a writer sits down and goes “screw it, I’ve got a great idea and I’m writing it, and I’m writing it NOW.” Proceeding from that initial burst of idea, without semblance of order or planning, is pantsing. Seat-of-your-pantsing is the origin of the word. It used to be my modus operandi, but it’s gotten me into far more trouble than it’s worth. (See: zero polished novels.)
Not only that, but I need to try some different methods. I’ve been stuck in my general writing routine for almost twenty years now, and as much as I’d love to stick to my guns and “be true to me,” that’s just bullshit. I want to open myself up to new ways of doing things so I can find precisely what works for my creative process. And I’ve tried outlining before – it’s not horrid, it’s just a bit inconvenient.
To facilitate my learning, I’m reading what’s proving to be a pretty cool book so far: Outlining Your Novel by K.M. Weiland. It’s short but packed with helpful information, including ideas on how and when to outline. Instead of reading this all at once and being overwhelmed by all the things I forgot to do in the process, I’m going to follow along and actually complete the steps as I go, so that hopefully – fingers crossed, good thoughts out into the universe – by the time I’m done I’ll have AGGO outlined and ready to write.
That’s the plan, anyway.
(P.S. Excitement – searching for “A God Grown Old” pulls up my blog as result #6…already! Above that are references to the book from which I pulled the phrase, so… I’d say I’m good on that one.)