I've written about 20,000 words of my second novel. Since the novel is an expansion of a short story written at Clarion, parts of the framework were already in place. I read the short story several times, made some notes on what I thought were the major points, then wrote a rough outline. Then I started.
The last and only other time I wrote a novel, my first draft was just a big 300 page freewrite: no outline, no notes. Just start writing and find out what happens as you go along.
Although there are many things I love about freewriting, this time I felt I needed some type of outline. The danger is in following your outline so closely that you begin to manipulate your story. The outline is very skeletal and I frequently depart from it, but I still think it gives me a loose but helpful framework. Whatever the case, I feel much better about this novel than the first one. Plus I'm really taking my time on this one: 1,000 words a day. That's not much, but I wanted to also spend time on some short stories. Maybe even some poetry.
I've got five stories out right now. I started expanding a flash fiction piece last night, "Lady in Broken Satin" about Billie Holiday.
Very disappointed in Alias last night. Think I'll stick to PTI.
Now Playing = Wildflowers – Judy Collins
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