Iron Debt - redux

Thu, 27 May 2010 12:58:42 GMT

Well, after floundering around for ages with Iron Debt, I finally broke down and wrote a ferblungit outline. I don't like outlining much - I'd really rather sit down and see where the characters take me. But the place the characters were taking me was a corner, where they sat and stared at the wall, and then at me, and then back at the wall, and so forth.

Outlining always feels like writing code to me. I can get away with not writing out the algorithm I'm trying to create in the code if it's short. Scripting, for example, where the entire blat of code can be seen on a single 80x24 text window, I can get away without diagramming.

But apparently, outside of the exception of River's Wrath, I need to outline novels, just as I need to outline code.

I'm sure better writers than me have figured this out much faster, but hey, I can be taught. And I have sort of rewritten Chapter 1 to take advantage of the outline. Now the trick is to go through the next two chapters and finish the jiggery-pokery necessary to make them line up mostly with the outline without getting bogged down too much in rewrites. And then I will hopefully be able to resume proper writing.

After Wiscon, though - I'll be there, but I have no idea what panels if any I will be going to. I do intend to hang out with the Fabulous Margaret if she goes to karaoke, though I may not sing.

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Words of the Barely-Published

Iron Debt - redux