Thursday, January 01, 2015

Structure and Outlining

Every writer has his or her own way of writing, whether it's outlining every detail or writing just to see what happens. But regardless of how you write, all novels have structure, and understanding that structure will help you craft a better novel. Here are some articles that cover ways to outline (or not), how to structure your novel, and the basics of scene structure.


A sampling of articles on outlining and pantsing



See all articles on outlining 
See all articles on pantsing



A sampling of articles on story structure



See all articles on story structure



A sampling of articles on scene structure



See all articles on scene structure

4 comments:

  1. Is the repeated use of "Pantser" intentional, or, is it intended to be "Planster" as in the linked articles?

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    1. I'm not sure which article you're referring to, but pantser is a common term for writers who don't like to outline or plan. Planster is a term one guest author used to describe herself as being in the middle between a outliner and pantser. So, probably yes, the repeat of pantser is intentional since it refers to a type of writer and is mentioned in multiple articles.

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    2. No. It is, to my understanding, because they are writing their stories by the "seat of their pants", (i.e. no outlines or planning), so therefore they are called PANTsers.

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    3. Yes, that's correct. I just didn't use that specific example in my answer. :)

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