Black or White? Um... Grey?

by Gaoly Thao

No Outline People or Outline People? If I had to choose which one I was, I would have to say I'm in between the two, but my radar is probably leaning towards the "No Outline People" more than the "Outline People" If I think about it really hard and look back at my writing style, I would be more of a NOP than an OP. It's surprising because I like to be organized and write down my schedule or what I need to do for the day. However, when I am writing, I don't really plan out my story or plot and just write whatever that comes to mind. I may have a few notes as to what I want to happen or something, but I just wing it. Is that bad? 

Well, James Scott Bell mentions in Plot and Structure, "Some fresh writing, yes. but where is the cohesion? Some brilliant word gems flash, but they may be scattered over a plotless desert"(153). I felt like a bat hit me. I tumbled over, slamming my hand on the ground and started laughing after I read that sentence. He hit it right on the mark. It is true that I don't plot or outline my story and just write it out, but some of those scenes become useless, or I don't even know why I wrote them. In the first place Also, I sometimes write scenes that are very similar to existing ones, which frustrates me.  It makes me think, well, what was I thinking? So I was shocked to see that it is true and I should do something to fix it, which Bell does mention in that chapter of how to improve or change your ways of writing your story. I find his points really useful and I think it will help improve my writing, which I am really looking forward to.

Some of the points that Bell mentions, that I think that are useful, are “Set yourself a writing quota,” “One day per week, record your plot journey,” “The David Morrell Method,” and “The Borg Outline.”

“Set yourself a writing quota” (156)

            When I began writing, I never had a set quota for my stories. Whenever I felt like writing, I just began to write, or when ideas came to mind, I quickly grabbed a piece of paper/ notebook and jot down those ideas. When my professors told me I should set a quota for writing or write everyday, I thought, “Huh? What a great idea. I’ll do that.” …Obviously I didn’t and I’m still stuck with not writing everyday. So I stuck up on my cork board a piece of paper that would inspire me to write… that didn’t work as well. (shakes head) I guess I need something to push me until I get this idea wrapped around my head and do it. The idea about not leaving your desk until you finish your quota got me. Also, the idea of writing right after you just woke up struck me. I think I will try it out and see how it will result as. I’ll start slowly and work my way up. Hopefully I’ll be able to write about 1,000 words a day, but I’ll start with 500 words or so…

“One day per week, record your plot journey” (157)

            This idea never occurred to me. I thought about plotting out what will happen in my story, but this idea of writing out what I wrote for the past week, was like a light bulb going off. I think it is a fantastic idea and I think it will really help me plot out my story. Plus it let’s me keep on writing and it’ll help me summarize what I wrote. It will be notes I can refer to later if needed.

 

“The David Morrell Method” (165)

            I have no idea who this David Morrell guy is, until Bell mentioned him. Bell said he liked Morrell’s Lessons From a Lifetime of Writing. When Bell described how Morrell you dive into your story and understand it fully by asking yourself questions. It intrigues me and I think I will try this method as well. I think by asking myself questions about why I’m writing this story will give me a whole new insight of my story.

“The Borg Outline” (166)

            I have to say, this method/outline is really long. It seems like it is time consuming and will need to be worked on for hours and hours or days and days. Most of the points Bell made, were very helpful, but I think that if I wasn’t so busy with school, and I just had to focus on writing my story, I would be able to do The Borg Outline. Plus, I’m not entirely or a pure OP, so this idea will be floating for a while until I get everything settled.

As a writer, I still need to work and develop my writing skills. I love writing and hope I can do it for the rest of my life. I think being in between a NOP and an OP provides great possibilities if I keep on working on my writing. Being GREY might not be such a bad idea.