Joseph Hare

I’m just going to say it: I’m an outliner. No matter how many times I’ve tried to avoid the long, monotonous process of organizing an entire story before writing it, I’ve come to the same conclusion: I can’t write a story without first knowing everything that happens, moment-by-moment.

I don’t know about you, but a certain peace comes over me when I’m dedicating all my time and effort to writing a chapter that I know fits directly into the rhythme of the story, and I don’t have to worry about where it’s going to go – I already did that part weeks ago. Not to mention, it increases the amount of words I can put on a page daily. I can focus on the words, the characters, and the scecery and descriptions, rather than the following scene or plotline.

Now, I know plenty of people who actually feel that outlining stifles their creative flexability during the writing of the story, which I understand too. Some of my brothers don’t enjoy outlining, and even a few published authors, such as Gregory Heal. No method is better than the other, but you can know which one I’ll be choosing at the end of the day – outlining.

No advice this time, just a little about my writing process. Feel free to leave a comment or use my contact page to tell me your method of story writing – I’d love to hear from you, whether we have similar or contrasting opinions!

-Joseph

P.S. I apologize for the strange layout of the post’s main image on mobile devices. My site and I are at odds right now, and it will be fixed shortly.