How I Organize My Writing Ideas

Writers tend to come up with ideas at just about any time of the day (or night), while doing any type of thing, and that can often make those ideas difficult to organize. Heck, even when a writer sits down to intentionally brainstorm for an hour, the process can be a mess. I know, I used to have brainstorming sessions on paper with next to no organization, and then later spend almost as much time looking for something specific I had written down somewhere (okay, that might be a slight exaggeration).

A while ago, I was asked to share how I personally organize my writing ideas. I wasn't sure about answering at first, in part because it's a process that might not ring true to everyone, but then I realized . . . almost no process rings true to everyone, and maybe my process would be helpful to someone. So . . . here is my answer.

What idea goes where and when depends in part on when and where I get the idea. . . . 

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Myth: "Keep Your Character Failing until the End."

Sometimes in the writing community, people say things like, "Keep your protagonist failing until the end"--in fact, I've probably said this more than once. But like a lot of writing "rules," it's sort of a half-truth . . . or even a quarter-truth, especially if you are writing a long story like a novel. 

What people really mean is that almost always, the protagonist's main conflict shouldn't be fully resolved until the end. I mean, that's pretty much how story works. 

Still, there are a couple of exceptions even to this, such as if you are writing a story that comes across as more biographical or episodic, so that we are following the protagonist through sequential conflicts, where each gets resolved within its appropriate section. 

With that aside, however, it's still important to not take this advice too literally. 

Reading a story where the protagonist is quite literally constantly failing is as boring as reading a story where the protagonist is quite literally constantly succeeding. In fact, it may even be more boring, because at least the latter has a sense of progress. 

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Crafting Convergence

The concept of convergence is something I wish I was introduced to earlier in my writing journey, which is why I'm writing this post to introduce it to you now. I first ran into the concept a little more than a year ago (why so late in my journey? 🧐), and it's been in the back of my mind a lot lately. 

Don't get me wrong, I've heard convergent-related ideas--like ticking time bombs and deadlines--before, but they were never connected to the broader concept of "convergence." 

"To converge" means to meet at a point, incline toward each other, or to come to a common conclusion. 

I also think of it as having a kind of collision.

In crafting our stories, we often want a degree of convergence.

Convergence is about getting the audience to look ahead to a specific moment that promises a (potential) collision. This is very effective on the plot level, as it draws the audience into the story and keeps them around as they anticipate that collision.

So how do we bring convergence into our plot?

In his book, The Structure of Story, Ross Hartmann breaks down different ways we can do just that.

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Discovery Writing and Outline Writing—Kinda the Same Thing Actually

I've talked about before on here and you can find it talked about throughout the industry, that there are really two approaches to writing: discovery writing (sometimes (controversially) called pantsing) and outline writing (aka plotting). Discovery writing is where you go directly to the manuscript and start discovering the story as you go. Outlining is what it sounds like, you outline before writing the manuscript. Most people fit somewhere in the middle. Me? I'm more of an outliner.

These approaches can seem like total opposites. And you can read and research all about them online. In fact, on here I have an article on outlining and another on discovery writing.

But for the last several months, I've been thinking about how they are actually kind of the same thing.

That might sound contradictory to some people, but just hear me out.

Months ago, I did this post on what to do when you write yourself into a corner. When I shared this on Facebook, one of my Facebook friends said he never writes himself into a corner because he outlines. I mentioned that I outline a lot and still manage to write myself into corners. For me, this is because it's impossible for me to brainstorm a perfect outline. There are usually side effects, complexities, and complications I run into that I didn't foresee. Not everyone has that, but I do. I also think it depends on the kind of story you are writing and how interconnected it is--if you are dealing with undercurrents, mysteries, hard magic systems, for example, I think you are more likely to run into issues you didn't foresee. If you are writing something like a slice-of-life story or a romance, I think it's less likely. Not one type is "better" than another, they are just different.

But as I was thinking about it, and I realized that while that post was titled "What to Do When You Write Yourself Into a Corner," it could have just as easily been titled "What to Do When You Outline Yourself Into a Corner."

At the end of the day, whether you go straight to the manuscript or you outline, you are still figuring out the story. Yes, it's true that the different approaches can produce different kinds of stories, but whether you outline or write a first draft, they are approaches to the same thing: figuring out the story.

True discovery writers may make statements like this: "It's like the story is telling me what it is, and I just write it down."

But I'm a big outliner, and I still have moments like that. In fact, not too long ago when outlining, I had a whole sequence of scenes and a character arc seem to simply manifest themselves to me, and it all felt so perfect (as "perfect" as the process can be anyway). Other times when I'm working on an outline, I feel utterly stuck on what should happen next, or how to get from point A to point B--things that discovery writers run up against when writing the story. There are times, I think, where discovery writers have to sit back and think how to do X or what's going to happen next. Some would call it writer's block.

I have heard some discovery writers say that their first draft is their outline. You get the story down and then you shape it into the true narrative.

Then recently, when I was perusing Writing Excuses to get some writing insight and inspiration, I happened to run into Brandon Sanderson talking about this same idea. That discovering and plotting are actually kind of the same thing. In outlining you front-load a lot of the work and in discovering you back load it, because you usually need to do more revisions.

My opinion has been that my writing tips and editing services and others' writing tips are helpful to discovery writers and to plotters, my take being that for discovery writers, the more you understand writing, the more you can "discover." (Not to mention, if something is "broken," getting tips can help you revise and fix it.)

Discovery writing can feel a little mystical.

Outlining feels more intentional and planned.

But in each approach you are simply figuring out the story.

And in reality, at times the opposite will feel mystical and the other requires some planning.

As I have been brainstorming and outlining a new book, I have sometimes felt anxious or rushed because I haven't started writing anything for the actual manuscript yet, and therefore feel as if I haven't "really" started it--as if the preliminary work I'm doing isn't really work and doesn't count, because I haven't started the word count. But here is the thing, I'm front-loading a lot of the work (as most people, I am not one extreme or the other, so I will undoubtedly still "discover" some things when I actually start the writing process). So of course it's going to be longer before I actually put words to the story document. But that also means I will have to do less work during and after the story-writing.

For discovery writers it may be the opposite. You can start on the word count right away, but you may be doing a lot of work during and after the draft.

Neither way is wrong and both ways are right.

Personally, I do way better work when I largely front-load it. I think I would cry if someone told me I had to "discover" a novel. Uugh, it would be the worst (as you can see, I'm not a pantser). Discovery writers may feel the opposite--they may feel that outlining takes away their desire to write because in a sense, the story is already "written"--it's already figured out.

In either case, we all have the same goals: to write a solid story. And frankly, nearly all the writing resources should benefit both types. In fact, the other day I listened to a podcast about discovery writing, because I thought the techniques would help me "discover" my concepts and outline. For me, in that instance, I was right. It helped quite a bit actually.

So do you agree or disagree? Are pantsing and plotting sorta the same thing in some ways? Which works for you?

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Brainstorm Your Antagonist's Plotline Earlier

Over the last few weeks I have actually started brainstorming and even outlining my next novel. I still have a lot to figure out but recently, I was reminded again how effective it can be to consider your antagonist's plotline early in the process.

Most of us have a rough idea of what our antagonist is or does by the time we really sit down to brainstorm. At minimum, we at least have a notion. After all, we need an antagonistic force to have conflict for a story.

But it's very easy and very tempting to put all our focus on the protagonist. It's absolutely necessary to spend plenty of time discovering and nailing down our protagonist, but it can be extremely effective to really consider your antagonist quite early in the process.

This is because (obviously) the antagonist will be what your protagonist is up against.

Often we might focus only on the protagonist's view of the plot, thinking about what sorts of obstacles, conflicts, and resistance they will meet and need to overcome and what will be interesting.

However, the antagonist has a very different view of what's going on, even if it doesn't all make it on the page. He or she or it will be "fighting" against the protagonist. The protagonist reacts and battles the antagonist, but so does the antagonist react to and battle the protagonist.

If your antagonist is a person or society (as opposed to nature or self) you should consider how their plot would play out. What would they do next? How would they respond to the protagonist's efforts? What is the cleverest way they would handle this situation?

When you take the time to consider the antagonist's story early, you will be able to brainstorm and map out a more powerful story for your protagonist.

Beyond the protagonist and main antagonist, it's also helpful to take some time to consider what the situation looks like through other characters' perspectives (as long as you don't get too carried away). How does the love interest view what is playing out between the antagonist and protagonist? What about a close family member or friend? Like the main antagonist, it can also be very effective to look at the plot, conflict, or issues from any other antagonistic forces.

For example, in the project I'm working on, the protagonist has to team up with a gray character who is an antagonist-sympathizer. Though he's not the main villain, I have found that I can brainstorm a better story when I take time to think about his view, actions, and reactions, early in the creative process. What this does is give my protagonist more powerful or significant conflicts. I have better quality ideas, and my protagonist needs to deal with them in clever ways. In other words, it produces a better story quicker. I have better ideas in brainstorming.

This sort of approach is also a great way to help you create strong side characters, because it ensures you are creating a plot where the side characters don't only exist for the sake of the protagonist.

When we are learning to plot for the very first time, we are often asked to consider what try/fail cycles and obstacles are keeping the protagonist from reaching his goals, and then trying to brainstorm what those are and how he overcomes them. Then we might go back and see how the antagonist can make those obstacles happen, or what kind of antagonist we need. Then, we might start fleshing out and filling in the side characters to populate the story.

When it comes down to it, I don't really believe there is a "wrong" approach to coming up with your story--you have to find what works for you. But when you are next brainstorming, try taking time to consider your antagonist and supporting cast earlier and see if that helps you actually develop a better plotline for your protagonist.

We talk about the antagonist as a character a lot, but perhaps not enough about his or her or its own actions and reactions when brainstorming.

Here are some benefits to doing this:

- Your story will feel more authentic
- It will be "bigger" than what's on the page
- You'll see elements you can play with that you may not have noticed otherwise
- It helps the plot itself from feeling flat; it adds dimension
- You'll come up with ideas you haven't thought of and would not have come up with otherwise
- Your protagonist will have to work harder to deal with his or her conflicts
- The antagonist and side characters will become more rounded

And that's the tip for the week.

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Writing by Intuition

I'm a big outliner when it comes to writing. I outline a lot. (Though I still like to leave room for discovering bits and pieces as I go.) I'm also a strong believer that we can learn to write better intentionally and consciously. After all, that's one of my purposes for running this blog: learning to write with intention and control.

But here's the thing.

Not everyone enjoys writing that way.

I argue that learning such things, however, is beneficial even to the discovery writer. (The more you know about storytelling, the more you can discover)

But.

There are instances or even types of people, where writing by intuition is highly effective.

Even for someone who adores outlining scene after scene like me.

So what do I mean by intuition? Do I mean like mother's intuition?

To me, writing by intuition simply means letting your subconscious be your guide.

You see, your subconscious can learn things your conscious mind can't.

Sounds weird?

Don't believe me?

I'll give you an example (assuming you are native English speaker).

What order do these words go in?

1. Five
2. Antique
3. Cars
4. Green
5. Big

Put these words in most correct order. No really, try it. And no peeking until you do ;)

Here are some memes so that there is some scrolling space before the answer.

Okay, did you get:

Five big green antique cars?

Probably most of you did.

But why did you know the most correct order?

Because in the English language, stacked adjectives go in this grammatical order:

1. Quantity or number
2. Quality or opinion
3. Size
4. Age
5. Shape
6. Color
7. Proper adjective (often nationality, other place of origin, or material)
8. Purpose or qualifier

* Note that I didn't include all types of adjectives obviously

Did you know that rule?

Unless you are super into the English language or English is not your first language, probably not, even if you are a writer.

But you could do it because your subconscious (a.k.a. your "intuition") has learned that grammatical rule simply by being immersed in the English language. (For another example of how the subconscious works with language, see this post Grammar Girl did.)

If you want yet another example, look up the poem "Jabberwocky"--you'll notice that you know what parts of speech all the words are, even though they are made up and you don't know what they mean. Most people who don't study the English language can still tell, even if they can't explain why.

In storytelling, this exact same thing happens.

This is why often when working on a story or getting a critique from another writer something may feel off, even if no one can pinpoint why. It's because your subconscious knows something is wrong. In some cases, this leads to a manuscript being misdiagnosed. In the best cases, you are able to dissect what's going on and discover the real problem and fix it appropriately.

This is why I truly believe that we can become better writers by pulling what happens subconsciously into the conscious part of our minds, learning how it works, and using it with intention and control.

But guess what? It's not always that simple or direct.

Let me tell you a story.

I have a character in my one of my manuscripts that has been giving me problems through the entire writing process. I did everything I could think of to get him to work. (I later learned that the type of character I'd chosen for this person is considered one of the most difficult types to write (a.k.a. the "boy scout/good guy"). Ignorance is bliss . . . until you are trying to actually write something good enough to publish and can't figure out why this character is giving you such a headache.) I reread parts of books on characterization, listened to Writing Excuses, and once I realized what kind of character type he was, scoured online writing tips for that particular type.

I really worked at it. I mean really.

Every time I had to write or rewrite a scene in his POV, I did everything I could to get into his head.

And when I went back and read through the story as a whole, he was STILL not working well enough.

(And yet by this point he was in the story too deep to completely cut or change either).

I took a long break from the manuscript and picked it up again.

As I went through it, I mentally threw out all of the background information, character profile, files, sheets, or whatever I had on him.

(This is not to be confused with writing him from scratch--mind you, this was still a pretty solid draft.)

And every time I got to one of his scenes, I just started messing around and going through them all intuitively, without trying so hard to make this character work (work dang it! I outlined you so well and spent countless hours, weeks, months, even spent years on you!)

It took a little bit to get myself to loosen up after I'd been trying so hard for so long--every time I got to his scenes, I wrote a note to myself at the top, "playing around version."

But the effects were immediate.

Suddenly this character, who was the toughest character I'd ever written, was working.

I promised myself through the whole edit that when I got to his scenes, I'd let intuition be my guide when it came to tweaking and mending his characterization.

And it totally worked.

What's weird is that it ended up not actually being THAT much work (much less than all the work I put in trying to consciously fix him). The plot was still almost the same. But the tweaks had a huge impact on him.

Even today, months after I finished that draft, I can't consciously tell you why the intuitive choices I made worked so much better than all the million other ways I tried to fix the problem.

As someone who likes to outline and dissect and gain control, this is something that haunts me a little bit.

But it also made the writing process feel magical.

Because I didn't understand why it was working. It just was.

In reality, I saved myself a lot more headaches by letting my intuition FIX this broken character.

Some discovery writers might be reading this and thinking, well, duh! That's what writing is. You let the characters and story tell themselves, and you just transcribe it.

I'm mostly not a discovery writer.

Though I do have characters that do seem to pop up in my mind and all I really need to do is write them down.

The thing was, this was fixing a character that hadn't simply popped up in my mind.

Your subconscious is a powerful thing. It knows things you don't. (That's why it's your "subconscious" of course.) Just like that grammar example above.

For some, all they do is write by intuition. But I think most of us do best by finding our own personal balance between the conscious and subconscious parts.

Surely there is something to be gained from both sides.

So how can we power up our subconscious?

Here are a few tips.

1. Ingest stories

The more we watch, read, and experience stories, the more our subconscious picks up--on our tastes, what works well, what doesn't, and all kinds of other things we aren't fully aware of.

2. Write when you wake up or just before you go to bed

Your subconscious and the creative part of your brain are hard at work when you sleep. Your brain is processing and dealing with problems and issues that are in your subconscious. My personal opinion is that this may be one of the reason we get a little emotional or dramatic or over reactive around this time. Most writers I've asked say they work best when they first wake up or just before bed. It's easier to get your subconscious to be your guide during these times.

3. Meditate before you write

I'm sure my family thinks I'm weird because when I'm struggling to get deep into a particular viewpoint (which has often been THAT character), I turn off the lights in my room when I'm working.

What they don't know is that prior to working, I've lain in bed for maybe 15 minutes with my eyes closed. And prior to that, I was thinking a bit about what I was going to be working on. Lying around in the dark in bed, while inviting that into my subconscious, usually leads me to getting up and suddenly feeling more in tune with whatever I'm about to work on.

It's okay, you guys can think I'm all crazy.

But most people I know who have sincerely tried some type of meditation have noticed real differences. You don't even have to believe in chakras or your third eye or anything else like that.

The thing is, during meditation, your brain waves change.

It can lead you to a state that can be very similar to having just woke up

So if you can't work as soon as you wake up, then meditating just before you write might be a good idea.

4. Let go and allow yourself to play

One common foe to writing by intuition is being too rigid, or worse, a perfectionist. (Not that I would know *wink wink*)

Let go and remember, you can always come back and edit, or if you are editing, you can go back to the earlier draft.

Remember, writing is supposed to be fun!

(Well, at least sometimes!)

If someone like me can benefit that much from writing by intuition, chances are you probably can too, if you don't already. So give it a try.

In the future, I plan on having a discovery writer on here to talk to us about their process. 

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Dealing with Dumb Ideas--Placeholders, Building Blocks, and Portrayals

If you are a creative, you are going to come up with some dumb ideas. I mean REALLY dumb. This doesn't mean you are stupid or not talented, it's simply part of the creative process. Some are placeholders until you get something better. Some are building blocks that will lead you to something great.

But it's a completely normal part of the process.

Unless you have tried to write a professional quality book, you may not appreciate just how many freaking choices a writer has to make. I mean TONS.

A novel is in some ways simply an accumulation of all those little choices.

I once voiced to someone how difficult it was to keep everything about my book in my head.

This person didn't believe me. "Of course you can. It's your book! You wrote it!"

Writing a book and reading a book is vastly different. The reader only sees the published product. The writer has all these scraps of past, present, and future ideas, dots that aren't yet connected, motives that aren't yet known, conflicts they haven't figured out how to solve--with multiple options and "alternative universes" for how the story can go. For every decision on paper, there could have been a dozen other options brainstormed.

You see, there are so many components to a good story that it's almost always impossible to have every single aspect figured out and brainstormed all at once. There are too many things! And one component affects how another functions, so if you change this, you have to consider how it affects that. And on and on.

A completed, polished, published work may fit entirely in your head, but a work-in-progress that is constantly in some kind of motion can often feel like an intellectual, unconnected mess.

Dumb ideas will come--simply because there is so much to brainstorm and make decisions about and components that affect one another, that you can't magically fit everything together the first time (or sometimes in your head for that matter).

I used to think there was no such thing as dumb ideas. I didn't believe in using the term.

Until I was editing my own story.

Guys, I had some really dumb ideas. REALLY dumb.

But here's where I think we get confused.

That doesn't mean I am dumb.

Remember, dumb ideas are a completely natural part of the process.

Weeks ago in a blog post about being gifted, I referred to this article on Mozart, which touched on something that had been living in the back of my head: dumb ideas.

In it, it has this quote from Seth Godin:

"The problem is that you can’t have good ideas unless you’re willing to generate a lot of bad ones … Someone asked me where I get all my good ideas, explaining that it takes him a month or two to come up with one and I seem to have more than that. I asked him how many bad ideas he has every month. He paused and said, 'none.' And there, you see, is the problem." – Seth Godin

As writers, when we sit down to brainstorm, the first things that come to mind will almost always be the most cliche. Why? Because we've seen them so many times! Of course they will be the first things that comes to mind! "Hmmm . . . what kind of tree should this be? Oh, an oak."--like all the other hundreds of trees in fiction are.

Some other lesser ideas happen because they connect dots and problems easily. They fix or add conflict in simplistic ways.  "Hmmm . . . I have this character that died before the story started. What did she die from? I know! A car crash!"--like all the other hundreds of other characters that are dead by the time the story starts.

The simplistic and cliche aren't always wrong. There are definitely times where you should use them. And sometimes they are even the best idea to use.

Some dumb ideas aren't either of these kinds, but simply concepts you didn't think through. BECAUSE REMEMBER HOW MANY THINGS YOU HAVE TO BRAINSTORM?

You may be focused on brainstorming a main component and come up with a dumb idea for a side effect issue that popped up unexpectedly.

I once met a Shakespeare scholar who stood and told us how amazing Shakespeare was because he wrote so fast that he didn't have time to think up character names in his early drafts. He told us this like it was something stunning.

Having worked in this industry for several years, let me tell you, Shakespeare was completely normal.

I mean, he was a genius.

But that part of his creative process was completely normal.

Because you don't brainstorm everything perfectly at once. Lots of writers stick in "placeholders" so they can get on with the story and figure out that stuff later. Just a few weeks ago, someone in the industry posted some dialogue where they had marked the speaker as like "dwarf guy #1" because they hadn't yet come up with a name.

In early drafts, I use some kind of placeholders all the time. Sometimes things that are even less than placeholders, like, "[insert a line a of setting description]"--because I haven't yet brainstormed the details of that setting or the contents of that line, and right now I'm focused on the plot.

Sometimes I use dumb ideas because I can't think of something better at the time that satisfies my needs. But because a WIP book is like a constant moving target, I have been shocked more than once how an idea that appears later in the story crops up and I can go back and replace my other crap with something brilliant.

Some of the dumb ideas that I worry so much about end up solving themselves through the process of writing a book, and I realize they were really placeholders until I found something better.

Other times, it's not so easy.

For one, you have to come up with some good ideas before putting pen to paper. If you write a whole book with largely dumb ideas, then it's going to be a beast to rewrite and edit. It's almost like you are starting over from scratch anyway and have all the same problems. You have to come up with some good stuff to get a solid draft started.

Sometimes in situations where dumb ideas aren't placeholders until something better comes along, they may be more like building blocks.

You might brainstorm them all out first, so you have to work your brain into coming up with something better and they don't keep swimming around in your head. But sometimes the dumb idea can be the seed that grows into something better. Maybe for some reason your protagonist is not turning to the police no matter how ridiculous, dangerous, or serious her conflicts have become. You might look at it and realize that this is stupid. Any coherent person would go to the police at this point. You either need to rewrite the story so that she does go to the police. Or brainstorm a believable reason she does not. Perhaps in the process of brainstorming the latter, you uncover a treasure chest of powerful motive, characterization, and worldbuilding that will take care of this problem and actually make the story better.

Thus, having that dumb idea actually ended up being a building block to something better.

One of the things that I think most of us writers pray for is that all our dumb ideas are taken care of by the time the book is published.

In some technical or complicated scenes, you may have a dumb idea that has emerged out of the darkness from the sidelines that you had not foreseen. Like anyone, I want to believe that we can always get rid of them, but in some situations, especially in later drafts, that might be rather difficult to do, as it might change a bunch of other things that connect in, in the process. It might not always be realistic to get rid of all of them.

Thankfully, motives and portrayal can go a long way to fix some problems. Some writers say you can get a character to do almost anything if you show the right motive. Other times the right portrayal--how that concept is rendered on the page--can go a long way. If you look at some of the concepts in Lord of the Rings, they might sound rather silly. Little people with hairy feet and huge appetites? Magical rings? But the portrayals take care of a lot of that. Another fantastic example is Guardians of the Galaxy. When the first movie was going to come out, a lot of people thought the concepts were ridiculous, or even dumb. A talking raccoon? A green lady? A giant tree that can only say the same three words? Man, that sounds dumb. But it was amazing! Why? Because of how the creators rendered those ideas. And I'll throw in Hamilton too, because most people who heard Miranda's concept thought it sounded dumb and ridiculous. But he had the vision for what many others called a dumb idea. He saw how to marry hip-hop and rap with the founding fathers.

Here's what's crazy about some of these things. Lord of the Rings, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Hamilton ended up all being pioneering. They changed their industries. The world was not the same after them. So sometimes what the vast majority may think sounds stupid (because they don't understand it or have never seen it before) turns out to be revolutionary. In each of those cases, the creator had the vision for what the story could become--and he knew how to portray it to make it work for audiences. Perhaps in that way, there aren't dumb ideas (concepts), only dumb portrayals and motives. Those are the dumb ideas.

Probably almost no one is saying Lord of the Rings, Guardians, and Hamilton are dumb now. (And yet the world just wants to keep remaking the same things instead of something new--which is what made these things great to begin with.)

So sometimes you can even run with something ridiculous and see how you can make it work for the masses, like Guardians.

And sometimes with stupid ideas, if you actually poke fun of them on the page, instead of taking yourself so seriously, you can make them entertaining. And/or you can validate the situation to the reader, which I've talked about before on here.

Just remember, there is no shortage of dumb ideas. And if you aren't coming up with some stupid ones, you are probably blind to your own creative process or too timid to face the rubbish head on to get to the good stuff.

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What to Do When You Write Yourself Into a Corner

I actually had a follower ask me about this a while ago, but I was so busy editing and my imagined answers felt so vague that I didn't get around to writing this post (my apologies). Now I have the time, and I'm hoping in the process my answer will sound less vague.

First off, let me say, I've been there. Multiple times. In fact, if you are serious about writing and are committed to finishing a high-quality book, this is probably something you will face time and again.

What do I mean by "writing yourself into a corner?" Basically it's when the story and setup gets stuck--closed in on itself so that it's trapped and you can't find your way out of it. Imagine you have a character gagged and tied and floating in the middle of the ocean, but your character needs to get to the Sahara desert. How the heck is your character going to survive and get there without it feeling unbelievable?

The easiest and perhaps most cliche option is to have someone or something else enter the scene and help fix the problem. Sometimes this works, especially if you have taken advantage of foreshadowing it properly. Other times it can feel like a Deus ex Machina. As TV Tropes explains, "A Deus ex Machina is when some new event, character, ability, or object solves a seemingly unsolvable problem in a sudden, unexpected way." To put icing on the cake, they even go on to say, "It's often used as the solution to what is called 'writing yourself into a corner,' where the problem is so extreme that nothing in the established setting suggests that there is a logical way for the characters to escape."

Great.

Since this is typically considered a storytelling flaw (unless done intentionally for humor or irony), let's talk about alternative solutions.

If you do decide to have an event, character, ability, or object enter the scene and help solve or at least change the situation, it needs to be foreshadowed (but not too heavily) or established, weaved in, and appropriate for the story precisely so it doesn't land on the paper as a Deus ex Machina. Maybe instead of simply having this story element solve the problem, see if it can simply change the situation to then enable the character or setup to have a little wiggle room to discover the solution. It doesn't need to "fix" everything. In fact, it's usually more interesting if it doesn't. Perhaps it can just change the conditions.

The point is, it's usually better if whatever enters the story doesn't solve the huge problems easily. Maybe it helps, but also has a cost, so that having and using it has both advantages and dire disadvantages. You're exchanging one set of problems for another set, in order to get out of the immediate situation.

The other option that might be easier would be to backtrack and change the story so you don't end up in a corner. Maybe the situation doesn't need to be quite so dramatic, wound quite so tightly. Maybe you can tone it down a bit.

But, geez! Gosh! Imagine how cool and intense it would be if you kept it the same? It's so good! Right? I mean, if you've written into a corner, that probably means you have either something big and dire going on, or a lot of complex elements in play, or both.

So that leads me to the third option, which is often most difficult, but can be the most rewarding. From my experience, and from what I've heard from other writers, writing yourself into a corner can be a prelude to brainstorming some of your best story stuff. Because if you can find a believable way out with what's already in play, then dang, you're good, and usually the idea is awesome.

There is really no easy way around the third option. You have to brainstorm like your life depends on it. And I mean, you might have to brainstorm a lot. And it will not be the fun kind either. You will probably want to quit writing at some point. It can be that difficult sometimes. But when you finally find the right solution that actually works, sheesh, it's amazing. However, it might take days or weeks of legitimate apply-butt-to-chair-and-don't-move brainstorming effort, so if you are on a time crunch, this may not be a great option.

In the process, you also want to make sure you don't brainstorm a solution that is so improbable it's ridiculous. Surprisingly, real life doesn't always work off probability, but fiction must in order for it to be believable.

Sometimes you can get out of the corner by using a little of two or all three of the options above. You mostly keep the setup the same, but something small enters and changes the conditions, and maybe you also go back and tweak what came before a little.

Good luck!

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What to Outline When Starting a Story

Anonymous asked: Hi, I visit your tumblr frequently. Creative writing is my passion and I am learning a lot reading your posts. I have also read books about screenplay (and the book by Lisa Cron about how our brain works). I love writing fantasy young adult novels but for me it's hard to outline. Could you give me some tips? :-) (Forgive me for my grammar errors. English is not my first. language) :-) Thank you so much. When you publish your novel, I will love to read it :D 

Hi anonymous,

Well, talking about outlining can be a little tricky because just as people write differently, people outline differently. For creative writing, there aren't a lot of rules for how you outline. Some writers don't outline at all. They simple start writing and find their story as they go. Personally, I'm a big outliner, but I also leave myself some room in case I come up with better idea along the way.

Now, for some, when they talk about outlining, they simply mean planning things out ahead of time, and how and what to plan, but others mean the actual physical process of outlining (physically writing down and organizing their outline), so I'll try to talk about both.

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