Do you find it easier to type out chapters going off a physically written outline vs a typed outline? When I wrote my first book. All the details of that book was written in a composition notebook. Every outline, plot twist, idea for plot twist, arcs, etc. That book flowed so well; never had any delays. I think I finished the first draft in less than a month. Second and third book, I did combination of typed and written ideas, and I suffered some, but not as much as my current book. Now, for my current novel, I wrote the entire outline and plot, character details and attributes, in a word doc, and it is taking me (by my standards) an eternity to finish some chapters. Anyone else like this?
I do find it easier, sometimes, to reference something that's off my computer. Actually works for me to just have notes on my phone to look down at, so it doesn't have to be on paper. I suspect it's something to do with focus - as long as the computer screen is nothing but the MS, it's easier to keep focused in on the MS, and consulting notes is an entirely different train of thought and space. When you let yourself think of the computer as anything other than where the novel lives, it opens the door for distraction - not necessarily in a "whoops, I got sidetracked by the forum / twitter again" way, just in that tabbing out breaks that concentration in a way that keeping the MS up and just glancing at something different for a moment doesn't. At least, I know that's how it works for me. Multiple monitors would probably do it for me, too. Novel on one, outline on the other.
I don't write from outlines anymore. I do create "idea" documents in Scrivener as headnotes so I have some idea of where I'm going. And I use the corkboard notes to let me know where I've been. But that's about it.
For me it's definitely harder to get a satisfying overview in a typed outline, and that always bugs me with a typed doc. It's still my method because I can type quicker than I can write and I'm kinda lazy, but it's not a perfect outlining method for me at all. It just suits me best during quick brainstorming and planning, and it just turns into the outline after that. Paper and pen works very well for me in revision though, especially if I hit a snag and need to see all the chapters in front of me. Dan Harmon's Plot Embryo works well for that. I need to draw that outline by hand, but it's still pretty quick, and I really love that simple overview of major plotpoints. People's methods are so diverse, and completely interesting to hear about. I love process-questions.
This may be an outline thing, or it may just be that for a lot of writers, first books come faster. It's like you've got a lifetime of creative ideas all stored up, just waiting to burst out and spray all over the screen. Later books, once that surge of ideas is used up, only seem to use your normal stream of creativity, without the benefit of the reservoir.
I type out my outlines; however, I'm thinking of going the other route (hand-written) and see what happens. It's been difficult to write recently
Whatever the difficulty is that you're having with your writing, I sincerely doubt that switching from typed to handwritten outlines will address it.
I would assume that the difference isn't in the format of the outline, but the content. I assume that there's something fundamentally different in your thinking process when you're hand-writing.
I think handwritten outlines (or anything for that matter), employs more use of our different memories (procedural, verbal, muscle memory). So when you write it down, it becomes more internalized. It becomes a part of you, and once it does, you can sit back, and allow your creativity to intuitively make adjustments and alterations, on a subconscious level. Once it is firmly part of your memory, you can build off it With typing though, you are literally just transferring knowledge to a place of storage, requiring less use of muscle memory and complex movements. Hitting keys with your fingers, to me, is not complex at all. There is no internalization, just transference. That's just my theory though. Of course I am going to put this to the test. I've already purchased 5 composition notebooks so we shall see. I invite those who do typed outlines or character sheets, to try this, and see if it offers you more freedom and more fluidity when it comes realizing your ideas.
