To outline or not to outline. That is the question.
In novel writing, there are pros and cons to plotting, and pros and cons to pantsing (that is, flying by the seat of your pants--letting the plot surprise you as it emerges).
The best advice I can think of is to do what's right for you and your story at that moment in time.
But what happens if you're a careful plotter--that is, you have your entire roadmap laid out--and your character suddenly takes a wrong turn? He does or says something completely unexpected--something that changes everything.
Do you let him keep going and "re-route" your path to your intended destination?
Do you make a hard U-turn to get him back on the straight and narrow?
I don't know.
But I have to believe that the universe drops these little gifts in our laps along the way--that it nudges us in a new, more exciting direction when we least expect it--adding something to our narrative that we never could have envisioned when we began.
So maybe a happy mix of the two?
Begin with something like an outline--or at the very least a starting point and intended destination--and let those happy accidents color your story as the universe wills them into existence.
And--as always--Be Brilliant!
~Katie~
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