I've been writing a lot about 'writer's block,' procrastination, and whether you're really trying to write. Those were big posts. This one isn't.

Tip: do it in the worst way possible.

That's it.

Oh. You want me to expand. Just kidding, I was going to do that anyway.

You remember that earlier post wherein I expostulated about the importance of outlines, even if you definitely hate outlines and will never use them ever? And you still need to use them? Good. This is part of that.

Even if, like me, you do your best work without any sort of plan whatsoever, you will need one for a larger work. Anything multichaptered requires an outline.

But even with an outline, you still might get stuck. This is because you'll get caught up on what exactly to do next. You know where the overarching plot is going, what the characters will decide on, all that good stuff. You know how to run. But you don't know how to walk. And though many can coast for quite a while, no one can run forever. You will eventually need to learn how to walk.

What am I talking about?

Twilight took the door on the left.

This.

Your very next step can be extremely nebulous. You need an extra crutch. It's not shameful.

To get this crutch, make an outline, but for your chapter. And do it in the worst way you possibly can. Here's an excerpt from one of mine:

Then a Celestia appears and tells Twilight to do something with her magic sends her a thought pattern that will let her rip a hole back to the real world with the sacrifice of an Aether crystal and Twilight grabs the nearest crystal and does it except oh shit it’s actually Nightmare Moon in disguise and going through Twilight’s portal disrupts her frail illusion because the Elements zapped a lot of her magic and now she’s through and Twilight can’t do anything about it and the blobs are coming and Rainbow went far away when she saw Nightmare Moon being revealed.

You will eventually either need to do this or resort to inspiration. Never rely on inspiration. Inspiration is fickle and will strike at the most inopportune times. Or not at all.

Many people do rely on a combination of running and inspiration for long stories. They will write a few chapters in a month with no plan, then not know what to do. Then they will write another one a month later after getting the most clever idea ever. Then they'll wait two months. Inspiration strikes again and they write. Three months. They get a notification. "You alive?" Wait. They were writing a fic? Time slips by so fast...

Make an outline for your chapters when you realize you're putting them off. Before, preferably. And do it in the worst way you possibly can. She went here. She did this. He said something about food. She agreed. They got nachos.

DO THIS.

You will not regret it.

Haha this is great. I do about the same thing but with more of a flow-of-consciousness style. I write the character name and then a stimulus, which I then follow up with a bevy of emotions and actions from said character.

For example: Fancy Pants dead body shock horror growths on body squirming crawling reaching slight glow oozing Fancy steps back bile throat panics runs monster dodges uses magic spears with rebar bolts down hallway.

I do this when I want to evoke a certain emotional response from a reader and I then ascertain if what I'm getting from the combination of words is what I really want in my next few paragraphs. If not, then I adjust and get myself in the right mindset before running through it again. And again. And again. And again, until I feel it's right.

6083455

Anything multichaptered requires an outline.

This is not true. There are several different possible multichapter fics that work better using a fast-and-loose approach. Furthermore, you shouldn't make comments like "anything multichaptered" or "never rely on inspiration". Those are absolutes, and only a Sith deals in absolutes. Nobody is exactly the same, and what brings you success might be an utter failure to someone else.

The "never rely on inspiration" thing is especially bad advice. If you're not drawing from inspiration, then what is the point of you writing? Writing is an organic, emotional, amorphous sort of thing. It is art, and art is fickle by its very nature.

All of your advice is flawed by virtue of what you're trying to do, and what you're trying to do is create steadfast, foolproof rules to success when such rules do not exist. Writing, as I said, is art, and art is not a science, and you're trying to make it into one.

My advice, for those who care to hear it, is simple: try all of the methods. If you feel like a story of yours needs an outline, then outline. If you feel the ideas are better off as being winged, then wing it. Not only is every writer different, but every single story is different. I've done plenty of multichapter fics in my day, most of them written in a sort of off the cuff manner. Every now and then, however, I required a stricter outline. When something doesn't work, try something else. Just... write. Write and rewrite and rewrite until it comes out the way you like it.

6083463
As you said, only a Sith deals in absolutes. All absolute statements are wrong. Even this one.

Yet I still hold that you should never rely on inspiration. You should never go into a multichaptered story without an outline.

You can do it. Your writing might not suffer. It might even be better.

But you will write more. You will write more often and more consistently.

And that is key.

Inspiration is good. You should use it when it appears. I'm not saying you shouldn't. But you should never rely on it. It's an unreliable crutch. The more you rely on it, the more it deserts you.

6083466
The phrase "only Siths deal in absolutes" was, in this case, intentionally ironic.

You can hold that position all you want, it doesn't change the fact that your ideas are flawed. You have to rely on inspiration. That's what writing is. If you're not inspired, you're simply regurgitating bits of things you thought were interesting.

To say you should never go into a multichap without an outline is not good advice. Outlines can be suffocating. Trapping. Don't tell people that it'll make them write more often or more consistently or better in any way. That's not good advice. It's sabotaging. To confine yourself to an outline when you don't need one is simply going to make writing more tedious, less fun, and more difficult. That does not make you a better writer. It makes you a more frustrated writer. Stop telling people that there's a right and wrong way to go about writing, because it's harmful to growing writers.

And, I swear to God, I'm not saying this to be disrespectful or to throw shade or whatever, but I don't know if you're the best person to give advice on these things. Unless this is an alt account, which wouldn't make much sense, you've only got one multichaptered fic, and it's not even done yet. Again, no disrespect intended, I just don't know if you're the best person to be giving this sort of advice.

6083468
I have other accounts, but not on this site. I'm new to this fandom.

Anyway.

No. It's not flawed. Many people can consider writing an 'art' all they want. They're wrong.

It may be artful, but at its core, writing is work. There's no getting around that.

Outlines are not suffocating. They're not trapping.

Because I don't advocate following them.

You don't need to follow them. You shouldn't follow them except in the very first and (probably) last steps. They're just there so you can keep writing.

There is a right way to do things. There is a wrong way.

I am advocating the right way.

There is also a right way where you don't use outlines at all.

Where you run on inspiration the whole way.

That works. That's fine.

But if you need help, if you need inspiration to write, then you can't write off inspiration. Inspiration is useful, but you need to be able to call it.

6083470
There are so many things wrong with what you said, I think I might genuinely need more sleep to catch them all. But, for now...

Writing is art. There's no debating that. You are taking ideas, concepts, feelings, and converting them into something observable that causes an emotion or a reaction in an observer. That's what art is.

Writing is work. But it is also art. There is no reason it can't be both, and there's no reason it being work invalidates the part of it being art. It's only work if you make it work, and if you think it's so arduous that you have to drag yourself through your stories, you shouldn't be writing.

If you don't advocate following the outlines, then everything you said about how vital they are is 100% irrelevant. Why would you outline a story if you don't intend to follow it? That's a waste of time and laptop battery.

There is no right or wrong way to approach a story. There is only a successful way, and that way varies on a per-story basis (not even per-author. I've tried the same formula twice, with one being far more successful than the other).

Finally (for now, I'm too tired to pick apart your comment properly), I feel like you are sincerely misunderstanding what inspiration is. When you think of a story idea, and start to bring it into the world, that's inspiration. When you think of a particularly funny joke for your comedy, or an especially profound line in your drama, that comes from inspiration. All writing is is you taking your inspiration and refining it into an easier form to consume. Writing is inspiration, and to say you don't need it is a serious misunderstanding of what writing is and how writing works.

Don't believe me? Consider doing this experiment: Try to find the most boring, uninteresting, dry, featureless concept that you possibly can, draw up an outline, and write a story. If it's work like you say, and you can't depend on inspiration, then you should be able to put out a good story in decent time regardless of content. I think dealing in absolutes is foolish, but I say with absolute certainty that your story would not come out good (or, at the very least, it won't come out to your potential).

We're never going to agree, so I'm going to omit a response to your next comment. I'm simply going to play the other side because I think you're giving genuinely bad advice (not maliciously, just unknowingly) and, I owe it to budding authors to give what I believe to be more sound advice.

6083474
No. It's artistic. It's not just art. It requires work. You need to put it together. It's both, but the work portion is larger.

Dragging through a story is the common state. Inspiration is rare and random. Unreliable. Just because it's a chore doesn't mean it's not worth doing, or that you won't like the result.

Outline a story so you write. You are missing the point.

We're pretty much saying the same thing on what's right. What's successful works. But working makes success.

Right. That's all inspiration. That's needed. You'll find I never said it's unneeded.

I said don't rely on it.

You need to make it.

If you can't call it when you want, that's bad. The easier it is to call it, the better.

People have written about being lawyers. Sewage. People have written interesting things about watching paint dry. Passed your test.

I have been writing for quite a while now. There are many ways to do things. But work will get you the farthest.

Don't omit replying. I like debate.

6083476
When you're doing your own work for your own goals. You can do it at your own pace and discretion, even if it's madness, especially if it's madness.

If you're going to present the lines of conduct to someone, you gotta be sure they can whisk away those things with ease, or that they clearly know how to engage (comfortably) in conflictual discussion about your behaviors or suggestions. Else you might end up claiming too much as your turf.

Just saying. Going farthest doesn't make more righteous.
P.S. Ironically. You seem inspired by the idea that work makes right.

6083466
Basically, have a plan, dabble in insanity, but push through as rationally as you can? Be both meticulous and spontaneous, but never more one than the other if you can manage it?

6083519
Meh. Creativity is like common sense. No sure way to mesure or compare it. No sure way to gain it.

If someone tells you how to throw a pebble and make little shockwaves on the surface of a pond. Follow the advice if you feel like it. But if it's uninteresting or useless, feel free to forget it.

6083455
Keep in mind that many writers pertain to their own methods and they might see this as superfluous. Stephen King is a very talented writer who can write anything in one sitting, but that's because he has immense experience in the craft and has been writing ever since childhood. While this might be the case, it is just as easy to start writing constantly at the age of 22 as it is at the age of 15.

If you're a person who suffers from writer's block, the most common liability is this: give yourself permission to write garbage. I did this with one story that got high praise for being written in one sitting, but a lot of comments suggest I thought what I was trying to write was garbage. This is not the case. "Give yourself permission to write garbage" means to write as much as possible, even if you get to a point in the story that seems flawed. You can always go back and fix it later. Until then, the story is a priority.

6083540

Meh. Creativity is like common sense.

Exactly. Neither one is particularly common.
(You walked into that one!)

6083463

There are several different possible multichapter fics that work better using a fast-and-loose approach.

I am intrigued. Any examples?

Dreadnought

6086686
Anything that's more stream of consciousness than a continuous narrative. Stories where each chapter sort of melds into one another, but aren't necessarily interconnected. Example-wise, I can only give you some of mine and then make some wild speculations on other people.

Quite some time ago, I wrote an AriNata fic by the name of Love Beats Stupid (I'm pretty sure it's the longest AriNata shipfic on the site, so give me a prize, I guess). If I would've outlined every single one of the 40 or so chapters, I have no doubt that the story would have suffered. It would lose a sense of randomity and some of its more organic nature.

For stuff written by someone other than me (and, mind you, I'm just guessing based off of the feel of the story, so don't lynch me if I end up being wrong) include NorrisThePony's Awful Lot of Coffee in Equestria and FrontSeven's Platonic Pony Petting Cafe. These stories are less examples of stories that would be better without a strict structure and more examples of stories that don't need a strict structure, but my point still remains.

For a lot of ideas, the rigidity and claustrophobia of an outline can be absurdly debilitating, because they don't allow for improvisation and fluidity. They're smothering. And, I don't know how much of this thread you've read, but OP suggested that you write up the outline but don't follow it. That is, simply put, ridiculous. I don't know why you would ever waste your time on an outline and then not use it. That defeats the purpose.

The best advice in these instances is to use your head. Think to yourself about the nature of your fic. If it's goofy, mostly unrelated, or simply more mercurial, then you probably don't need an outline. If, however, you're doing a long, fifty-chapter epic with many twists and turns and symbols and metaphors and allegories and such, you might consider an outline.

Then again, it might come easier to you if you winged it, which is why giving such concrete advice as "always use an outline" or "never use an outline" is dangerous and, frankly, stupid. Nobody knows you better than yourself. Do what you think is best, and adjust your game plan if it doesn't work. Keep trying until something sticks.

Sorry for replying to your very simple question with a very long-winded rant. I just don't want misinformation and bad advice to continue festering in this world, not if I can help it.