The weird way I used to outline stories vs now

Back in high school I'd write these massive bullet point outlines on notebook paper, like three pages long. Then I'd lose the paper and have to guess what I'd planned. Now I just type four quick sentences into a notes app on my phone and somehow the story writes itself. Anybody else have a process that makes no logical sense but works?

2 comments

2 Comments

val_wilson18d agoTop Commenter

I read somewhere once that our brains actually work better when we give them less to hold onto at once. That idea has stuck with me. Your old method of writing everything down might have been making it harder, not easier, because you were trying to plan every little thing ahead of time. The new way of just jotting down a few sentences sounds like you're trusting your gut more and letting the story come to you naturally. I've noticed the same thing with a lot of things in life, the simpler the plan, the better it turns out.

river_jones18d ago

Hang on, wait. You're telling me that writing everything down might have actually been making things harder? I have to sit with that for a second because I've been that person with a notebook full of outlines and character bios. I mean, I guess it makes sense though, if you're spending all that time planning, you're not leaving any room for the story to surprise you. Maybe it's just me but I kind of feel like I'm having a minor crisis over here realizing I might have been overthinking this whole thing for years.