Anne Skyvington
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Anne Skyvington

The Craft of Writing

  • Writing
    • Craft
      • Structuring a Short Story
      • Alternative Narrative Approaches
      • Genre in Writing
      • A Grain of Folly
        • Novel Writing
          • The Sea Voyage: a metaphor
          • How I Created My Debut Novel
          • What I learnt from writing a novel…
          • Short Story
            • At the Swimming Pool
            • The Night of the Barricades
          • Poetry
            • a funny thing happened …
            • An ancient mystic: Rumi
            • A Window into Poetry
            • The Voice of T.S. Eliot
  • Publishing
    • A Change of Blog Title
    • 5 Further Publishing Facts
    • 5 Facts I Learnt About Self/Publishing
    • Highs and Lows of Self Publishing
    • A Perfect Pitch to a Publisher
    • A Useful Site for Readers and Indie Authors: Books 2 Read
  • Book Reviews
    • A Story of a Special Child
    • Discovering Karrana
    • A Young Adult Novel: My French Barrette
    • Randwick Writers’ Group: Sharing Writing Skills
    • The Trouble With Flying: A Review
  • Mythos
    • Ancient Stories from Childhood
    • Births Deaths and Marriages
    • Duality or Onenness: The Moon
    • The Myth of Persephone and Demeter
    • Pandora’s Box
    • 7 ancient artefacts in the British Museum
    • Symbolism of Twins
    • The Agony and the Ecstasy of Change
    • Voices From the Past
  • Australia
    • A Country College Residence
    • A Kit Home Goes Up in Vacy
    • A Sydney Icon or Two
    • 5 things about Coogee
    • Moree and Insistent Voices
    • Things To Do in Sydney
  • Travel
    • A Bird’s Eye View
    • A Tuscan Village Holiday
    • Back to Cavtat in Croatia
    • Travel to Croatia
    • 5 or 6 Things About Valencia
  • Guest Post
    • a father’s tale … by Ian (Harry) Wells
    • A Guest Poem: “First Loves” by Roger Britton
    • A Love Sonnet by Ian Harry Wells
    • “Snakey” by Roger Britton
    • Randwick Writers’ Group: Sharing Writing Skills
    • A Story of a Genteel Ghost told by Roger Britton
  • Psychology
    • Creativity and Mental Illness
    • Networking and Emotional Intelligence
    • C.G.Jung’s Active Imagination and the Dead
    • Psychology as a Field of Study
    • Western Influencers Down Through The Ages
  • Life Stories
    • Adriatic Romance … Rijeka to Titograd
    • Always something there to remind me…
    • A Well-Loved Pet
    • Candidly Yours…
    • Memoir Writing
    • River Girl: An Early Chapter of my Memoir in Progress
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are outlines essential in novel writing?

hamlet-pixabay
Writing

To Plot or Not to Plot

 

Planning or Not Planning

So much has been said and written about this topic, that it is almost fruitless to comment. All you need do is Google the topic and you will find countless analyses of the benefits of plotting or “going by the seats of your pants” (Colloquial: pantsering).

But beware, the writer’s subjective preference will reveal itself, if you do this. James Patterson, for example, is on the side of plotting as a first step. He creates detailed outlines of his narrative before starting to write the novel.

What Genre is It?

The genre chosen by the author to write in, will determine to a great extent which approach s/he chooses. Fantasy writers and detective story writers will likely employ plotting as the favoured approach. However, not always. Kate Atkinson writes detective stories, but she is also a wizard with character. She seems to bridge the gap between the two categories, so it’s not clear how she starts out.

Australian Women “Pantsers”

Australian Kate Grenville and many other writers, especially female writers, prefer writing in segments (scenes? chapters?) based on vivid characterisation and “zingy” writing, as she calls it. An example of this style of writing is in Tirra Lirra By The River by Jessica Anderson (1916-2010). See my post on this blog at: http://anneskyvington.com.au/tirra-lirra-by-the-river-by-jessica-anderson/.

I, too,  belong to the non-planners—to those who like to explore character rather than plot—in the initial phase

It is almost, but not quite, a distinction between “female” versus “male” authorial approaches. This is not as sexist as it sounds, if taken in the Jungian sense of “eros” versus “ego”, and “anima” versus “animus”. That is, we are all made up of dual personas, and we’d be advised to take into account both of these aspects when creating stories.

Dionysus Versus Apollo

apollodionysusdualityvIf you get caught up totally in the “Dionysiac” lust and chaos of pantsering, you might get stuck, and fail to finish or to reach potential. You then must appeal to the “Apollonian” side, relating to “the rational, ordered, and self-disciplined aspects of human nature”.

However, too much planning may stunt your style, especially if you are a creative and imaginative type.

See Wikipedia on this dichotomy of “the struggle between cold Apollonian categorization and Dionysiac lust and chaos“.

 

One Foot in Both Camps

It is best, if at all possible, to remain with one foot in both camps, like partners in a successful “marriage of equality”, in order to produce a brilliant work of art. That is, start off with one approach, but pay homage to the other at some stage.

For myself, I like to start off as a “pantser”, at least for the first draft, or perhaps up until halfway or three-quarters of the way into the novel. At some stage, I must take an opposite tack, and do what the planners do: Consider where I am going, draw a timeline and ask questions about structure, narrative arc and beginning and end goals. I may even ask some of these questions early on, without, however, following a strict plan.

Passion and Conflict: a metaphor for writing

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To Plot or Not to Plot was last modified: April 12th, 2019 by Anne Skyvington
March 30, 2019 2 comments
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About The Author

About The Author

Anne Skyvington

Anne Skyvington is a writer based in Sydney who has been practising and teaching creative writing skills for many years. You can learn here about structuring a short story and how to go about creating a longer work, such as a novel or a memoir. Subscribe to this blog and receive a monthly newsletter on creative writing topics and events.

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About The Author

About The Author

Anne Skyvington is a Sydney-based writer and blogger. <a href="http://anneskyvington.com.au She has self-published a novel, 'Karrana' and is currently writing a creative memoir based on her life and childhood with a spiritual/mystical dimension.

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