NaNoWriMo ruined my outline habit, here is what happened

I spent three years planning every chapter down to the scene beats before writing a word. Last November I said screw it and dove into a 50,000 word draft with just a one sentence premise about a lighthouse keeper who finds a drowned radio operator. By day 12 in Cincinnati I had written myself into a corner where the main character was talking to a seagull for four pages. I almost quit but then I let the seagull become the narrator and suddenly the whole thing clicked. The final draft was messy as hell but it had more genuine surprises than anything I had ever outlined. Now I sort of hate my old method but I also feel lost without a map. Has anyone else ditched planning entirely and gone back to it after a disaster, or am I the only one who needs the cage to feel free?

1 comments

1 Comment

derek_ramirez2d ago

Outline once, pants twice. Now I map the bones, let the meat wander.