I never thought I would say this – but I am beginning to like outlining.

Maybe it’s the fatigue talking from getting up at 4 A.M. I started serious outlining with Catastrophic Christmas Party because I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget any of the (hopefully) funny scenes. I found myself sticking to the outline, which was a simple ‘one-page-one-chapter’ outline that was concentrated enough for me to put in what I wanted to happen in the chapter, but vague enough to let me come up with what should happen.

Now, I am doing a more detailed outline for my Nanowrimo project. It’s really good for giving me a roadmap because I like to wander if left to my own devices, and in that wandering forget some scenes I really needed.

When I started, I figured that if I wrote it in my head, and then just transferred that to paper, that would be enough. Ha! I found myself wandering all over the place, often ending up with a thematically far different story than what I started out with. Not a good outcome for someone trying totrain themselves to hold to a deadline. I mean – does Stephen King outline?

I also had his problem of ending stories. So the outline more importantly tells me when to start wrapping things up.

So, from here on out, I am going to outline every novel I start…except the ones I’ve already started and have stubbornly not finished. You know – everything else I have done.

With this outline coming along and taking up a lot of my time, I need to figure out how to balance it and revise Christmas Party for the December release. I haven’t gotten the manuscript back from Nancy, but writing the Nano project is going to take up a lot of my time. It might end up being a Sunday only thing, since that’s the one consistent slow day I have. I just hope I can get it done in that amount of time. I might not wait for Nancy to finish reading it, I should go on ahead and hop on it.

Other than my hair being on fire with all these projects, I am doing well. A little tired from going back to waking up at 4 A.M. to try to get some outlining or blogging done. By the way, this blog is brought to you by Death Wish Coffee. Death Wish Coffee – Sleep is for the Weak!

I hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of fall. This has been a mild summer, don’t you think? I also hope that this winter will be mild as well. At least my car has heat in it for a change. Never skimp on a car, folks. That’s the only bit of wisdom I can share with some certainty.

That’s all for now, hope to hear from you soon and I’ll catch you in the next one.