The three previous posts highlight the importance of scouting your route without over-scouting it. You want the benefits of knowing where you’re going so you don’t lay down tracks that keep leading you in the wrong direction without getting trapped in over-analysis, spending more time scouting than you do skiing/writing. If you fail to scout, … More Dream the Ideal Balance of Outline and Draft
The previous two posts highlighted the dangers of pushing off a ski slope or a writing project without knowing where you’re going. But there is such a thing as knowing too much. Imagine that after you untangle your skies and trudge back to the top of the hill, you see other skiers discussing your disastrous … More But Don’t Over-scout the Route
The previous post left you tangled up in your skies after you narrowly escaped the disaster of falling off the cliff only to crash into the smaller disaster of the spruce trees. This was your first draft. You pushed off too eagerly before you scouted the route. But hey, that’s what first drafts are supposed … More Why Skiers and Writers Need to Scout the Route the Second Time
Imagine you’re a cross-country skier pushing to get up a hill. The sky is dazzling blue, the air is crisp and you’re dressed perfectly for the weather. Your right boot is pinching your baby toe, but that minor irritation fades as you reach the top of the hill and look out at a wide expanse … More Why Skiers and Writers Need to Scout the Route
By Rosanne Bane The most promising way I found to blend outlining with drafting is a technique that Robert Olen Butler describes in From Where You Dream. The best part about Butler’s approach is that you start blending from the very beginning, not after you’ve drafted hundreds of pages in multiple drafts or after you’ve … More Blending Both From the Very Beginning
By Rosanne Bane Many of you have found that your solution to debate about outlining vs. drafting is not to determine which approach is superior and rely exclusively on that. You’ve learned how to balance and blend both outlining and drafting. Lori L. Lake, a fellow teaching artist at the Loft Literary Center, says, “I … More The Great Debate Wrap Up
By Rosanne Bane Thanks to all of you who have commented so far on the Outline-and-Order vs. Draft-and-Discover debate (either here or in emails to me). I’m still gathering info, so if you’re thinking about commenting and haven’t gotten around to it yet, please do. If you read Larry’s comment to my last post, you … More Outline-and-Order vs. Draft-and-Discover: Learning to Fly
Bane of Your Resistance 