In a world of limited either-or, the creative flow is delightfully and powerfully both-and.
Blending Both From the Very Beginning
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 […]
The Great Debate Wrap Up
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 […]
Outline-and-Order vs. Draft-and-Discover: Learning to Fly
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 […]
The Great Debate: Outline-and-Order vs. Draft-and-Discover
By Rosanne Bane What’s your writing style: rational or intuitive? Do you prepare an outline before you start drafting? Or do you discover what the structure will be as you draft? Outline-and-Order writers prefer to know where they’re going; they check the map before they start the engine. Actually, they draw the map, then double-check […]