The Outline
October 22nd 2006 14:00
Apologies for the absence, life's been a bit, uh, something. It's in my other blog. Let's get on with business...
One of the tools that has been of great use to me is the outline. But it’s a tool with a number of uses.
In the first instance, you take all the pieces of your story and construct… an essay, I suppose. Imagine you’re telling the story to a friend, or writing them a letter explaining the story. The longer and more detailed it is, the more accurate it becomes, though there is a couple of caveats to that which I’ll explain later. Where I found it the most useful was revealing the holes in the story ideas and plotlines, and character weaknesses, and allowing me a place to slot in patches and fixes, to make it hang together more cohesively, which usually gives the story greater depth in the long term.
So, in the most straightforward and simple way you can, tell the story. Start at the beginning, and go to the end. “That’s easy!” you cry. Ho ho, sez I.
Let’s start with the outline that is specifically for your use. It doesn’t hurt to insert whole scenes, especially those that occur at crucial story points. Basically throw in everything that you need to remember, need to know, all the things you don’t want to forget to include (in some of my early writing, when I didn’t outline, and used a manual typewriter, there were times when I wished I’d outlined very much, as I hate having to retype whole swathes. God bless the inventor of the word processor!). It’s for your eyes only. Go nuts!
But at some point you’re going to want/have to show people, so make a copy of it and then edit heavily, using a tone that conveys the ideas clearly, as close to a conversational tone as you can manage, without being overly jokey or flippant.
(Aside: if there is one thing I’ve discovered about writing it’s that you best writing will occur in the editing process. Sounds odd, but if your conscientious, you’ll find yourself cutting out rubbish and unnecessary scenes and lines, and adding little bits and pieces that bolster your characters and sharpen the plot. Trust me on this: after the initial creative process of letting the idea pour out, there’s a lot of satisfaction to be had in honing the idea until it’s sharp, really sharp).
This revised outline will, hopefully, end up with producers and actors, so you’ll want them to see your writing and story at its very best. If you’re starting out, there is no leeway for sloppiness.
But there is a step in between your eyes-only outline and the one for the producers. If you’re thorough, the outline will be, oh, twenty-thirty pages, which is fine. But the first document you’ll put out for public distribution is a synopsis, and they can be tough. In effect, you have to distil the outline down to 2 pages, tops. One page is better. And hopefully include a one-liner that explains the concept that anyone can get straight away. Examples:
‘Waterworld’ – ‘Mad Max 2’ on water, with Ski-doos.
‘Mad Max 2’ – post apocalyptic future where oil is the ultimate means of survival and life is cheap.
‘Liar Liar’ – a lawyer has to tell the truth for 24 hours.
‘Jaws’ – a shark threatens a town, but it’s big, scary and hard to stop.
or our story we’ve developed for this series: ‘Ocean’ – the remnant of an ancient culture take over an oil platform far from civilisation, determined to return to the old, bloody ways, with only the platform’s crew to stop them. And look there – our original scenario posited that it was probably a straightforward thriller/action thingy, but in the one-liner is buried the possibility that supernatural forces are involved, which could then be added if it granted extra power and depth to the story. But the one-liner leaves it open, and give the reader enough to generate interest (hopefully).
So, jump in, take your story and build your outline. When done, read it carefully, to make sure that it works. Clear up obscurities, untangle plotlines, add structure that deepens.
Next, I’ll look at formatting the script, but if you have any questions answered about what I’ve covered so far, just post a comment below.
We’ll talk soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of the tools that has been of great use to me is the outline. But it’s a tool with a number of uses.
In the first instance, you take all the pieces of your story and construct… an essay, I suppose. Imagine you’re telling the story to a friend, or writing them a letter explaining the story. The longer and more detailed it is, the more accurate it becomes, though there is a couple of caveats to that which I’ll explain later. Where I found it the most useful was revealing the holes in the story ideas and plotlines, and character weaknesses, and allowing me a place to slot in patches and fixes, to make it hang together more cohesively, which usually gives the story greater depth in the long term.
So, in the most straightforward and simple way you can, tell the story. Start at the beginning, and go to the end. “That’s easy!” you cry. Ho ho, sez I.
Let’s start with the outline that is specifically for your use. It doesn’t hurt to insert whole scenes, especially those that occur at crucial story points. Basically throw in everything that you need to remember, need to know, all the things you don’t want to forget to include (in some of my early writing, when I didn’t outline, and used a manual typewriter, there were times when I wished I’d outlined very much, as I hate having to retype whole swathes. God bless the inventor of the word processor!). It’s for your eyes only. Go nuts!
But at some point you’re going to want/have to show people, so make a copy of it and then edit heavily, using a tone that conveys the ideas clearly, as close to a conversational tone as you can manage, without being overly jokey or flippant.
(Aside: if there is one thing I’ve discovered about writing it’s that you best writing will occur in the editing process. Sounds odd, but if your conscientious, you’ll find yourself cutting out rubbish and unnecessary scenes and lines, and adding little bits and pieces that bolster your characters and sharpen the plot. Trust me on this: after the initial creative process of letting the idea pour out, there’s a lot of satisfaction to be had in honing the idea until it’s sharp, really sharp).
This revised outline will, hopefully, end up with producers and actors, so you’ll want them to see your writing and story at its very best. If you’re starting out, there is no leeway for sloppiness.
But there is a step in between your eyes-only outline and the one for the producers. If you’re thorough, the outline will be, oh, twenty-thirty pages, which is fine. But the first document you’ll put out for public distribution is a synopsis, and they can be tough. In effect, you have to distil the outline down to 2 pages, tops. One page is better. And hopefully include a one-liner that explains the concept that anyone can get straight away. Examples:
‘Waterworld’ – ‘Mad Max 2’ on water, with Ski-doos.
‘Mad Max 2’ – post apocalyptic future where oil is the ultimate means of survival and life is cheap.
‘Liar Liar’ – a lawyer has to tell the truth for 24 hours.
‘Jaws’ – a shark threatens a town, but it’s big, scary and hard to stop.
or our story we’ve developed for this series: ‘Ocean’ – the remnant of an ancient culture take over an oil platform far from civilisation, determined to return to the old, bloody ways, with only the platform’s crew to stop them. And look there – our original scenario posited that it was probably a straightforward thriller/action thingy, but in the one-liner is buried the possibility that supernatural forces are involved, which could then be added if it granted extra power and depth to the story. But the one-liner leaves it open, and give the reader enough to generate interest (hopefully).
So, jump in, take your story and build your outline. When done, read it carefully, to make sure that it works. Clear up obscurities, untangle plotlines, add structure that deepens.
Next, I’ll look at formatting the script, but if you have any questions answered about what I’ve covered so far, just post a comment below.
We’ll talk soon.
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