Are You a Breadcrumb Writer?

The world of writing is filled with advice. I have a few bookshelves filled with "how to" books. Each has something worthwhile to teach, but not one of them can tell me how my imagination works or how to funnel it into something tangible.

All creativity is rooted in the vagaries of individual personality. The human stew of emotion, experience, and effort is a recipe unique to every individual. This is true for all artists including writers. At the Temple of Apollo in Delphi is an inscription in Greek that comes into English as, "Know thyself." Easy to say; difficult to do. 

Writers need to know themselves. If we fill a room with writers we wouldn't expect them all to look the same, why would we expect them to think and work the same way? Some writers must work in the morning, others can't write when the sun is up. Some writers work slowly, others are speed demons. Is there a right way? (A write way?) Yes: the way that gets it done.

Perhaps the biggest difference among writers is the divide between "outliners" and "intuitive" writers.An intuitive writer doesn't outline or outlines very little. Many of the famous authors you know write this way. I'm an intuitive writer. I have outlined novels but prefer not to. Why? It's not because it makes me or my work superior to others. Trust me, that's not the case. I write this way because it is the way I'm wet-wired. It is the way my brain works. Intuitive writing (sometimes called "discovery writing") means I follow a trail of bread crumbs left by my characters. Outliners place their own breadcrumbs. Nothing wrong in that. To balance a comment I made earlier, many of the famous authors you know outline their books, some extensively. Why? Because that is howthey are wet-wired.

(We pause this blog post for a brief rant. Intuitive writers are NOT "seat-of-the-pants" authors. The phrase is a tad demeaning. Okay, back to the post.)

Some avoid outlining and creating long character backgrounds because they think the work is too hard. Well, it is difficult, but any working intuitive writer will tell you than her process is no easier. In some ways, being an intuitive may be more difficult.

Dr. Joel Gregory, former professor of homiletics at Southwestern Seminary, preached a memorable sermon in which he said, "I am often asked by my students, 'Dr. Gregory, in preparing a sermon do I start with the contemporary human need and move to the biblical text, or do I begin with the biblical text and move to the contemporary human need?' I tell them, it doesn't matter where you start as long as you end back in the Bible."

Should you outline or follow in the shadows of your characters. It doesn't matter as long as you produce a well-written and well-plotted book.

Experiment. I believe every intuitive should try outlining. If you're uncertain what works best for you, start with an outline. You'll know soon enough.

Keep writing.

Al

Comments

[Susan]

I believe I will try my hardest to outline the next book, because whatever process it is that I'm using now I DON'T LIKE IT.

I do suspect, however, that this is how my brain works, and there will be very little I can do about it.

[Kay Day]

I think I'm primarily intuitive. Although since I'm now writing a mystery, I have to kinda know who dun it and stuff from the get go. So I'm having to intuitively discover that before I get too far into my story. I'm doing that with some character journalling, etc.
I made a choice about him at one point and as I've been writing I realize I'm wrong. I'm going to have to just keep my ideas out of it, I guess.
And I really really don't want to try outlining, ever. If it makes my stomach hurt to think about it, is that a sign I'm not an outliner?