There are some things in this series you might already know. You may consider them common sense, but in terms of my writing before April 23, 2012, they were not common sense. I considered myself a writer who learned from reading. I considered myself a writer who was a pantster, not a plotter. I felt like plotting was cheating for some very strange reason.
When I decided it was best to begin outlining, the first thing I did was make a "Wish List." This was suggested by Truby. He says, "First, write down your wish list, a list of everything you would like to see..in a book. It's what you are passionately intereted in, and it's what entertains you" (page 17). When I was a kid, it meant writing out a list of toys I wanted. As a writer, it meant writing out what I wanted in my book.
Here's a look at part of my wish list (edited to keep some things secret):
The key to writing a wish list? Write EVERYTHING that comes to your mind. Even if it sounds farfetched or you think it might be stupid. Chances are, if it's on your wish list, you'll find a way to sneak it in and make it work. This wish list doesn't have to be one page, either. Can can be as many pages as you want (I have a slideshow dedicated to outlining in which I insert random things I want to happen). This wish list spurred questions I needed to figure out how to answer BEFORE I began writing.
Want to figure out how I answered those questions?
Well, that'll be for next week!
I hope you all have fun writing wish lists! Or, have you written a wish list before?
:) I was actually just off to do that myself!
ReplyDeleteI have never done this! This is a brilliant idea.
ReplyDeleteI don't actually write mine down, but I definitely do a version of this where I think through tons of different plot lines in my head before picking the ones I actually want to incorpoate. Neat idea!
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