When I set out to write the new project, I wanted to use an outline. There are many reasons for this, but the greatest among these are, the five stories I’ve written that are still out, were outlined.
The leads me to believe that when I outline the story comes out better. Because of that, I’ve decided to outline this story and anything else I write during 2022. I know this will be a transition from writing without an outline, but I know it will bear fruit, as it has so far.
Now that I’m doing this I have to understand how to outline better, and while I won’t follow everything, my writing and the story will have a better core and cohesiveness that it hasn’t had, except for the stories that are out.
I talked about music the other day, but the outline, and having a roadmap for the story will help a ton.
I know this is a short post, but I had to tell you what’s going on. I have a review on my other blog for The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 13, on my review site. I didn’t go as deep into the 24 stories, novelette, and poem as I wanted to, it would have created a larger article than I wanted, but here’s the link to that blog.
Brian B Baker, Writer 
I outline the majority of my stories. If you want to talk about it with me, I would be happy to give you some tips. Good luck. I hope outlining helps with your writing process.
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I would absolutely like to ask a few questions. I’ve tried using a few books on outline, but can’t make them work for horror, at least for me. And outlining short stories baffles me.
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Well, I usually start out with a concept, a basic idea for the story. Then I come up with 4 to 7 characters who will really drive the story, or have the story driven around them. I’ll usually add more characters as I need to, but I also come up with characters while plotting. Which, after the main four characters, is the next step. I treat it like writing a plot summary for Wikipedia, dividing it up by chapter if it’s that sort of story. Along the way, I add characters and a short description of them. At the very end, I start writing the story.
Of course, things will change as necessary. You do sometimes end up with several drafts of just the outline. And characters do change the story every now and then. But that’s the gist of my process.
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This is great. Thank you!
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You’re welcome. Message me if you got any more. I’m happy to help.
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