And the rough draft for Academy of Outcasts 2 is done. It’s really fun.
I started on April 26th. So that’s basically two months. 104k. I’ve got a bunch of notes for things I need to go back and add during the editing process, so the final should be around 110k-120k, so really close to the first one (117k). I’ll start the first editing pass on Monday.
This is my second discovery written novel. I’m normally an outliner.
I’ll have to do a WriterDojo episode (yes, we’re coming back soon) about what I’ve learned about the differences in those methods, but one thing I’ll say is that discovery writing feels faster for me. Though that might even out with increased editing time.
With twenty something outlined novels, I consider 40k a month really good productivity. With two discovery written, I’ve been closer to 50-60k. AOO1 would’ve been entirely done and edited in 3 months, but I got really sick during that one and lost basically the entire month of December so it took four.
Normally when I’m outlining I’ll have a week of just thinking and noting plot points and scenes, then putting them all in order, and filling in the blanks. My outlines are actually pretty loose, open to change as I think of things that are cooler, and written in a kind of bullet point short hand that wouldn’t make much sense to anyone other than me.
This I just go, sit down, and start writing. As I think of things I could have made better/cooler in the earlier bits, I just go back and change them, or I make notes for stuff to go back and add later. At some point a coherent overall story forms, so then there’s a sort of mental outline anyway, but each new scene I just run with whatever I’m feeling right then.
I don’t know if I could discovery write successfully if I didn’t already have a lot of practice with story telling. At this point hitting all the beats and character arcs is just kinda instinct. When something’s missing, I feel it, rather than recognizing it specifically like some kind of checklist.
Mentally there’s not a huge lot of difference between these two methods, as I’m not one of those hyper religious outliners where everything must fit and I must stick to the outline or die. Oh hell no. If I think of something that sounds funner as I go, I change the outline.
One thing I’ll say for outlining is that it works better for intricate, intertwined, plots. I could not have discovery wrote Saga of the Forgotten Warrior. Academy of Outcasts is progression fantasy, and that genre is all about fast, fun, action and adventure. However, I say that, but I’ve also got 10 full pages of world guide for it too. Main difference between this and my other stuff is that world guide would have existed first, and this one I built as I go.
And by world guide I mean a sort of master document where I put down all the little details I’ve put in print establishing how that world works, that way I don’t contradict myself. Once a book in a series is done I go back and update it, adding all the new characters, places, spells, items, history, culture, creatures, etc.
(this one ended up with a weird cultural aspect is the days of the week correspond to seven elemental realms, and 28 different locations-there’s 13 months, 28 days per month, 7 different realms- which means that I had to make a calendar for when the adventure takes place, so I know where the gate is pointed at that day… Man, I make this stuff way too complicated for myself) 😀
So do I like discovery more than outlining? Eh. I think it really depends on the genre and what I’m going for more than anything. All I know for sure is that I don’t want to be one of those writers who gets lazy and stagnant in my old age. I’m going to keep trying different things and experimenting, because that’s part of the fun of being a professional creative.
