On Craft--A Case for Outlining

In my career I'm been lucky enough to edit a lot of different kind of narratives. The most interesting narratives to edit are genre fiction. I wasn't always a genre editor. I used to tell agents not to send me fantasy or science fiction because that's not the kind of editor I envisioned myself to be. I envisioned myself an editor of great literary fiction and I am. But turns out, I'm also an editor of great fantasy, sci-fi and thrillers, too! And some of those are literary and some are very well written commercial endeavors. Turns out I love it all.

With genre fiction, what I've discovered is that outlining is VERY important. In a world where anything is possible and incredible flights of fancy take shape, outlining and establishing world rules that the narrative will consistently adhere to become so important. When I'm editing genre fiction, you can often step into my office and find a chart on my wall of timelines, character backstories, world rules and regulations and if a narrative is spread over more than one book, you may find the parts of  Book 1 as compared to Book 2 and Book 3 just to make sure there are no plot holes, that plot points are plausible and gel together. For me, this is fun. It's also craft.

Everyone has their own writing process. Some are ardent outliners and others are strict seat-of-the-pants writers. Both approaches have their merits and ultimately a writer needs to approach writing in the way that feels most organic to them, but once the manuscript is on my desk, I am all about the outlining and knowing exactly where characters are and how long it takes them to get there and how exactly they got there. I'm looking for consistency in character details and especially in sci-fi and fantasy narratives I'm looking for plausibility. Do details and world rules stand up to scrutiny? Because please believe the reader is looking for those plot holes and weighing credibility and if something, even the smallest, slightest thing does not feel plausible and even possible you will lose them. And as an editor who often reviews genre submissions, this is when an author will lose me...plausibility. If you are a seat-of-your-pants kind of writer, and even if you are that ardent outliner, the revision process before you send it to an agent or an editor should not only be about revising the writing, but also revising to ensure the world works and reads credibly. Do the rules of the Earth-like planet you've put your characters on add up? Do the sequence of events add up? Does the sequence of critical thinking from your characters make sense? Meaning is their reaction to a comrade's death belabored when they are still under attack and before they can grieve, they really need to be focused on taking out their enemy?

Outlines, not just of plotting elements--what happens first, what happens second, what happens last--but also of character development--where your character begins and where he ends in terms of personal growth; the rules of the world--what one set of characters know versus what they don't know and whether it's possible to leave the galaxy or reproduce or whatever; what are the exceptions to the rules and do the exceptions make sense. Thinking through the sense of your narrative is craft. And if writing a narrative across many books, having the world mapped out and what will happen in later books versus what is happening in the present book, make for the most successful reads. So even if you don't outline to start, outlining during the revision process is paramount to executing a seamlessly and compellingly crafted narrative that readers will enjoy.

Stacey