When you start to create a novel, one of the first questions you have to ask yourself is, "Should I start by creating an outline, or just fly by the seat of my pants?"

Both of these options have their merits. As I noted in a previous blog post, creating an outline first helps to keep the plot more coherent, avoid plot holes, and stop writer's block before it starts.

But many writers probably share the same fear I had before I started to embrace outlining: what if the outline stifles my creativity? What if I lose the spontaneity that I need to write the characters naturally, and to let the characters be themselves?

One of the best feelings in writing is when your own story pleasantly surprises you, and not everyone is willing to sacrifice that feeling on the altar of a strict outline. I know I'm not.

That's why I've started to use a hybrid of the two approaches.

If you want to have the clarity and coherence of an outline, while keeping the spontaneity that "pantsing" provides, maybe you'll find it helpful to see how I combine outlining with flying by the seat of my pants.

I start by pantsing the outline.

Usually, when I first start planning out my book, I have a few key scenes that need to be connected, and a few elements I want to include. At this stage, my primary challenge is stringing them together into a plot and justifying their existence.

As I commented in one of my other blog posts, it's kind of like a game of connect-the-dots, where the dots are the parts of my story I know about, and I need to figure out the lines between them.

This is one of the biggest areas where I fly by the seat of my pants. I start with the scenes that I know will happen, and write as much of them as I can, just letting it flow.

In this stage, I don't worry about good grammar, coherency, or even making sure that the whole scene is there.

Sometimes, for example, I know that the characters have to do something in order to enable the next scene, but I'm not sure how they'll do it or what will motivate them to do it. So I write as much of the scene as I can, make a note that says something like "then they do X", and then I continue writing the parts I'm already clear on.

The goal here is to get as much of the information in my head into the document as possible, so I don't lose any of it like I've lost many good scenes in the past.

If I kind of like a phrase or event, but I'm not sure whether it will fit in properly, is really in-character, or is the best and most poignant thing that could happen at that point, I put a (?) next to it to indicate that it's especially fluid.

And if a segment is definitely necessary for a future scene, and its absence would make a later moment or plot point fail to make sense, I make a note about where it will come into play in the future. That way, I know that I absolutely cannot omit it, unless I replace it with a functional equivalent.

In this stage, I don't force myself to write parts of the book I don't know about.

If the characters need to end up in a place or situation, but I'm not sure how, I just write a quick note to figure it out later, and sometimes jot down a couple ideas that I may or may not use.

Next, I flesh out the outline.

One nice thing about having an outline is, it lets you have a bird's-eye view of the whole story. You can see how each moment leads to the others, without having to scroll through hundreds of pages of first draft in order to see them all.

This helps you to locate missing scenes or plot holes, like a character accidentally teleporting from one place to another, an injury disappearing, or Chekhov's gun being fired without any prior indication that it existed.

Once again, I don't force myself to write scenes where I don't know what will happen.

I just make some quick notes about what needs to happen in these empty spaces for the scenes that follow them to exist, or about effects of previous scenes that need to be explored.

I also make notes about possible scenes, subplots and plot threads that I might add in later, with comments like "need to do X to make Y happen" or "maybe do Z".

On the other end of the spectrum, if a fully fleshed-out scene forms itself in my mind, even if it occurs in act three and I haven't started writing act one yet, I'll write it in full. As mentioned above, I've lost too many great scenes by waiting until I got to the point in the book at which they occur.

So if you have a really good scene in mind, I suggest getting it written, and then putting it into the document wherever it fits best.

Then I start writing from the beginning.

Now that I know which events need to happen in order to create the scenes I know I want, and the scenes that were already formed in my head are safely stored in my computer, I start writing the story from the beginning.

The fleshed-out story and the notes are in the same document, with the notes below the story. At this point, I usually have at least a few quick comments about almost every scene, and I can easily glance between the scene I'm writing and my notes about it.

As I write the fleshed-out scene, I delete the parts of the notes that were relevant to it, paragraph by paragraph. That way, I don't have to muck through the stuff I've already covered in order to get to the parts I still need to read.

If you're worried that this will kill spontaneity, take heart: at this point, I'm still more or less pantsing. Unless I already pantsed this scene into nearly full fruition when I was first writing it out, I basically just let it flow, while making sure that the important bits get added in.

For example, even if a conversation was already largely written, if a character decides they have something new to say that wasn't in the original outline, I let them say it.

Then, after they've added that new dimension to the conversation, I find a way to bring the topic back around to the things that I already knew needed to be said.

That way, I'm not ignoring new flashes of creativity and inspiration in favor of shackling myself to an outline, but I'm also not leaving out vital information because the seat of my pants forgot to fly me in its general direction.

Will this method work for everyone?

As you probably could have guessed, the answer to that is a definite "maybe".

The creative process is a very personal, subjective thing. What works for one person won't necessarily work for everyone.

But if your personal style is enough like mine, then hopefully this blog post helped you to understand your own process more, or to refine your process into a form that's easier to use.

Are you an outliner, or a "pantser"?

Did this article help you to refine your process, or discover a process that works for you?

I look forward to your comments!

The latest chapter of my Undertale fan comic, Just Cause, is ready! Enjoy!
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Wow, these just get longer and longer, don't they?

I'm trying to decide whether or not I like the "greyscale battle box" look; I've seen it used in some fan works, and it does lend a nice, ominous air to the scene, but it also kind of looks weird and dissonant. I might tinker with it a bit.

Anyway, enjoy the latest chapter of Just Cause, and brace yourself for Sans to finally quit contemplating and start kicking butt. (Really, Sans, that was a lot of navel-gazing for someone who doesn't even have a bellybutton.)

In Undertale, if you keep trying to buy hot dogs from Sans after you run out of inventory space, he'll start stacking them on your head.

So I thought in a Pacifist Run, or at least a Neutral Run in which Papyrus is spared, it would be cute if the skeleton brothers started stacking hot dogs on Frisk's head together, or maybe even started a game of hot dog Jenga.

​Papyrus would probably hate it, given his loathing of grease, but maybe if they used water sausages instead of meat, the Great Papyrus would condescend to join the shenanigans.
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​It felt good to draw something lighthearted from the Pacifist route, to make up for the darkness of Just Cause. I love how cute and happy Frisk looks when they don't have bags of ambiguous negative emotion under their eyes. ^_^

Sometimes, you just really need a change of pace.

For the last few months, nearly all of my art time has been spent on my Undertale fan comic, Just Cause. I was starting to feel the need to draw something different. For a while, it has been on my heart to draw something graceful and beautiful - a butterfly, a flower, a waterfall, or maybe a dancer.

The image of a flowing blue dress stuck in my mind, but who to put it on? Not a skinny, conventionally attractive white woman - we're seriously overrepresented in the "depictions of beauty and grace" department. Not that there's anything wrong with pictures of skinny white women, but what about all the other demographics who don't get to see themselves portrayed as often?

While I've never watched Steven Universe, online discussions about it did inspire me to start consciously including a wider variety of races and body types in my writing, and that effect has spilled over into my art. I decided that, for my depiction of beauty and grace, I would draw a big, beautiful Black woman, and make her as lovely and graceful as my artistic skills would allow.

I procrastinated on it a little, since I don't like to have too much of a delay between Just Cause pages, but the idea kept nagging at me. Then, on Sunday evening, it caught me and held on tight. I had planned to attend evening church, but a conflict of scheduling with my family's vehicles prevented it, so I decided to have my worship time home alone.

I sat down to try to read the Bible, but I kept getting this urging: Worship Me with your gifts. Celebrate My creation. Give this gift to My children.

I wasn't sure about it - I thought I was "supposed to" spend that time in Scripture - but I couldn't shake the feeling. So I decided to go with it.

And so, four hours of drawing later, here she is: a beautiful, free spirit, dancing wild and carefree, barefoot under the stars. Graceful, gorgeous, and revelling in it, without a thought for what anybody thinks of her.

Hopefully this picture will bless someone who has been told that she isn't, or can't be, beautiful with her body type. You aleady are, and I hope you can find a way to revel in it the way the woman in this drawing does.

If nothing else, at least your hands probably look better than hers. :P Ah, hands, the bane of artists everywhere.

Speaking of better, you can see a better version of the image here, since my current site host's image uploader has been iffy lately.
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If you haven't been reading "Just Cause", you can see the whole comic here.

My Patrons on Patreon can see the full 12-panel WIP here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/7708864

And if you want to keep tabs on the progress of the next chapter, I've created a handy progress bar and chapter index here: http://stephobrien.deviantart.com/art/Just-Cause-Index-and-Progress-Bar-634267167

I hope you enjoyed these two pieces of art, and I look forward to sharing more digital drawings with you in the future!

​2016 was an interesting year. Over the last twelve months, I've lost months of work through a file corruption incident, I've published a humor novel for cat lovers, and I started my first-ever long-running webcomic.

I all but lost one of my biggest clients, and gained several more. I started a business venture that maxed out both of my credit cards and made me wonder if I'd be able to pay the bills, then got enough client projects to pull me back from the brink.

I started a Patreon channel so I could get closer to my top fans and spend more time on my writing, videos and art, I joined Tumblr and DeviantArt, and I learned a lot about myself through the past year's crazy ups and downs.

In particular, I learned about some areas where I was making serious mistakes, and I discovered some things I can do to make 2017 a much better year than the ones that came before it.

Today, I'd like to share what I learned about myself, what I've resolved to do in 2017, and how I plan to make those resolutions stick and get results.

What I learned about myself:

1. I tend to give away too much of my time.

For a long time, I tried to get to my emails right away, even if I was supposed to be doing something else at that time. As a result, I fell further and further behind schedule, watching my free time get eaten by postponed tasks until I was lucky to get an hour or three at the end of the day.

I said "yes" to every project that came along, even if I didn't really have time for it. I found a way to fit it in, often at the expense of my happiness and well-being.

I assumed that people needed things right away, and would often pile extra things into an already full day.

As it turns out, that's not a very good way to live.

Lately, I've been rearranging my priorities. Unless an email is urgent, it can wait until I'm either through my to-do list, or have a lull between tasks.

If I can't take on a project right away, I tell people "I can do that for you, but it will have to happen later this week". Or, in some cases, I simply say "no".

It's a work in progress, and sometimes I still underestimate how much time something will take, or how much time I have. But I'm making a conscious effort to make myself, my productivity and my joy a higher priority than taking on every little thing as soon as it comes up.

2. I have a history of treating my life like it isn't my own.

Knowing things is a strange business. How many things do we know in our heads, and yet not really act upon?

I knew that my life is my own, I only get one chance on this Earth, and I should live my own life, not someone else's.

But I've often found myself seeking permission to take time for myself, to do the things I want to do, and to arrange my working time the way I want to.

I've apologized for, and been embarrassed by, my weird sleep schedule, instead of just embracing it and saying "these are the hours when I work and am available".

And I've treated the things I love to do like they don't matter, and felt like I was wasting my time by spending time on them, when I was really living in my purpose and giving my gifts to the world.

In 2017, I am setting aside more time to do the fiction writing, art and video-making that I love, and treating them like the valuable contributions that they are, instead of a spare-time thing that doesn't make a difference.

3. I wasn't being honest with myself about what I really want.

My coaching and marketing business is a part of me. There are countless coaches, business owners, and visionaries out there who are meant to change people's lives, and who can make an even bigger difference when they can reach more of the people they want to help.

I have a great contribution to make by connecting these people with the clients who need them... but I also have another contribution to make, and it's one I've been neglecting and devaluing, even though it's central to who I am and what I want to do with my life.

For a long time, I've treated making fiction like it wasn't important. But lately, more and more, I've been paying attention to the impact it has on people's lives.

Stories bring people together. Friendships that might never have existed are kindled because of books, movies, TV series, video games, and comics.

Stories bring people solace. How many times have I seen people comment to their favorite artists that "you helped me get through a really hard time"?

Stories bring people hope, and help them to understand themselves better. How many times have you read the story of a character you identified with, watched them struggle and grow through a challenge you share, and gotten a better understanding of who you are and what you want to do next?

Stories inspire people. I see people making art, fanfiction, music, contests and forums based on the stories they love, and I long to inspire that with my own creations.

I want to create more stories, to connect with my fans, and to have the time to engage them promptly and fully when they reach out to me.

For a long time, I acted like that part of me and my gifts didn't matter. But now, I'm coming to realize my love of stories and sharing them is central to who I am. It's my passion, and I believe it's a huge part of what I was born to bring to this world.

If I reach the end of my life with too many of these stories untold, too many readers unreached, and too many beautiful moments of emotion, learning and growth not expressed through the stories that were meant to carry them, then I'll have wasted an essential part of my life.

So in 2017, I am consciously setting aside more time to express this side of my gifts. To make more art, write more stories, make more videos, and connect with more people in the area of my greatest passion and strengths.

I'm still serving clients in the coaching and marketing field, but I'm no longer treating this other side of me as a nonessential spare-time thing.

How am I going to keep these resolutions?

New Year's resolutions are infamous for failing. So how do I plan to keep mine?

Here are 4 strategies I'm going to use, and I encourage you to use them for your own resolutions and goals:

1. Be specific.

Starting next week, I'm going to clearly delineate which hours belong to my coaching and marketing business, and which hours belong to art, writing, videos, and hanging out with my audience.

I'm not just going to "spend more time on my fiction creation". I'm going to get specific about how much time I'm going to spend and when.

2. Put it in my calendar.

Your calendar can eat your life, or it can set you free. It all depends on how you use it.

When you create your to-do list for each day, give each item a specific time slot. This will help you to know how much of your day is already booked, and whether or not you can fit more stuff into it.

It'll also help you to be more efficient. I've often found that tasks expand or contract to fill the time I give to them. If I give myself too much time, I find myself working slowly and letting my mind wander.

So give yourself enough time to do a good job without stressing yourself, but not so much that you'll end up letting a 45-minute task eat an hour and a half.

3. Tell people about my strategies and goals.

Promises you make only to yourself are easy to break. But when you have people who know what you're doing and why, who believe in your dream, and who check in with you on a regular basis, it's harder to break your promises.

4. Go easy on myself.

Maybe there will be days when I overschedule by accident, or something takes longer than planned, or an emergency comes up.

After years of overscheduling, underestimating time requirements, and treating my time like it wasn't my own, I don't expect to get it perfect instantly.

You'll probably also have days when you fall short of your own expectations. Maybe you'll eat too much. Maybe you'll lose your temper after promising not to, or won't go to the gym as often as you planned.

At times like these, you may feel tempted to feel like you've failed, and to think there's no point in trying anymore.

But while your past influences your future, it doesn't determine it.

Every day, every moment, you have a choice.

Each time you look at your schedule and think of adding one too many things, each time you think about eating another donut or skipping another day at the gym, each time you talk with someone who tempts you to slide back into your old habits, you have a choice to make.

No matter how many times you've failed in the past, you have an opportunity to say "that was then; this is now, and now, I choose to do the thing that will move me closer to my goals and dreams".

Making a shift toward your goals is seldom permanent. It isn't a "one incident fixes all" deal. It's a series of choices that you make, one opportunity at a time.

But as you make the right choice over and over again, it gets easier to do it the next time.

Now it's your turn.


What did you learn about yourself in 2016?

What are your New Year's resolutions?

And what steps will you take to make sure those resolutions stick?

I look forward to your comments.