Every writer knows you have to do at least some research to produce a good story. I admit, I'm not big on that part of the process but I won't deny the truth of it.
I don't do outlines. Back in grade school we were taught how to outline. It was an interesting challenge, learning how to pick out all the relevant points of a topic and put them in outline form. From there you were expected to write a paper. That was all well and good, until we were expected to outline everything. I mean every subject required it. I got to the point where, even to this day, the idea of writing outlines makes me shudder with revulsion.
Writing an outline says you know what your writing project is about. The closest I come to it now, is to write a bunch of questions. In a way, I envy those writers who know exactly what they want to write and can go to it, start to finish. That takes us to the next step of research. Research, supposedly, should be done at the beginning of a project. You can't research something if you don't know what you want or what you're looking for. You have to have some starting point for information, some sense of direction. I have neither.
I'm a seat-of-the-pants/patchwork writer. When I'm ready to start a writing project, I have no idea where I'm going with it. I get the inkling of an idea ... a statement, a line of dialogue, something that has no context whatsoever. It's allowed to flow on its own for a while, like a few drops of dye added to a patch of oil. It doesn't mix but it can form some interesting patterns. At some point it's going to start working together. That's what happens to my ideas. Writing a half dozen or so scenes that appear to have no relevance to one another can be a challenge. After all, where's the theme, the point of writing anything at all, the connection to make it all work? It's the kind of challenge I like.
What I don't like about research is the way it can be distracting. You look up a date, an event, a mini-bio of a particular person. One thing leads to another then another, and before you know it, you're out on a research limb. What you end up looking at/reading might have nothing whatsoever to do with what you started out researching. While it may be fun, and interesting, it's a definite distraction ... unless you found a way to use the unexpected info. On that note, there have been times when the off-beat info was more helpful than the original idea. At some point a scene or two will develop to give more authenticity to whatever is shaping up.
So what do you do with a bunch of scenes that appear to have no relevance to one another? You try to put them in the most logical order. Believe me, the order doesn't always work. I've been known to shuffle around scenes like puzzle pieces. You keep moving them into one place or another until the fit works. Once that's done, then the bridge building begins. That can be fun.
Bridges are structures meant to connect places and things. By taking certain elements from one scene and elaborating on them a bit more I can segue them into the next. Maybe the bridge has a small plank missing to create a sense of mystery or expectation. As long as the rest of the bridge is solid, it can work. I know, it's only as strong as its weakest plank but hopefully it'll dare you to keep going. When the bridges are built, the initial journey is complete.
And there you have it. ORB. Outline/Research/Bridges. While we love it or hate it, its worth will vary from one writer to the next. We can't completely do without it.
