An outline of some sort is a must. Some of the most satisfying moments during films are the payoffs in the setup/payoff dynamic. That dynamic doesn't happen by accident. Layers don't hold up without the proper foundation. Moments establishing character are difficult to place effectively without a fleshed-out context. It's like putting together an intricate puzzle. If you can't see it all, at the very least in a sort of bare bones wireframe telling you what the big moments are between acts and what the ending is going to be, odds are you're going to be spending a lot of time wandering around in a story you're still getting to know properly. I don't like wasting time. Others might find it exhilarating to "discover" a story as they're writing, but I find it exhausting and inefficient. It's how I would write back in high school, and I don't think I finished a single project during those years. I didn't even know how most of them were supposed to end. They really were exercises in wandering. An outline is a map to prevent that wandering. Writing is fun, but if you'd like to get paid while you're having fun, you've got to finish. That's hard to do if you don't know, before you start, where the finish line is or how to get there.

I'll do you one better than outlines: I have a backburner story that I can't get out of my head. I'm thinking of writing it as a short story so I can get it on paper and move on. That idea has me thinking that with some projects, especially in speculative fiction genres, I may look at writing an outline and going from there to a short story, partly because working with the characters and premise in a shorter form is a good way for me to troubleshoot the story while working from a smaller scale, but also so that I have a shot at doing something with the idea: publishing a story is much easier than getting a screenplay made. Scott, for a writer who can afford the time to write a story version of a script, can you see any downsides to this? Again, not something I'd do for all projects, but I think it may be the path for me on one particular story. Plus it should get it out of my head so I can go back to what I'm working on.

No brainer question. You MUST absolutely outline your story. If a person is so good that they don't even need an outline (traditional, cards, napkins, whatever) then they are probably in the wrong business. @Shaula - whatever works for you!

Definitely an outline - like prep, outlining is something you value more the more you write! But I don't tend to write a formal, beautifully crafted prose outline, not unless someone else is actually going to read it. My spec feature outlines are usually handwritten scribbles of what's going to happen scene by scene, stuffed with references and dialogue fragments that would only make sense to me. But there's enough there to keep me on course.

Yes. I use the form of a step-sheet. Once I've established my overall story shape, I break it down into sequences and then scenes. I write objective descriptions of the scenes, focussing on 'incident and character' growing out of each other.

Scott, what happens when you have a solid outline, say > 80% of the way there, but there are parts that don't quite fit properly (say the arc of the #3 character)? Do you try to fix the problem by writing your way through, watching the story pace itself and hoping inspiration will emerge as the characters jell? Or do you really hunker down and discipline yourself, and try to resolve the issues in the outline?

Hi, Not relevant to today's post at all but whilst I see you there Shaula, I emailed you back, look out for me in your junk. No not that junk, the compooter stuff. And as regards short stories, book publishers locally are saying short stories have a much bigger demand now than they have in decades. Food for thought.

I'd really like an answer to the above question as well.