First Draft Outline

Many aspiring and experienced novelists churn out hundreds of pages (and waste valuable time) before they have a workable first draft of a story. In essence, they go on a blind treasure hunt, searching for a story. The single biggest flaw in this digging-blindly-for-story method of writing is that it doesn't take into account that you might start digging for your story a hundred miles in the wrong direction! If you haven't done all the necessary preparation to begin, you have no idea where to start, and, once you do, whether or not there really is a story beneath the soil you're unearthing. You may dig endlessly and never find it…or you may find it quite a ways down the pike from where you started, and nothing that has come before has any or much consequence and worth. Award-winning author Karen S. Wiesner is your host for this tutorial. Many of you know Karen as the author of First Draft in 30 Days, From First Draft to Finished Novel {A Writer's Guide to Cohesive Story Building}, an