Another quick gem I found in one of the many books by Dean Koontz. Like some of my previously mentioned authors, I found several gems in Relentless that are blatant and wonderful peeks into the mind of the author / writer:
Relentless
By Dean Koontz
Page 67 – Paragraph 5
“This happens often when writing fiction. Outlines are a waste of time. If you give your characters free will, they will grow in ways you never anticipated, and they will take the story places you could not have predicted, raising themes you might or might not have intended to explore. Characters shape events; events illuminate the characters. The people in a story begin as seeds, become buds, and blossom in surprise him with their intentions and capacities.”
My only comment is that I believe Outlines are NOT a waste of time for fiction, however they are not God.
I use outlines for anchoring the ideas of a story for future reference when my Muse flies by, then when I do my research, and begin the rough draft, I allow the outline to grow as my Muse intended.
…………
When someone writes a paragraph he/she keeps the image of
a user in his/her mind – that’s how a user can understand it.
Thus that’s why this post is amazing. Thanks!