: Re: Outlining the climax made me lose interest in writing the actual story I am a discovery writer. I wrote more than 50% of my first novel's first draft. I got really confuse about some aspects

@Sue2132873

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There are two kinds of discovery, not one! I am a outliner, not a pantser. I am also a plot-driven, not a character-driven writer. I love outlining, but always the finished product has huge departures from the outline. What I outline is plot, with very little character work. The plot is my creativity set free to do what comes easily: creating worlds and puzzles and mysteries and then solving them.

I save the best part for the actual writing. What happens when I actually write the chatpers? Discovery. But if I already know the plot, what is there to discover?

Character. As I write, I discover the character of my heroes and villains. I find out who they are, what they want, and how they refuse to act the way my initial plot dictates, forcing small or large changes to the story.

I find that the dicovery of character is a greater mystery to me than the discovery of what happens next. Why? Because I am so bad at it! Because character development is my weak spot, discovering it, refining it and polishing it is the great challenge for me.

What is the result? Instead of "planned" people and spontaneous plots, I write of spontaneous people with plots that are part planned, and part an adaptation to the surprises I find in my characters. It all just works better, and it keeps me engaged at writing throughout the whole process. In fact, what used to be for me the "sagging middle" where I had the most problems continuing and keeping the story interesting, is now my favorite part of writing any book.

One example should suffice. I had a female cook on a wagon train in one scene, put there for the sole purpose of making the heroine jealous in one scene. Thedarra was a throwaway character. But then she started to grow on me. She refused to be killed off or sidelined. She grew into a real person, an important character who makes courageous choices and saves the day, which of course made the jealousy factor and conflict grow magnificently. Thedarra eventually became my favorite character in the whole story, but first I had to discover her.

If you can't see what there is left to discover in your own story, try to understand its people. It will be worth it.

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