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I swore by a strict outline for every story until this workshop in Denver
For years, I'd map out every single plot point before writing a word, thinking it was the only way to avoid a messy draft. At a local workshop last month, the leader had us do a ten-minute free-write based on a single image of an abandoned gas station. I ended up with a character and a voice I never would have planned, and the whole first chapter flowed from that one unplanned exercise. My old outlines felt stiff compared to the energy in that raw page. Now I let myself discover the story for a bit before I try to structure it. Anyone else find that too much planning can kill the initial spark?
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