The stories that get to become outlines have been chosen.
Sprint #2, #4, and #5. Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to actually remember which ones those are. Sprint 2 was the one about the fight before the party, sprint 4 was the witch’s house, and sprint 5 was the cops not waiting for back-up.
Need to catch-up?
Sprint 3 was knocked out for the simple reason of me wanting to avoid the zombie plot line. Not because I don’t like zombies, far from it, but because I have a zombie WIP on the go and I wanted something fresh for this challenge (as well as not muddy my brain with two zombie stories.)
As for Sprint 1, I don’t actually have any super strong convictions about it. Maybe that’s actually the problem. Sprint 1 lost out because I had more excitement for the other three sprints. There wasn’t something specific enough that was going to happen in the haunted house. I didn’t know who the ghost was, why the women were there, where there was… It’s something to return to perhaps.
Choosing 2, 4, and 5 came down to me seeing a way to throw in a twist. Something that I find happens in all of my favourite short stories is some sort of reveal or twist right near the end. Something that is obvious when you look back but shocking or an “oh of course that’s the case” kind of feeling when you reach it.
My outlining process starts quite messy and can look different for every story. These three outlines are relatively similar, though each has something a little unique to it.
My process begins with asking myself a bunch of questions and often writing down multiple answers. I ask questions about plot, purpose, and character more than anything else. Sometimes setting comes into it if setting feels important or specific enough, but most of my stories aren’t setting driven and a lot of the specificity comes out during the writing phase. There is of course world building, but that tends to be something that comes along with these other elements.
When I say these questions get multiple answers, I mean sometimes I don’t know where the story is going (especially with writing from prompt driven sprints), and so, if I see a bunch of different directions, I’ll write them all down and play with all the ideas before deciding on one. I like this method because it lets me keep thinking without fear of losing an idea thread.
Sometimes I’ll get to a later question and realize the current most exciting direction doesn’t match this new thought but another direction does and with this idea I’m switching direction again! Basically, this part is planning more than outlining and is my brain on the page.
But multiple answers, cut out threads, and no thought to order of notes does not make for a very referenceable outline. So the next part is cleaning things up. Usually I do all of this in my notebook, but I thought I would give you a better view of the finished outlines by creating them in a doc.
Most often, these cleaned up outlines have three major parts: timeline, characters, and summary. They may also include little sketched out floor plans, lists for motifs, or other super specific sections. And they can be more or less detailed. Again, these all look very similar, probably because I was in a similar headspace while creating them. I basically had a template after creating the first one and just followed through. This might be influenced by it being typed and not written too!
If you watch the video, you’ll notice each of these stories took on many directions before landing on the final form. During the choosing phase, I had a lot of ideas about where the stories would go. These were all thoughts that cropped up between the sprints and sitting down to create the outlines. Not everything went that way, and not all of them had a clear direction yet.
It isn’t until I start asking my questions about “how we got here” that I start to understand my own stories. Now, this is unique to stories coming from prompt sprints because usually I have more answers or a clear overarching thought about a story I’m creating when it’s coming from just my brain. Though sometimes inspiration strikes in a similar way to a prompt and you’re working from a single scene or vague idea just like this. (My zombie WIP actually started from a super vague place like this!)
Sprint 2 started as a story about a spousal violence being seen by arriving guests and ended up as a possession story, still with DV at its center but less prominent.
Sprint 4 started as a fake romantic getaway to sacrifice their partner to something/one and ended up as tricking a new friend to join them on a hike which ends in their sacrifice for power but actually they’re feeding a cannibal.
Sprint 5 started as two cops rushing in before back-up shows up and ended up as, well, two cops rushing in before back-up shows up. But there was a brief moment when the hostage/abductee was something supernatural and should be locked up. It ended with back-up not being physically able to reach them after they’ve already breached the house.
Something that was obviously different from most of my outlining in the past, is that I was talking through these outlines out loud. I think this definitely took the place of some of my usual messiness. Even my written brain dump outlines seem more organized than usual.
It’s very fun, even for me, to watch my excitement as I figure out each of these stories and which directions they will take and why. I really talk with my hands and facial expressions…
Quick snippets from said video:
The next phase asks us to ditch an outline and start writing the two remaining stories. The choice is meant to focus on mechanics and which outline is the strongest and most appropriate for a short story.
Which ones sound interesting to you and which do you think best fit a short story versus a longer piece?
Also, how does my planning and outlining process look next to yours? Any similarities? Glaring differences? Things you might try or things you never would?
Jerrica Black is an editor, writer, and content creator with a variety of passions including but not limited to literature, cooking, crafting, hiking, and gaming. She graduated in May 2025 from Professional Writing at Algonquin, is the author of “Flames to Remember” in Shattered Reflections, and creates educational and conversational blog posts and videos about reading, writing, and editing while encouraging (and editing for) aspiring writers and assisting small businesses with copy & content.
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.