As a rule, I'm not a list maker, but once in a while I accumulate so many tasks on my plate, that instead of simply doing them, I begin playing tag with my thoughts. I try so hard to remember the things I need to do and sort out the order in which I should do them, that I get little or nothing done aside from thinking.

So it was with my writing. I never used to outline. I just waited for an idea to strike, for the characters to walk into my head with a problem to solve, and away I went. Certainly I had a basic idea where the story was going -- or at least where I wanted it to go -- but the details of the plot and the supporting cast of characters were hazy, as if I was seeing them through a fog.

Then, in 2002, Orca Book Publishers introduced Soundings, a new imprint of short, gritty, engaging books for reluctant teen readers. As a former middle and high school teacher, I was very familiar with reluctant readers and knew how necessary and timely this new imprint was. It could have a big impact on turning non-readers into readers, and I wanted to be a part of that. I even had a title -- The Hemingway Tradition. All I needed was a story to go with it. Because the Soundings books were so short and aimed at such a specific audience, Orca recognized that it wasn't practical or fair to ask authors to write these novels on spec, so instead they offered contracts based on an outline and a sample chapter.

Suddenly feeling my way forward through a fog wasn't an option. I had to know exactly where the story was going, and I had to provide a map so that the publisher knew too. Never having outlined before, I had no idea what I should be doing, but being linear and analytical by nature, I came up with a format that worked for me. First I needed a story. That was not a problem. When it comes to ideas, my mind is as prolific as a rabbit farm. Having identified my central character and his problem, I then decided on a solution. Now my story had a beginning and an end; it just needed a middle. I jotted down a few ideas for conflict and plot twists, as well as sub-plots, and -- with a pretty good idea what was going to happen in my story, I began my outline.

I decided on a twelve chapter format. I wanted the chapters to be uniform, and since the final word count couldn't exceed 15,000, my limit was 1250 per chapter. I roughly blocked the plot into twelve parts and, picturing the scenes I wanted to dramatize in my head, I wrote down what I needed to include in each chapter. It looked like this.

1

∙ set in car crossing Saskatchewan ∙ Shaw relives his father’s suicide ∙ set tone for mother/son relationship ∙ establish the notion that Dylan Sebring’s death is unresolved

2

∙ provide rationale for the move ∙ give family background ∙ Shaw starts school ∙ introduce Tess Peterson and Jai Sra

3

∙ Shaw’s English teacher draws a comparison of Shaw’s writing to his dad’s ∙ though Tess smokes, Shaw is attracted to her ∙ Tess (editor) asks Shaw to join the school paper ∙ her pointed enquiries about Dylan Sebring cause Shaw to blurt out his suicide (he’s motivated by anger re: everybody saying how great his dad is, but he knows different) ∙ Shaw and Jai go to volleyball tryouts

During this process, the most interesting thing happened. As I sorted my ideas on paper, the story started to come together on its own, and my ideas began to flow naturally. The story was all right there.

The finished outline was more polished but still pretty bare bones. I didn't include every detail -- that's what the novel is for -- but I had a map.

Orca contracted the book based on that outline and the first chapter. I still think the opening paragraph is one of the best I've ever written.

      "We had the top down on our old LeBaron, and the sun was beating on us from a sky that was nothing but blue. It was my mom's turn to drive. I was stretched out in the passenger's seat, watching Saskatchewan slide by and thinking there must be a couple dozen different ways for a guy to kill himself."

So far I've written six hi-lo books for Orca, each of which was contracted on an outline and sample chapters, but the act of outlining has become part of the process for all my writing. The main reason is that it is liberating. Once I have an outline, I don't have to try to keep everything sorted in my head, and I can focus on the chapter I am writing without worrying that it's all going to come together. I KNOW it will come together.

Oh, sure, sometimes I'm so excited by a new story idea that I barrel ahead for a chapter or three on sheer adrenaline and gut instinct, but at some point, I outline. I'm definitely a convert.