A.L. Heard

I usually don’t fully outline a book. I’m a planster – I plan things out but am totally comfortable improvising along the way. I do like to know what my end point is so I don’t write myself into a corner, but I don’t need to know ahead of time what each chapter looks like. Usually as I start the process, I learn more about who the characters are and they drive a lot of the details in the book anyway: the more I put into an outline, the more I will likely have to change.

So with that in mind, I thought I’d show a sample from my current WIP, Drop the Gloves (a mm hockey romance I sometimes call my “meet ugly” story). I outlined a lot of it over the summer while I was overseas, stuck on long bus rides. I had the general premise and the major scenes/plot points, and am learning a lot about Evan and Riley as I go. There have been a couple scenes where I wrote out dialogue ahead of time, and it definitely requires some tweaking to fit what I now know about the characters and story.

Outline: (scene takes place in the penalty box during a game)
“It doesn’t bother you to get traded so much?” Evan pressed. If the Riveters traded him, he might actually cry.

Barczyk shrugged. “I put up good numbers. I’ll always find a team.”

And maybe it was the blood loss or the hit to the head, because Evan didn’t think before he blurted out, “Like what? PIMs?”

Good grief, what was he thinking?

But instead of looking offended, Barczyk grinned at him, his missing tooth front and center. “Well, yeah. Among others.”

Now let’s see how it shifted when I wrote it out for the rough draft…

Rough Draft: (scene takes place on a plane as the team travels to an away game)
“Oh,” Evan said. “You’ve played on a bunch of teams, right?”

Barczyk shrugged. “I’ve played on my fair share, yeah.” It amazed
Evan that he seemed unbothered by it. Some players he knew were anxious or bitter about unexpected or frequent trades. If the Riveters ever traded Evan, he might actually cry.

“It doesn’t bother you?” he asked. “To get traded so much?

“It’s not always trades. Sometimes it’s just time to move on. But no, not really.” He took in Evan’s skeptical look and laughed, nudging Evan with his elbow. “For real, I don’t mind. Sometimes a change of scenery is a good thing.”

“But aren’t you worried you might get stuck somewhere you don’t want to be?”

“What, like Manitoba?” he joked. “There’s good and bad in every city and team, and even being ambitious, I don’t think I’ll make it to every NHL team before I retire. Having a team is all I need, and I’m not worried about finding new ones.”

Evan weighed his words carefully. “With the way you play,” he said slowly, “you’re not worried about burning any bridges?”

Barczyk didn’t even hesitate. “Not really. I put up good numbers. I’ll always find a team. And if a team has their panties in a bunch about something I did on the ice, then they’re not a good fit for me anyway. I mean, if I can go from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and have management not think it’s an issue, I’m good.”

“I suppose.” Then, because apparently joking around with Barczyk was a thing he did now, he added, “Good numbers? Like what, PIMs?” He hadn’t checked recently, but he was pretty sure Barczyk was always top ten in penalties in minutes.

“Abs, you givin’ me shit right now?” He put a hand to his chest. “I’m hurt that you think my career is based solely on my penalties.” He paused, then said, “It’s also on how many fans love to hate me.”

“That’s not something to brag about!” Evan said, though Barczyk’s amusement was infectious.

“Isn’t it? Y’all hated me while I was in Philly. Don’t even try to deny it.

But how many Barczyk jerseys have you seen since I joined the
team? I’ve been in Pittsburgh a couple months, and I can’t go
anywhere around town without seeing someone with my number.”

If you’re an author, are you a plotter or a panster? If you plan out scenes in advance, how often do they change from what you’d been intending?