Today’s writers’ debate is about the process of writing. Do we put our fingers on our keyboards and start typing without a conscious plan? Or do we outline our plots, subplots and characters before starting our stories?

This conversation came up with a group of student writers, and there were strong feelings on both sides of the debate. I wish I could say I was clearly one style or another. But the reality is that I use all of the techniques to craft my stories. When I’m free-writing, or experimenting, I usually set my 20 minute timer, put my fingers on the keyboard and see what comes of it.

But when I’m working on a specific story, I take my time getting to know my characters by using a combination of character inventories, outlines and scene setting exercises to get a sense of what they want and need. After my initial story/character set-up, I write a little bit, test how they maneuver in the world I’ve created for them, figure out what’s working and what’s not; and then I outline some more, then I write do a little more free-writing, and so on as I learn their stories. It’s all make-believe, so I can do what I want. But I am not careless about it.

I think of it like getting to know real-life people. We start with a few basics (are they married, do they have kids, what’s their occupation, where do they live, etc.) then over time, we share more (maybe a favorite recipe or movie), then more (why they divorced their spouse, got a new job, or whatever). Eventually, if we stay friends long enough, we learn each others’ stories. That’s the level I like to be on with my characters. Sometimes it takes a lot of outlining to figure them out, other times, I “click” with them, the same way I would with a real person.

The one caveat to my outlining is that sometimes I find myself writing the characters in a direction I didn’t know I wanted to take them. When that happens, I have to decide: are we going to take the fork in the road, or stay on the main path that I’ve already outlined. I kind of have to take the fork in the road and see where it leads.

And when I get into that kind of flow and ignore my outlines, plot arcs, and character inventories, sometimes it leads to a golden egg. Other times, it leads to the trash bin. But I can’t resist the possibility of a golden egg, so I take the fork in the road see if it pays off.