One of the most civil wars (pun unintended) of our time exists in the writing world. A war between plotters and pantsers, it’s a war that will never result in a true victor.

• Plotter:  a writer who outlines (plots) beforehand;  Biggest proponent:  J. K. Rowling, billionaire extraordinaire.
• Pantser:  a person who writes “by the seat of their pants” (i.e. no outline);  Biggest proponent:  Stephen King, father of modern horror and master of the written word.

When I first started writing, I fell hardcore on the side of the pantsers. Whether novels or short stories, papers or poems for school, letters or speeches, I went into the writing without an outline. The exploration was a fascination and the sky was not the limit. As story ideas pile up and mature in my head, however, I’ve become much more of a plotter, reasons uncertain; it might partly be because I largely type rather than handwrite these days.

The biggest holdup in my completing a story seems to be the infamous problem of not knowing “what comes next?” and it’s with that in mind that I recently began a challenge that I call 30 Days, 30 Outlines.

30 Days, 30 Outlines is my endeavor to finally put to paper a slew of stories I’ve played with for months, weeks, or years. In a more gruesome fashion, this is a challenge to put to paper the stories I want told in such a way that, should I die for some bizarre, unforeseeable, and horrifically unlikely reason (such as an attack of crows, a zombie car crash, or toxic gases from Mars), any random person off the street could theoretically write any incomplete stories exactly as I want them told.

But what is 30 Days, 30 Outlines? I mean, you can tell from the name, but if not, it’s this:  I’ve got 30 days to write 30 outlines. Sounds like a lot of outlines (or stories), huh? True, but to be honest, after my first two completed outlines, I created a list of my stories that readily came to mind and realized those alone easily reach past 40 so…yeah…ambition!

In theory, I write one outline per day, but some days go better than others, and some outlines are easier than others. At this point, my average remains one per day, but my longest outline took a full three days (compensated by multiple outlines on other days).

One thing 30 Days, 30 Outlines is not:  a rewriting of previous ones. I did not bring with me outlines that I’ve already crafted (mostly sequels that I’m working on). Nor is it a way for me to avoid writing while pretending to write. Outlines help me. They help to know what comes next, and they help me to layer my stories. That’s why I’m doing this. Thirty outlines under my belt will provide more than the vision for my stories, it will (based on experience) provide the momentum that takes me through draft 1 and on to completion. Whether that means “success” or not (how are we defining success?), we’ll see further down the road.

You’ll have to pardon me for not posting my outlines, but you’re free to join in the challenge (or share it) if you want!