Earlier this week, Elana Johnson wrote a post asking for input on outlining and in response to it, I thought I would share with you all my own outlining style.

Warning:  the following post gives a detailed look at the workings of the gabi brain and these methods may not be suitable for all writers.

The truth is, I’m a visual thinker not a verbal one, which is probably a bit strange for a writer.  In a former life, I was a product designer and a lot of my design training tends to inform my approach to writing.

I’m also a native New Yorker, born and raised and still living in the city.  My love for this city also informs my writing, despite the fact that I have yet to write anything that’s actually set in NYC.

My visual approach to writing has merged with my New York mindset and lately, I have found myself outlining in the form of subway maps.  The basic idea is that subway lines represent story threads and the “stops” on the subway line represent individual scenes.  In some outlines, I have several threads that intersect and come full circle (like the BAX outline above).  In other situations, I might have two separate lines that run parallel but come together in some key points (like my very early outline of my WIP).

In addition, I also make charts to go with my subway outlines, in which I detail what happens at each of the “stops.”  In particular, these charts include the following information about each scene:

• Characters
• Important Events
• Setting
• Purpose (or “Why am I writing this scene anyway?”)

I realize that the subway lines might make sense to me, but to other readers (like my critique group or a workshop) they just look like lines and dots.  This is why I make the charts, to help translate the insanity that is my outline method.  This method might not work for all people, but for me, it helps to think of writing a piece as being sort of like a journey.  It also helps me to think of each scene as one dot in a long list of dots, because writing a dot is easy.  Whenever I start to feel doubts, I try to remind myself that it’s just a stupid dot and I can write one dot.  That way, dot by dot and scene by scene, I get myself to write the book.

Argyle weaves several elements together to make a thoroughly engaging story.  I was taken in by the depth of emotion and dark turns in the plot, and I found it difficult to put this book down.

The language is lyrical and beautiful, but not overly fluffy as to distract from the story.  While the story is set in a medieval, magical kingdom filled with knights and peasants, Argyle doesn’t get bogged down with trying to make the characters sound “of the period.”  Instead, the dialogue flows effortlessly and the prose practically disappears in front of the reader’s eyes, leaving us engrossed in the characters and the story.

I enjoyed the dark twists to the fairytale as well.  Argyle doesn’t hold back, but lets the reader see the full extent of darkness and evil in her characters.  In fact, even our beloved protagonist, Cinderella, is not immune from the darkness as we discover throughout the story.  It was this darkness that drew me into the story and made it ring true in a way that fairy tales often do not.

Perhaps the most deftly developed aspect of the story is the relationship between Cinderella and her prince, Rowland.  While Cinderella is convinced that their relationship is based purely on magic, we see a depth of love develop between the couple that makes this marriage very real.  Unlike the “happily ever after” vision of a perfect Prince Charming, Rowland has his flaws, the biggest of which is that he is not the handsome stranger who haunts Cinderella’s dreams.  As she discovers, however, the gentle, steady love that forms her marriage is far more precious than the passion she thought she wanted.

The one aspect of the story that did not ring quite as true to me was the stranger in Cinderella’s dreams.  When he turns out to be a magical being, it becomes hard for the reader to hope that Cinderella to choose him over Rowland, though I imagine this may have been the author’s design.  Yet, in a world where all the other beings have some sort of darkness in them, I wanted to see darkness in this stranger as well, some glint of evil that would push the story that one last step.

I found this to be a deeply engaging book, one which I read in practically one sitting.  The bittersweet ending left me nothing short of breathless.  My response: “Yes! *sigh* More?”  And that’s precisely what a reader’s response to any ending should be.

For more information about Cinders, visit Michelle Davidson Argyle’s website.

iggi U registration is officially open, and iggi and I can’t wait to share all the exciting surprises we have in store.

First, the classes.  As I mentioned on Friday, there will be five classes offered at iggi U this fall and they are scheduled for the following days:

Mondays = Love of Literature
Tuesdays = Creative Community
Wednesdays = Craft-ivity
Thursdays = Working the Workshop
Saturdays & Sundays = Brain Bootcamp

You can take as many or as few of the classes as you like.  Each course will include weekly posts and assignments to help you put together your personalized writing plan.

Next, the badges.  That’s right, if you sign-up for iggi U, you can put your very own DIY MFA badge on your blog to show the world that you’re part of the awesomeness.  I made one badge in each of our school colors so you can choose the color that suits you best!  (And yes, at iggi U we have not two, but four, school colors.  Because we’re specialer like that.)

Last, but not least, the contest!  Here’s the deal.  Just register for iggi U using the form below and you’ll be automatically entered in the contest.  That’s it, no strings attached.  You don’t have to link from your blog or tweet or anything like that.  Of course, if you do choose to spread the iggi-luv, I will smile doubly inside.  At the end of DIY MFA, I’ll pick the winner by lottery.

What of the prize, you ask?  Since DIY MFA is all about writing, the prize will be about writing too.  After all, I may be making a crazy assumption here but I’m guessing that if you’re reading this, you’re probably a writer.  This means you must have some written stuff that could use a critique… which brings me to our prize.

*Work should be double-spaced, with standard margins and 12pt font.

To set the mood for my upcoming travels, I’ve been researching Irish literary figures.  I’ve decided to make it sort of a game for myself, seeing as many places as possible that are connected to Irish literature.  So far, I have eight authors on my list:

Jonathan Swift, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, John M. Synge, W. B. Yeats, Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde and, of course, James Joyce.  (Bonus points to anyone who can figure out who’s who in the pictures above.)

Before the trip I plan to download a bunch of books to my Kindle, all with an Ireland theme to be my reading for the trip.  These will include works by the above authors, as well as Celtic fairy tales and legends.

Any other authors I should add to my list?  Suggestions welcome!