Outlining
I learned a while ago that no one method always seems to work for me when it comes to story drafting. I do have some tried and true tactics, but as I’ve told writing students, though the point is to scale the mountain and you’re likely to use the same tools each time, every mountain is a little different. You might use some of the tools less often, or not at all, or lean on some other device that you don’t usually employ.
These days I’ve been experimenting with super-detailed outlines. I found, though, in the writing of both The Bones of the Old Ones and Stalking the Beast that a super-detailed outline didn’t save me completely from having to rework things, hair loss, and general grumpiness. I’ve since hit on a second phase that really seems to be working for my new Hearthstones series. I don’t know if it will always work or if I will use it for every book going forward, but it’s working now, so I thought I’d share it.