Guest blogger, Carole Gift Page, continues to share her Ten Steps in Writing a Novel.
STEP EIGHT: DON’T BE AFRAID TO CHANGE YOUR OUTLINE OR SYNOPSIS. The process of writing is a journey, an adventure, an exploration of the unknown. You may find that your novel takes new directions, the characters evolve differently from what you expected, and the plot needs to be adjusted to accommodate new ideas and revised goals.
Fine. That’s natural. Don’t be anxious. Keep your outline as a loose structure to guide you in your writing, but be flexible enough to respond to your own creative instincts and impulses. Think of your synopsis as a road map to guide you in your travels. Once you actually begin your journey, you may discover other side roads and avenues more exciting or suitable than the path you marked out. Remember, your synopsis is there only to serve you; don’t make yourself a slave to it. Experiment with new routes as you please.