I’m over 11,000 words into my WIP, and I realized last night that I need an outline.

This is my fifth novel, folks. You’d think I would have thought of this before now. Maybe I was being a little too confident? A little cocky, even? Thinking I’ve done this enough, I have a general direction … Outline? I don’t need no stinkin’ outline.

Uh. Yeah, I do.

Damn it.

So now my progress stands to suffer as I have to take time to figure out what I should have figured out last month or the month before that. I have some work to do. It’s good work. It’s worthwhile work. I HAVE to do it. But jeez, I wish my horse wasn’t standing behind my cart right now.

My advice? My point in writing this little post?

Do a little planning before you sit down to write something. A general direction is good. I had that. But it’s not really enough, especially if you plan to write a novel. I know some people can do it without a map; they just jump into the forest and wander around, type until their fingers bleed, and then revise, revise, revise, eventually carving a trail for themselves through the wilderness. For some people that works.

Not for me.

I need the map. Now I’ve got to find my compass and get started. And I’ve heard bears have been sighted in the vicinity. I need to move.