I’ve always used Post It Notes for outlining my scripts. They’re cheap, handy, easily moved and well, they just feel right. I use three big foam core boards labeled Act 1, 2 & 3 to lay out my script. It works. When it’s finally time to write the outline* I simply type whatever happens to be on my sticky notes and presto-changeo the outline is finished. But my writing group is urging me to use the tried and true 3x5 note cards. They insist that the cards are more portable and easier to use. They make a good argument about being able to shuffle through the cards at odd times and places like the office, lunch, etc.
Do I fix what ain’t broken or ignore a possibly life changing system? (Note the negative connotation of each choice.)
* I’m a big proponent of a detailed outline. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “I wrote a really nice outline but now I’m in the middle of act 3 and can’t figure out how my hero escapes the radioactive cobras.” Why do I think that the outline wasn’t quite as “nice” as advertised?
The excuse that “Writing an outline stifles my creativity.” or “I do my best writing while just winging it.” also drives me bonkers. Writing isn’t just putting squiggly lines onto paper (or screen). Thinking about what eventually makes it into your script IS the real writing. This is where you get to use that imagination that you’re so proud of. Show us what ‘cha got. Tantalize us with our unfathomed desires and then sink that hook into the fleshy part of our minds so hard and deep that we can’t flop off the line. Dazzle us with bullshit and astound us with paradise. The outline is where all of this is born. Coming up with scene after scene that flows and evokes emotion is the important part of the story telling process. The rest as Truman Capote said, is just typing.
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