I've never written a short-story this way before.
I'm coming at it more like a novel. I'm outlining, then researching things like character names and historical towns to model the setting off of, then revising the outline, rinse, repeat.
So I've written very little of it, so far. And what I have written -- snippets of dialog and description -- might get thrown out later, as the outline changes.
I'm not sure it's better, this way. I feel frustrated at times, like I want to just write the thing and get it over with.
But I know -- well, I feel -- that that will result in a story that's not as good as it could have been. Like eating grapes before they've ripened on the vine.
And I do keep coming up with more connections between the various pieces of the story, more ways to tie it all together. Each one is an improvement. Each one makes the story stronger.
Perhaps that's how I'll know when to stop outlining, and start writing? When I literally can't think of any way to make the story itself better?
How about you? How do you know when it's time to write a story, and when it needs to sit in your mind a little while longer?
