Q: Hey Bill, I've been trying my hand at writing as of late, and I have all these great ideas for characters and character interactions, but I just can't seem to connect them all to the over-arching plot. Have you ever written any stories, and if so do you have any advice on how to bring them to fruition?
A: there is a common debate about whether you should try to think of the plot ('outline') before you write. as i am foraying more deeply into this issue, i am rapidly forming stronger opinions than i thought, in favor of the non-outline. Believe me, i've been trapped in a corner with no plot many times before, as can clearly be seen in my infantile attempts over the past few years, which is what makes me feel pressure to outline (i recall hitting a point of desperation  somewhere over the Andes mountains). I think you will find some writers have to outline, some writers think you're supposed to outline, some writers are very good at outlining, sometimes it almost feels like most people assume you are supposed to outline. But ... there are some people who say when they outline it ruins it. Some people say they are hired to write stories, and they are required to do an outline, so they have to fake the outline, either by making a fake outline first and then ignoring it when they write the real thing, (and the bosses usually forget), or, by just writing the whole story first and then making a fake outline based on how the story actually turned out. Many many professional writers insist that you have to outline in order to get anywhere, and that seems true.... and i want to believe this......... but i keep having these realizations which put me further and further toward the non-outline side of the spectrum. here's an example, which i may or may not agree with in a few years from now, but i was noticing something: when i watch movies/films (like the kind you would see in the cinema back when that was a thing), the majority of those that i've seen, when i watch them for the first time, ......... extremely often i have no earthly idea what's going on for at least the first 30 minutes. The scenes may be great, and i am perfectly keen to enjoy great scenes and dialogue like music, even if i don't actually have any idea who these people are or what they're talking about, but still... somehow, in most of these cases, i just... think we're supposed to know what's going on. I think the writer assumes that it's more intelligible than it is.... because they think they've left enough clues as to what's going on. I don't know if i'm the only one, it could be just some kind of brain disfunction, but most movies seem to act like i'm supposed to know what the hell is going on, even though i don't. (again, this does not usually detract from the aesthetics of the scene and music of the dialogue, but somehow i still think we're probably supposed to know what's going on, at least slightly) Again, i may just be stupid, but i've noticed that if i see the movie for the second time, THEN it obviously works out perfectly, and everything is great and makes sense and thrives fully well......... because i have already watched the movie an entire time so i know what's going on. Maybe you see where i'm going with this................. suddenly i had a shocking realization. and you may disagree with this, and who knows, i may disagree with it later, but it seems perfectly clear to me currently..... which is that All these scenes are designed by someone who already knows what's going to happen. that's why it makes no sense to someone who doesn't know yet. And suddenly it occured to me that what MUST be done (at least on my watch, if i am writing) it became quite clear to me that the only fair way to actually avoid this problem is for the writer to actually not know what's going to happen. that seems like the most effective way for the writer and the reader to actually be on the same page and to enjoy and understand the same things. I'm sure there's other ways around this, but if you are asking me at this point i would say i'm leaning heavily toward the free side of the spectrum. that being said, i'm sure you are aware that i've had some blunders attempting to be on that side of the spectrum (exclusively blunders, for the most part, aside from times i resorted to non-fiction) but in my case i think the trick around that might be something as simple as having more than 1 character. which i strangely never really tried before, so we'll see what happens