Writing the Second Draft: The Retro-Outline
The Retro-Outline: An Essential Tool for Rewriting your Novel or Screenplay
One of the most difficult aspects of rewriting any long piece of writing is the sheer size of the manuscript. The intimidation of having to jump back into hundreds of pages can be paralyzing if you have no idea where to start. Every writer faces this dilemma. Tools and experience give you a toehold to start the climb.
So what do you do now that you’ve written a first draft, let it sit for awhile, and maybe even written something new to wipe the slate clean? First, I would recommend rereading the story in as few sittings as possible. With the story fresh in your mind, you’re ready to start the rewrite. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s time to jump in and start making changes just yet.
After all, this is about developing a repeatable strategy. Something that is not only efficient, but addresses all the elements of your story.
You can find some introductory notes to the process here: Starting the Second Draft: Strategies for Rewriting.
An important note: This essay was originally written for screenwriters. I am in the process of adapting it to apply to novelists more specifically, but most of the concepts apply to both. Acknowledging that the two are very different mediums, I did my best to keep the approach broad.
Working from Big to Small
While it’s fun to tweak the dialogue and really dive into the scenes, there’s no reason to start changing words and sentences when whole paragraphs, scenes, or even chapters might still be cut. The content and direction of the story might head in a different direction during the course of the rewrite. The most efficient way to approach the second draft of a story is to work from big to small.
In writing the first draft, you started with a premise and built a story around that idea. The rewrite is approached in the same way. You start with the story structure and character arcs, move through the acts (which I will define later), and eventually work your way to scenes, dialogue, prose style, etc., in roughly this order:
1. STORY STRUCTURE
2. THE THREE ACTS
3. KEY SCENES
4. TRANSITIONAL SCENES
5. SCENE DYNAMICS/CONFLICT
6. DIALOGUE
7. PROSE STYLE
This list is by no means all-inclusive. There are plenty of other things to work on along the way. It also might not be the best order for you. This is just one possibility in terms of approach.
You may be saying to yourself, “Why is the prose style last? It’s the poetry of my writing that really helps my work transcend modern fiction. It’s my genius.” Okay. Cool. Then you’re set. If you have written an episodic tale about someone who moves from European cafe to European cafe philosophizing and conversing with oddball characters and beautiful women, then you do not need to read any further. Your story is perfect.
This is about creating a deliberate, well-crafted story with a conscious structure, not just a series of scenes in an arbitrary order.
You also may be saying to yourself (or perhaps you don’t talk to yourself nearly as much as I do) that there isn’t much mention of character in this list. Good catch, but that doesn’t mean that character isn’t at the heart of everything. Character determines the story. Character and story are so closely linked that when one of them changes, they change together. Questions like “Can the protagonist walk away?” will be asked when addressing a key scene in the beginning. “What is at stake for the character?” will arise throughout the rewrite, but most felt in the middle. The hard questions will all involve character in some way. For all the focus on “story,” character is your story.
Data Collection: Breaking Down the Story
When you write the first draft of anything, it’s the only time during the long road to a final draft when you’re staring at a blank page. Even if you work from an outline that gives you a sense of direction. The focus of the first draft is about moving forward and getting all the ideas on the page.
Once you have that first draft, you have data to work with. Which means you can isolate different parts of the completed draft and analyze them. I make that sound more scientific and cold than it is. I assure you that it is not. There’s still plenty of discovery in the rewrite process, hopefully more.
The first element to isolate is the story itself. The premise and the structure used to convey that premise. This will obviously bleed over into the characters and their arcs and relationships. In a sense, all stories are about identity. (How’s that for a big idea thrown out as an aside?)
Before you start with the structure, look at the premise and the approach you chose. Ask yourself difficult questions, but just as importantly, ask yourself weird questions. Because weird is your strength. It’s easy to guide something toward what everyone else would write, the obvious choices. It’s more important to find your own weirdness and write it the way that only you can write it.
This process will allow you to isolate that story and look at the pacing, momentum, arcs, logic, and a number of other elements. It will allow you to look at the key scenes, not just by themselves, but in relation to each other. It will indicate where there is too much or too little, where scenes need to be added or deleted.
Questions are your greatest allies. Constantly be asking questions. Don’t worry about the answers. They aren’t as important. Answers will form. The function of the questions is to see what direction they take you and the story. Ask questions to find better questions. Never stop asking good questions.
Your data collection begins by writing the retro-outline.
What is a Retro-Outline?
The retro-outline is simple, similar to any story outline: a beat sheet that lists the scenes. The big difference is that you don’t have to do anything creative. You’ve already done the work, because in this case, you will create the outline from your existing draft. It isn’t time yet to make any changes or adjustments. Yet. Just take the novel or screenplay and go through it scene-by-scene to create an outline version of the first draft. Even if you stuck to an original outline, write it out again. (Also, if you stuck to your original outline without deviation, you probably need to loosen up your process.)
It shouldn’t be that long (depending on how epic your story is). Four or five pages. There’s no need for detail. This document is only for your use. It is far more essential that you keep it very focused than include specifics. Too much detail is detrimental to its function.
The point of the retro-outline is to see the shape of your story, the bones. To see the thing from a distance. Before you start changing scenes, you want to see if the pacing, structure, and overall character arcs need any work. If there are logic gaps, if a character makes an emotional turn too quickly, etc. The retro-outline is where you’ll be able to get a sense of these big-picture elements.
I would also recommend including an emotional progression for your main characters to get an idea if the changes and transitions are fluid or choppy.
If your story has a lot of characters, focus your attention on the protagonist (or two or three main characters) of the story. Don’t worry as much about the supporting characters (include important scenes, but keep the detail to a minimum). Supporting characters are important, but their stories do not generally drive the story’s momentum or impact the broad structure. And if the supporting characters are driving the story, that’s going to be something that you will want to look at more closely and address.
The retro-outline also helps to create objectivity by putting some distance between you and the story. That objectivity will be necessary to make the changes that will improve the project.
Sample Retro-Outline
The following is a sample of what the opening of a retro-outline for the movie, “E.T.” would look like. I used a screenplay rather than a novel, because it’s both recognizable and shorter. The same principle applies to both.
Notice how simple I’ve kept it. While your first draft has backstory, deeper character development, and details, this very simply lays out the beats of the story. The more stripped down it is, the more effective it is as a rewriting tool.
1. An alien ship rests in the middle of the woods. The creatures gently collect plants. A smaller ALIEN strays from the ship. Pick-ups arrive. Men led by “KEYS” chase the stray Alien through the forest, forcing the spaceship to leave without it. The Alien escapes through the forest and possibly into the suburbs below.
2. ELLIOTT (11), who lives with his MOTHER, OLDER BROTHER, and YOUNGER SISTER, hears a sound in his backyard. He throws a ball into the shed where he heard the sound. Somebody or something throws the ball back. He tells everyone inside. They find tracks, but think nothing of it.
3. That night, Elliott investigates on his own. He follows the tracks into the field next to his house. For a brief moment, he sees the Alien. However, they are both so frightened, they run in opposite directions.
4. The next day, Elliott leaves a trail of candy up in the woods, where he assumes the Alien went. He searches a little bit, and spots Keys searching, as well.
5. At dinner that night, no one believes him. We learn a little bit more about the family, where their father is, and how they get along.
6. Elliott stays up all night. The Alien walks right up to him. The candy worked. Elliott brings the Alien inside the house and coaxes him into his room. They immediately bond. The Alien mimics Elliott’s actions.
Etc., etc.
How to Use The Retro-Outline
A novel or a screenplay is written in parts, written from scene to scene. It’s easy to lose a sense of how one scene or a series of scenes impacts the whole. The retro-outline is the opportunity to see the forest for the trees.
It allows you to look at the structure. If you are approaching the story from the point of view of a traditional three-act structure, you’ll be able to see where the act breaks occur, the placement of the inciting incident, and the overall pacing of the story.
You’ll also be able to see the emotional arc of the protagonist and some of the other characters, as you will be able to closely track the progression.
With the retro-outline in hand, you’ll be able to make a series of notes so that when you dive into adding, deleting, or changing scenes, you’ll be able to see the impact on the rest of the story.
Even if you don’t think that you need to re-outline your story, there is absolutely no harm in seeing what the shape of the story looks like from a distance. Not all of rewriting is making changes. Sometimes it’s confirming that something works and should remain. Most of it is thinking about the process and questioning if you made the right choices in the first draft.
It’s always about asking good questions.
