I am a writer who almost never uses outlines. Usually the story pops into my head as a fragmented concept or from character studies that Ive been thinking about for a long time. And when the time seems right, I let it come out onto the page.

Although writing a screenplay is very different from writing a book, in many ways there are similarities for me in terms of process. I am a very visual person, and that is the spring board for most all of my work. When I write a screenplay that I intend to produce myself, I write a very detailed description of camera angles, frame composition and other visual descriptions not usually included in script formats. This is beneficial to me, because it leaves me a good foundation to shoot from.

When writing stories I write in a similar way, however since the medium is one concerned with description, rather than the abridged content, I can get easily lost within the world I am creating. The fun part of working without an outline, is that I get to experience the first draft as if I am being told the story by the characters themselves.