When I was studying with Robert Ward and Carlisle Floyd, I was taught to create detailed outlines of my operas. Over the years, I've learned that for me, it is more useful to write sections of music first--usually arias or duets--that move me about the subject or character. Then I knit them together asking questions like, "How are these two sections related? Are they the same character or different ones?"
After I write a piece, I might be able to see my next possible pieces, but I don't worry about the fourth, fifth, or sixth piece removed from it.
I'm sure I've said this here before, but we don't go to the opera to see how it ends. We don't go to TOSCA for the moment when she jumps off the roof. So the plot needn't be looked at as a graph that climbs from bottom left to top right. It's more like a large mural, with points of interest in different spots. The fact that we don't see our favorite spot last doesn't matter. What we go to TOSCA to see/hear is "Vissi d'arte," or the "Te Deum," or "Recondita armonia." Now it's true that the outline can provide the inspiration, but maybe the inspiration can also provide the outline.
