Do you plan out your plot before beginning to write or does it come as you write?

My plot is clear at the beginning of writing, but subplots develop along the way. If I get distracted by a subplot, I will put together a quick outline to get me back on track. Of course, a compelling deviation has potential to change the original main storyline, but that rarely happens.

 

When the idea first comes into my head, i might not know where it is going. By the time i start writing, i have a rough idea of the plot (i.e. i know the end and have a vague idea of how i'm going to get there). But now i deliberately try to leave as much as possible unplanned. What the numerous failed projects between now and my original 2 completed works when i first took up writing as a kid have told me is that i am not a writer as much as i am a story creator, something that can probably be said for many people. I find it difficult to get started with writing, and i dont always find the time to go as fast as i would like. So if i let myself start planning, i will eventually go through the entire story in my head... then probably invent a sequel and go through that one... and possibly another one after that... then by the time i sit down to write again, the story i am working on has become so thoroughly exhausted in my head that i am bored of it, and i will eventually be forced to think about new ideas, which will ultimately lead to the original project being abandoned.

So instead, though i know most of the important points, i avoid thinking about the in between as much as i can, so that when i come to write it it will be as new to me as the story was when i first thought of it.

Also i never, or at least rarely, plan scenes and smaller scale things too much, although i do write a lot of notes about the general structure of the plot, leaving blanks in between key events for me to fill as i please. When i actually sit down to write a chapter though, 90% of the time i do not have a clear idea of exactly how i am going to do it, and only have a general idea of what i want. I just write and things happen, without any real planning. Character interactions just happen without forethought, and if i had planned for 2 characters to have a certain relationship, often that relationship changes as soon as i actually try to write the 2 characters together. Scenes which exist in my mind as a 1 sentence summary grow to be chapter length when i write them. And usually if my character is playing it by ear, i am too.

 

I nearly always just right what when an idea hits me, but I've recently started to write my ideas down and try to work on the them to see if i could make it go past a first chapter.

 

I like this "checkpoint" term. Its exactly how i see what i do.


I'll get a general idea of what im planning to write (a main central plot), then break it out into paths i want to take (chapters), then i'll sit down and think for a few minutes what might possabiy take place, then i just write (fill the gaps in). I like doing it that way because more times than not it'll go some place im not expecting (and usually a lot more material is written because i havent pressured myself into a single path, which helps later on when im cutting stuff out).

 

I always write an outline. And then i cut down the outline to the parts i'm actually going to write. And from there i double check to make sure the plot is solid. And, finally, the writing begins. I like knowing where i'm going, though it doesn't seem to cut down the amount i edit or cut out in the end.

 

it's probably better that you let everything flow. it's true that it can be hard to wrap up a plot that you've just been going with; but, the story reads better and feels more real if you allow the characters to find thier own way. thus creating thier own story/plot.

 

I'm a total go with the fly girl. When I start writing, I never know where it ends up. But than when I do end it, I am amazed. Of course I have to go back and revise, revise, revise...but at least the idea is on paper. I have tried writing with an outline, but that's a lot harder for me.

 

I'm a mystery writer and almost always have the main plot and sub-plots mapped out before I type out my first sentence. I depend alot on a timeline so I can coordinate activities from various threads and determine when certain facts are revealed. For the chapters themselves I have a general idea of the setting, the characters, and whats driving the plot, but then I fill in the rest as I go. It works for me.

 

Something that has really helped me is to think out the main bones of the story and also the opening scene before I start. Then I just start writing and just try and put myself in the shoes of my characters. If a character just said something, what would the other character say back? Then I just write. I don't judge my writing until I get it all out. I was worried with writing this way that I would have to do a whole lot of editing, but to my surprise it really has been going well. Just trust yourself.