My first novel, I wrote a detailed outline but then gave myself a lot of freedom in the actual writing of the book, allowing it to go up whatever side alleys and by-ways it wanted to. My second novel, I just made up as I went along, which was fun but required a lot (and I mean a lot) of rewriting. Since then, I've mostly banged out a quick, one page, synopsis in about half an hour, putting as little conscious thought into it as possible, then done a scene by scene breakdown on index cards, going through that three or four times, till I've got it just how I want it. And then I sit down and write the thing, only deviating from the breakdown when it's clear that something isn't going to work in practice. I've found that method works best for me.
im rather new to this, but in all my writing i've found that using a vague outline works best for me. This doesn't mean to plan out every chapter, but i like to have a beginning and a general goal for my characters. that being said, its important that you know your characters first. If your characters aren't fueled by a desire to meet this goal then what's the point of the story?? All in all, i think that some planning is important (i.e. history of characters, beginning and ending of plot, and some major events), but not all of the story should be scripted beforehand. Giving yourself this extra wiggle room provides space to create, and twist your plot of to add any ideas that come to you during your writing. Writing on the fly also gives you a chance to let your readers see how your characters are changing and it gives you the space to develop things/people that seem wanting. Hope this helps, birdi
I've changed in how I do this. When i wrote my first novel (Ghost Road Blues), I hadn't yet sold anything and I didn't know how to write fiction. I'd been writing nonfic magazine articles, how-to books and textbooks. So, I definitely plotted. I like structure. Over the last few years I've been selling my books and writing on deadlines. The book I'm currently writing (The King of Plagues) is going to be about 160k and I started it three months ago. It's due Jan 30. And...I still plot. However I now view the plot a lot like a trellis on which I want the story to grow. The trellis supports it and gives it direction, but the story tends to grow organically and in directions I did not predict. Sometimes those organic changes are great I follow them; sometimes they're tangential and need to be pruned. But one of the advantages of knowing the plot is that it allows you to aim the events of the story toward a very specific ending. That keeps the narrative from wandering, and allows me to foreshadow, lay clues and otherwise focus the book.
I like how so many people here have read King's "On Writing" - What a great book, esp. for aspiring writers like us. I've always hated planning what I'm going to write- it takes all the energy and fun out of it for me. It also seems to lessen creativity. So I make no plans, just write and let the story take over, go where it wants to go. Experience has taught me that's the best approach. It's wild, to be writing and have no idea where you're going, but to get there anyway. You can really surprise yourself that way. Sometimes I have ideas/ events that I want to incorporate, but that's about as close as I come to plotting.
Plotting! I've never completed an unplotted story though I've tried it a lot because I find that idea more appealing. Though I've finished a lot of plotted ones.
I don't know everything but I do plot it out. I know the major things, the secret, the twists but I know very little on how they figure it out etc. I am writing a book that I planned out chapter to chapter and I love it but I find it hard to write while on the other hand I (for a personal writing test) am writing a book without plotting it and I don't even know what it is going to say on the next page as I write. I find that one easier to write, but I don't like the plot as much. Hmm, I say, know your major things but do not know everything.
Nah, I dont plot out. I start with some kind of idea, then I just write. I will then use what I have initally written (it could be a couple of pages, or a couple of chapters) to decide where the story is going, but I still dont plot out, I just scribble down some ideas. As the strory developes I tend to keep tabs on where the story is going and I'll keep scribbling down ideas. By the time I have finished the story I will have an extensive plan outline too, but it will have been developed at the same time as the story.
I always used to try and plot out my ideas and write like that, but I always failed. There are only two times I've seriously attempted a novel without a plot outline - my first time I was 13 and it was a total mess. This current time I'm up to 30 000 words and have no outline, but as I'm writing I'm coming up with backstory (it's a mystery novel) and I feel so much more fluid and comfortable this way. I just can't let my imagination fly if I write an outline.
The Thing Is I come up with several Ideas and end up writing them out so I don't forget them, and this turns into whole plot ideas, unfortuantly. And by the time I've finished writing my plot idea for that, I've thought up on a new idea. .
I tend to plot out the novel very well in my head before it ever gets down on paper. I don't use any actual plotting or outlining - at least, none at the moment. I've found that works well for me.
I need to plot it out. Otherwise my characters wander off and ignore the important things they need to be doing. Though I'll not complain if I reach a point in my writing where what I plotted out simply doesn't work. It's more knowing that I have some sort of plan. Keeps me going. Otherwise, I just give up.
For my current project, I have a list for my plot that also indicates how the book is going to be broken up. At the top of the list, I wrote the three main characters and what their main motivation is. Then I started with the protagonist and wrote down (I wrote down 6) major sections for the book's plot. Then I took the two other main characters and made sure I could logically link their motivations into the plot points that I wrote. It took a little bit of reworking, but I am pretty sure I ended up with 6 bulleted points that will be a good guideline for the book.
I haven't even attempted by first story yet, but I'm hoping too and reading some of these comments has been a huge eye opener on how everyone is individual and does things differently. I suppose it really depends on what you are like and the story which you are writing. I really liked one of the early comments though: For me I hope to just get some ideas down, and get a sort of plan of events, or else I would get really lost.
