I did that when I was little. It wasn't too bad, but I lost track of things since my writing schedule isn't so disciplined. However, plots do tend to make themselves up if you allow them to incubate in your head long enough. My plot for my demon story as well as my wolf story (that isn't on here yet) were made this way: started as an idea, incubated in my head for a few months, popped out as a freshly baked Plot Pie. Once you have a general plot, writing it out in a vague (key word) outline will then give you something to go off. The current outline I have for the first 4 chapters of my demon story is written with vague terms. I don't have any specifics, just vague events and goals I would like to have happen, but the way they happen will be decided as i write the story. First two points in my first chapter were "Intoduce Sam" and "Introduce Lorain", and then I got the first half of chapter 1 all written out and this time I was happy with it. There was no guilt that had been there the previous times I tried prior to making a vague outline.
I think of writing kinda like I think of playing the piano. There's a central theme that reoccurs through certain parts of the piece, and there are sections of the song that you must move TOWARDS, certain parts where you slow down, etc. And as you move towards the themes/sections, you express the many tiny miniscule details that fall in between the piece's main actions as best as you possibly can. Soo, I have a general idea, and I work towards some "integral" action. Sometimes I come up with something else, another puzzle piece, and mold it into the already-existing story. Etc. etc. Suffice it to say, I despise outlines. Death to structured outlines! Let your characters live and breathe on their own, without your structured IVs and molds.
No outline I don't use outlines. I have writen down a few notes, but I generally just write and let the story flow. I have three basic acts. The introduction of Phoenix Force where the kids and their powers are revealed. It culminates with them being abducted. The second act has the kids waking up strapped down and powerless in golden bed and pajamas. While the world mourn their deaths, the kids begin bonding with the "kidnapped" heiress not suspecting that she's the one who had them abducted. That act concludes with the heiress being double crossed and kidnapped for real. After thirty plus years I still haven't figured out the third act where the kids are realistically rescued or escape. The basic concept is all I work with. I let it flow as I go.
I do it all the time. I have a brief idea and then I write it. A lot of the time I get to a couple of thousand words before I realise that it isn't going anywhere or that it isn't any good. Sometimes I take little ideas from these unfinished pieces and use them in much grander things. I've now got a good idea which I think I'm going to have to plan in great detail to get it perfect. I would recommend any newbie trys it as it has helped to improve my writing and self review skills.
I've tried doing this once or twice. It doesn't work: I'll know the half the plot before I finish chapter one and all of it before I finish chapter two. I'm just too used to planning ahead. At least in the long run, it seems improvising isn't my thing.
I never write an outline.. I probably should. I've written some kind of something, I get so far.. then I just stop. Out of the blue. I throw another mystery/action into the mix, Yet i don't think They'll ever end.
I have found myself stalling more and more... it's just not flowing. I think it's because I'm forcing myself to adhere to a plan, rather just letting it flow. I feel compelled to "go here and do this" rather than just relax and write whatever comes to mind. However, my first book is still coming along nicely, my reader friend still enjoys it so it's obviously not too much of an impediment.
It works. Well I don't know what else would work in plot creation. I've read about writers who supposedly had plot lines for every minute detail but let me quote John Fowles "It is only when our characters and events begin to disobey us that they begin to live." (The French Lieutenant's Woman.) For short stories, I'd like to say that there is way that I can write a plot line. The story just goes on from my fingers onto the keyboard. But for a novel, I like to know a little of the plot. Since I write mostly for the fantasy genre say I know pretty much who fights who when. Besides that, it's all a surprise to me. A lot of good writers have killed characters without realising it. I've done in a character I thought was going to stick through it all. That's why I write. Because I don't know what will happen and because I would go through the writing process just to find out.
I am working on an outline right now. (And have, in fact, ended up writing an outline for the outline, but that's another thing.) The reason is that the plot in general is rather blurry to me, and I don't know for sure if it all actually makes sense as a whole. I can edit or even delete things if I know about them in advance, but once I've written something down it tends to be kinda set. That's why an outline is handy for me; it keeps me from writing myself into a corner.
Last night I managed to relax and just get into my story. I wrote about 2000 words which would translate to about 15 minutes in real-time, and I feel like it was the most epic 2000 words I've written in the last month. Instead of thinking about plots or goals or anything I just felt the moment and let my imagination take over. My subconscious said "hey, your characters should face mortal danger right now!" which was completely unplanned, but I feel like it worked out brilliantly.
Whenever I do write outlines, the minute I start writing, my story starts going in a different direction. To me writing outlines of “this happens, then this happens” doesn’t work – frankly, they are a waste of time. My way of outlining the story involves writing down all the scenes that I have in my head and putting them in order. I know that my characters are going to have to act out those scenes eventually, and my goal is to get them there – I don’t yet know how that will happen. I add more things to the list when I think them up. But that’s basically all I do for an outline.
I guess the effectiveness of making up plot as you go along depends on how much you make up. IMO, you should have a general idea of where you're going, and your ultimate destination. But as you go, you discover which roads are the best ones to take in reaching that destination.
I like to make generalizations--this is a scene I want to have, this is what the end will be, these are the characters--but I don't do much more than that, and I think that it hurts me. More often than not, I'll have the whole story "thought out" and not written down, but without the actual writing. Just a list of scenes and things that need to be done, but barely even any order to it. I think that doing this is my biggest problem as a writer.
It depends on what I'm writing whether or not I use an outline. Of course, I haven't written that many stories. For shorter stories I've always just made it up as I went along. I feel that suits me best. For longer stories, depending on how long they are, I like to outline things. That is only to get a general idea of where I'm going. I may decide I don't want a certain part in the story later or veer off course and I just let that happen if it does. My creativity flows best in the moment but I do try to guide it at first. Otherwise I could go all over the place.
I enjoy sitting down and just writing what's in my head sometimes it's good. And sometimes not so good. I think knowing where you want to go is important. But finding out how to get there is want I enjoy the most. If find you have to much cange the plot a little to end the first book, and use whats left for a sequal.
Personally I have a general idea of where I want the story to end. Its never usually set in stone(my current story is though, only because I love the ending so much... that and my character refuses to let me change it ) But yeah, I generally sit down with a general idea of a story. Some key scenes I would want to add, and then I just start writing it. That is if I feel like writing. If not I store the idea away and bring it out to think about it a bit. I never liked plotting out my stories before hand. I remember having to do this for school writing assignments and I just hated it.
I have a basic understanding of what i would like with my story (chapters), which could be expressed in one or tweo setences, but thats it. I sit down and just write, write, write. Its fun because you never really know where its going to end up. SUrehaldf the time i will delete half a dozen pages that just dont belong, but thats the business of it. Also, a lot of the previous two setence explaination of ewhat i was going to do, dissapears into something new, which is fun. I cannot plan, its just not my style. All my life, with what i have planned have generally turned into a pile of crap. From when i was at school planning how to do homework/study to planning my weekend. It just doesnt happen with me. I couldnt do it any other way. I start writing about nine in them orning after a coffee and a quick read of the emails, and i really enjoy pondering where it will end. (Generally i go off into some minor plot which has to be scapped. I mean i have already had to turn my curent book into two (after realising i had hit the 150k mark) Thats the only issue with plotting on the fly, the story blooms far tolarge and leaves a lot of weeding to do.
well, i do that sometimes, but out of the several books I've started, and only finished two...I usually make an outline, but a very bland one, like: Debbie is a turtle Debbie finds out she is really a bird but was raised by turtles Debbie falls in love with Blue jay Debbie gets killed by duranged three year old (So not an original story by me. lol) something like that.
Write as you feel I do Sometimes have a clear structure of where i am going and write to that (although often go off on tangents on the way as more and more ideas come to me and the characters develop ) but have also found it very useful to simply write as you go along with an idea only of how you want it to end, after all you can alwasy change it later. This has caused some issues though, my novel i am working on for instance is about teh pressures of dating for the modern man and is a mixture of semi-autobiography and fiction, which was fine until my situation changed and my fiance left me, and now the story seems to be stuck in two parrallel worlds, form the one i had started writing with only a clear goal in sight to one which has developed to suit my situation i now find myself in
I tried making it up as I went along...it's cool, and I respect anyone who can do this. But now I'm revising the novel that I wrote using this method, and it has been the most massive headache. There are plots that went nowhere, characters that don't belong, it's not even in chonological order. I'm having to pick it apart scene by scene and do massive re-writing, re-arranging. Of course, I didn't even know what the story was about for the first seventy thousand words...so have fun, but maybe at least have a one-line sentence to guide you, so you don't write thousands of words you can't use. But I agree, not knowing exactly what's going to happen is cool.
Occasionally when I write I use this method. But usually I never finish what I'm writing or if I do it is too scatter-brained to be of any worth. Maybe if you have an end to the story in mind it would be easier to write in this sort of style. Letting events unfold but knowing that there is a direction, that what you are writing, will eventually head towards. Just a thought though. I'm sure just making it up as you go along makes for some really exciting reading if you can perfect it, if the author has no idea what is the reader going to think?
Jack Kerouac taped reams of paper together end-to-end and just started typing. The result was 'On The Road'. (It should be noted that he did do some preparation beforehand and there was a good bit of revision afterwards. But I've always found the fact that he typed it out in one go like that amazing)
I am finding that it's just easier to come with stuff on the fly. I get good and relaxed and just write whatever pops into my mind. If a character dies, oh well. If someone gets lucky, groovy. Just last night I had a character get drunk even though it didn't feel quite right in some regards. My rational mind was trying to tell me "Bad idea!" but the emotional mind was saying "Go for it!" - and I couldn't come up with any solid reason not to have one of my characters be drunk so I went with it. It was a party after all and he is Irish. LOL.
Yes, A Tale of Two Cities, the novel which begins with "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times", was actually written for a newspaper with one chapter being written and released for the paper every month (which is why each chapter ends with a cliff hanger). Also "stream of conscious" writing, which is making it up as you go along began gaining a lot of popularity not too long ago and many successful writers use that method of writing as an alternative to the traditional method of structuring out your entire story before beginning to write.
