How Much Do You Plan Out?

I've always been curious how much other writers plan out before constructing their stories, and how closely you stick to that roadmap when writing. Do you start with an idea and just begin, do you create a whole skeleton from start to end, or do something else entirely?

Personally, I tend to plan out a beginning, some key points, and an end (although everything is subject to change), and then find my way there with the story in between. I constantly change particular plot points as I write, fitting pieces together better as I come up with new ideas. I often find myself designing spur of the moment scenes where I'm not even certain how it's going to play out until I've finished. The challenge of figuring out how everything will fit as I go along is what excites me when writing, and I often lose interest in stories that I have over-planned. Of course this means I encounter issues where entire chapters and plot lines need to be deleted or altered towards the end of the story, but I just can't seem to make a rigid structure work.

 

I don't plan anything really. I sometimes have an idea of how things will go, but not usually. Mostly I start with a character in my mind, they're doing something and I ask myself why and then I go from there.

My current story is the most planned I've ever done, because it's the third in the series and I just know where she's going and why (and have since she was introduced), but that's really all I knew going into it. Who she is and where she's going. That's all I need to know. The thrill is in getting her there.

 

I do very little planning. I start with a character (or maybe two, as in my current WIP), and a setting and situation to put him in. That's pretty much it. Sometimes I have a vague concept of an ending in mind, but it's very likely to change as I write. Actually, it's almost certain to change.

Because I start with so little, I take tons of notes as I work. Through the text and the notes, the story takes some kind of form, morphing and congealing. That's the first fun part. The second fun part is the revision, the rewriting. That's when the lump of clay the first draft generates gets formed into something approaching final shape. Wrong turns get straightened out and characters come into sharper focus. Background detail becomes clearer. And I grow more proud of the work.

 

I am 50/50 discovery/planning. I start with an idea, determine a plot with which to explore it, and figure out characters and motivations from there. I do prefer to have all of the events planned out in order. I can get down to scene planning but that's extreme and exhausting. Usually the story tells me when I've planned enough. Interestingly, if I get writer's block it's often because I didn't plan enough but planning too much is a symptom of my writer's block as well

Characters, settings, etc are another area I plan out, even if the plot is less so.

 

Hardly any... and I've never finished any novel I've started in this way.

Lots... beginning, middle, end. Characters, settings, events, problems... and I've never finished any novel I've started in this way.

 

I plan a lot! I used to just guide myself with the barest plot points, but I felt no motivation to write. I felt I was rambling with no discernible advancement. Planning down to a list of scenes/sequential events really cured my writer's block, knowing exactly what I had to do gave me the confidence to continue. Nonetheless, there is a lot of discovery to do, as character motivations and certain mysteries only appear when you write them out. Even if the outline ended up being completely different from the finished product, it was more about the psychological reassurance of having a clear plan.

 

This makes so much sense and is exactly why I never finish or have the motivation to continue.

But I'm a lazy arse and could never plan to this extent.

 

Nupe. No real planning at all. I take it a step further, actually: when I'm thinking about a story, I don't think about anything in concrete terms. I develop theories as to a character's motivations, or possible explanations for plot points--and, in both cases, I usually more than one. In principle, nothing that is not already down on paper in the novel itself is ever "known."

 

Honestly i'm the same as you, I listed the plot points from beginning to end and changed some of it when inspiration kicks in. I did this and later found out that plot holes appeared and the story becomes inconsistent.

So i focused more on planning and made a guideline for the story and whenever i have a new idea i compared them to my guide. If its better than the original then i put the new idea to the guide and adjust the guide accordingly and if not i just abandon it.

Btw if you want a more rigid structure IMO you can choose some of the planned elements of your story that you might deem "permanent" and use it as a base. So when you have new ideas that clashes with these elements, don't use it.

Or you can always write first then revise and rewrite everything later.....

 

I usually tend to start with characterization. Develope the character, what I want from him or her, their contributions in the story and what I want to achieve from them. It usually helps in taking the story further than I have from the initial plot.
But then, I usually tend to leave my stories unfinished

 

Yeah, this is pretty much my approach. I normally have some sort of vague idea of where I'm trying to get to, but mostly I just write and see what happens.

Every time I write I find out that my characters don't want to do quite what I planned anyway, so I just let them go where they want to go and it turns out to be far more heartbreaking than whatever pap I originally thought was a good idea back before I knew anything about the rest of the book.

 

This! It's exaclt how I'm feeling right now about plot AND characters. The fact that you know where to turn to if you have a block is just soo reassuring

 

I do best when I just start with a bare idea, and let it grow. After writing the initial scene, I'll sit down and decide where it's going, following a 12-step hero's journey template (more often than not). That lets me decide what I want to have happen in a very general sense. My current novel started with my main character waking up beside his car on a roadway in the city. From there, it morphed into a zombie apocalypse scenario with a love story arc. I have a very basic idea of what I want to have happen, but for the most part, it's too easy for me to get bogged down in outlining. I write more and I write better if I just observe and record what I see, though occasionally I have to Taser a character to keep them from getting themselves into a corner they can't get out of.

 

I plan out every word, every paragraph, and every scene.

If I get stuck, I free write, reread what I wrote a week later, pick out the gems, and plan out around them.

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I definitely encourage you to try it out, it was definitely easier than I expected. I had always thought the snowflake method would be too exhausting, but I decided to just try it out and stop at any step I start feeling uninispired with. Curiously enough, I got down to the last step, and I just kept getting more confident the more definite the story became.

 

I began in my youth as a discovery writer. I still do some discovery writing to brainstorm ideas. But once I've got something going, I stop and do an outline. I've spent so many hours writing pages I never used because the story half way in took a remarkable turn. Sometimes I still waste pages, but not so much when I spend time outlining.

 

I only know two things for certain: how the story will begin and how it will end. Those two things never change. Everything that happens between them is negotiable.

 

That's about how I am. I'm rigid as well. Good planning helps me avoid plot holes or find them faster before I write.
This is what I posted in another thread on how I do things.

And most recently with something far more complex I've added to my outline in each section pov character.

 

I usually get an idea what the story is, which usually starts with the MC, then the pivotal scenes and the climax, and then fill in the missing parts. The known parts may change subtly as I go along, but never by too much. And if I need more characters other than the core group, then I can add them in later with very little trouble.
Some planning does come into play. It has to at some point, but for the most part, I write as I go.

 

I don't know what's worse for me - planning or not.

I used to wing it more or less. Had a few set plot points and what ever could happen between them. This approach made my writing feel like a sitcom. Interesting and fun characters, but so much filler and losing sight of any actual story.

So I started to plan things out... and now I barley get to write anything because I keep second guessing my ideas. Thus far most things I've started up has become Swiss cheese pretty fast.

Now I'm sort of back to writing freely. Not really, though. I'm just trying to write at the moment. Once I'm starting over with a proper idea I think I'd like to have it planned out, at least to a certain point.