(no subject)

[serria]

So, I've done a lot of plotting and organization for a story I'm working on, and it's to the point where almost all the scenes are charted and I know everything that is supposed to happen. But when I sit down to write, for some reason, it's a lot harder. I don't even know where to start. I think I honestly write a lot more naturally when I don't have any idea where the story is going to go, and I start at the beginning and see where it goes as I write. Unfortunately, that's a lot harder to do with long novels.

Do you guys tend to have everything plotted out before you write? Do you write from beginning to end, if so, or do you just write whatever scene you feel like writing and put it all together after?

Comments

[agilebrit]

I used to be a pantser. I would start something with no earthly idea where it was going.

And I'd hit the Great Swampy Middle and start loathing the damn thing. Invariably. The only reason I ever finished anything was sheer bloody-minded stubbornness. And, you know, I did finish, most times. But the process sucked.

Then I decided to do a short-story NaNo project--and I knew that if I didn't have a plan going in that it would fail miserably. So I used the seven-point outline and figured out my plots. It front-loaded the process, but it made the writing so much easier--and I didn't have time to start hating the thing in the middle because I blew right past it. I have now written seventeen or eighteen stories via this process and wish to God I'd started doing it sooner.

The one time I tried to write a novel by scene-stitching, it was horrible. I have 144,000 words of total hot mess that I'm not sure I'll ever be able to salvage. I don't do that anymore. That project (along with the soul-sucking agent hunt for my first novel) has convinced me that I am not a novelist.

All that being said, there is no One Writing Method To Rule Them All. Poke twenty writers and ask them their process, and you'll get twenty answers. Hell, sometimes the answer changes project by project.

If outlining isn't working for you (whether it's because it steals the magic of the creative process or some other reason), then stop doing it. It took me years to figure out a process that actually worked and there's no shame in trying different methods to figure out your own.

[splinteredstar]

Dude, seriously. If there is one thing I've learned in writing and reading about writing, it's that everyone does it differently. I've known people who outline, people who sketch it all out in their heads before writing, people who swear by note cards.

So yeah, basically, agreeing with everything you said.

[agilebrit]

I saw people at the Writing Excuses retreat who used spreadsheets. And I have no earthly idea how that even worked.

I've also heard about a "snowflake method," but I don't know exactly what that is. The first "outline" I ever did was more of a "these are my plot threads with lines and points" thing. I'm pretty sure no one could make sense of that thing but me. LOL

[serria]

Haha, my aunt, who is a published author, recommended the "Snowflake" method to me. She even sent me a link to the software, which I bought. Assuming that's what you're referring to. I tried to use it, but... I don't know, with my story idea there were too many things I didn't know and it ended up being pretty useless to me.

Basically, you start a file and progress through different levels. The first level is, like, establish the genre and your target audience. Then, write a one sentence summary of your story. Then, expand that into a paragraph. Then, expand each sentence from that paragraph into a paragraph. Now, start naming your main characters. Then... and so on. It would "branch out" into more complex stuff, to the point of "what does your character keep in his/her pockets" type stuff. And I just didn't know, because I hadn't written anything yet.