(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

[splinteredstar]

It...varies, depending on the story. I think it's a factor of how much I know going in, but sometimes having a preconceived notion of how it turns out just messes everything up.

My first NANO draft turned out almost utterly unusable, because the story I was trying to write and the story I ended up writing were two different things, and trying to shove them together resulted in some sort of unnatural FrankenDraft.

(I think I might be able to do something with the concept and setting, but I'll have to split the main character in two... I think the two stories are compatible but not being led by the same character.)

If I do any planning ahead of time, it'll be rough outlines. Usually only a scene or two in advance. Mostly because I don't /know/ what'll happen until I write it. I've tried to figure things out in advance but it doesn't really work out. I know where I'm at now, and where I might, eventually, end up. In between? No clue.

I think I've started writing beginning to end, if for no other reason than it's easier to keep the character development in my head that way.

[serria]

Gah, I get that feeling, too - the "free creativity" stuff doesn't always fit together with the "carefully selected" stuff. I'm worried that's what's happening with the story I'm working on. I want to write it and at this point, it's not possible to just magically forget all the plotting I've done - I do want to write it, after all! But my best stuff is the stuff where I have the least direction. I've also decided I need to stop just writing "the good scenes" - sometimes I'll get inspired and write a scene that's in my head, but then not want to go back and write all the stuff building up to that scene.

(I loved your story idea, by the way!! I hadn't had the chance to comment - with my new job, any free time I've had has been spent lying on the couch feeling totally drained, blah. Yay weekends. Anyway, we should definitely be writing buddies! :D do you use skype?)

[splinteredstar]

(Thank you! I'm quite fond of Eira but she is a pain. I am very bad at replying to comments sometimes. I do not use skype. I am here, lj, and tumblr. And YIM. All under variations of this username.)