(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 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.