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When you write?

Discussion in 'Entertainment and Technology' started by theMaverick, Aug 7, 2013.

  1. theMaverick

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    When you are writing a new story, do you make a plot outline with the general story outline, characters, event, etc; or do you just start and let the story evolve as you go, or do you do a little of both or something entirely different? Pros of a plot outline?

    Thanks.
     
  2. drwinchester

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    It depends on the piece. For my short stories/flash fiction, I simply start with a topic and a vague idea of where I want things to go and start pantsing (writing by the seat of my pants).

    Novels or involved short stories, I don't do a detailed outline but I'll take notes on ideas and plot directions I'd like to take, make character bios, and research heavily. :grin:
     
  3. Matty1994

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    I have only really written plays but from my experience (which is fairly limited) I usually start with a sort of basic idea outline some key points about the plot in general without getting too much into character details and smaller plot details. This idea then allows me to start writing the dialogue and the plot sort of develops along with the characters as I'm writing as a lot of my ideas will suddenly come to me. Once finish the rough version I'll read through it and clear any huge holes in the plot, characters, scenes etc and make changes to it, sometimes this will result in a complete change in part of the story but I just keep doing this until I feel like its finished and I'm happy with it.

    So when I start writing I really have no idea how it could turn out as many things change as I'm writing, planning as little as possible at the beginning.
     
  4. Phoenix92

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    For screen plays, I write what comes to me while past the gate that Randolf Carter frequented past while young.
    For novels, I write what comes to me.

    For whatever I write, most of the time the names of characters don't come to me until later in the process.
     
  5. LinkLarkin

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    My current books I started years ago (yeah when I was pretty young). I had a beginning and end, but no middle. So I just wrote and let the rest evolve. I liked the story idea but obviously my immature writing wasn't going anywhere so I stopped and came back to it a few years later. Making it up as I go along gave me a handful of good ideas which I've incorporated into the current plot, but 90% of what I wrote was unusable. So I'm currently very meticulously planning everything out, every last detail. It's not the right way for everybody but it is for me, even though some of my ideas came from the other way.

    Having said this, my subplots are extremely complex and it's easy to fall into plot holes if you make it up as you go along. I've had to play with so many things just to erase the plot holes from the elements which I incorporated from my first draft...
     
  6. Gen

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    There was a thread about this, not too long ago, about this subject where I voiced why I though that novels specifically should always be planned in some form.

    ~Foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is important in essentially every novel, because 90% of fiction has a at least one general question. Who's the killer? Who is she going to pick? What happened to ________? How did __________ happen? Who is going to win/lose in the end? Etc. Whether it is a mystery, twist, heart-wrenching shock, or just a regular ending, the final answers to the question, or questions, that you have presented in your story should be ones that your audience won't see coming; not something that they can't see coming.

    Any five year old can look at the ending of a story and say "And I want THIS to happen.", but it is a writers job to take you on a journey that will bring everything together in the end. A well written story is one that leads you to a place that you might not have been expecting previously, but as you reconsider or reread the events you question how you didn't expect everything that was going to ensue. How you missed those small, or even obvious at times, clues that were glaring you in the face along the way?

    How is it fair to me if I am reading a lighthearted romance and, out of nowhere in the end, aliens attack? That's a bit of a drastic example, but its essentially the idea. It's no less unfair, if I am reading that lighthearted romance and throughout the story she is head-over-heels and couldn't imagine life without at least one of them, yet in the end she randomly picks neither. If nothing foreshadowed that her rejecting both was even an option, that isn't something that I wouldn't have thought; that is something that, because of how I was led by the novel, I couldn't have thought.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    I always wanted to added with what LinkLarkin said, in that if you even have to utter the words subplot or backstory you need to either pre-plan or prepare for some brutal revisions after, because if those fall apart they can take the story and experience with it.
     
  7. Wells

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    I always have a vague idea of what I want in my stories. But I will then let it grow as I write. A lot of people say you need to plan first. You only need to if you wish to intertwine plot details and past events etc... I think the longer a story is the more planning it should have.
     
  8. Nick07

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    It really depends on how complex the story is. Sometimes it's fun to start and keep writing, sometimes it takes a lot of planing, notes and research.
     
  9. Illusion

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    It varies.
    I rarely have a concrete plan. I probably should, everybody says you should and it's probably good advice, but when I do write I tend to just start writing off of a basic premise and see where it leads and when I do have a plan, it tends to get altered fairly quickly.
     
  10. BMC77

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    It depends. Usually I want to have at least a general idea of where I am going. But more than once, I've just turned some characters loose. No successful project from that approach, but I can't say it couldn't happen.

    A certain amount of my writing is classic mystery/detective stories, and I need for those a good idea of the overall picture--the who did it, etc--and it's helpful to know in advance certain points that provide an important clue.

    But I hate outlining down to the last detail, and there is a part of me that thinks that it's good to allow for unexpected surprises. Some of those have been incredibly valuable, and might not have ever happened if I had a plot engraved detail by detail in stone.
     
  11. Capsaicin

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    I use a plot outline to make sure that I stay on track, include what I made notes to include, and get where I need to go, but I let most of it evolve on its own. Structure is for when I have the story in front of me to look at. You can't edit daydreams or pace promises.
     
    #11 Capsaicin, Aug 7, 2013
    Last edited: Aug 7, 2013
  12. CuriousBunny

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    For me it always depends on if the teacher wants an outline turned in.
     
  13. Usually I start off with an idea (sometimes for the whole story, and sometimes just for a bit of it) and then I plan the main characters, and start writing. Planing the charactwrs is my favourite part. I love building different emotional layers for them :slight_smile:
     
  14. Argentwing

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    I usually get an idea for a scene. Something happens, and characters develop around that. From there I try to figure out a reason why that scene happens. Once you have that chain of reasoning, the last big leap is figuring out what happens next in order to make the whole thing a cohesive plot.

    It's probably a TERRIBLE writing workflow, but it's what comes naturally lol.
     
  15. Sorcerer

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    If I'm writing a short story I usually start with a few words - such as 'Homo Erectus' for example - and then construct the story around that. For longer pieces I have an overall plot, map out the characters via a notes page, and then construct the scenes as I go along.

    I wrote some crime stories and for that I needed to be much more careful beforehand to make sure everything worked. Difficult but fun.
     
  16. Emberstone

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    I outline; When you know what structurally doing with a story, you are free to expand upon it as you write, which fulfils the creative side, while having a purpose to what you are writing, and a sense for what you need to do.

    also, I just started submitting my manuscript I have been developing and writing for the last three years to agents, and this was the opening to the rejection letter I just recieved about thirty minutes ago. I wanted to share to inspire others to take the plunge: "Dear ____,

    Thank you so much for your query, _____________. You are a remarkably talented and imaginative writer, and your drive and professionalism are exceptional and impressive, especially for someone your age. I'm afraid that your work is not a good fit for me at this time (I am taking on very, very few new projects), but I strongly encourage you to keep writing and to keep trying for publication. I have no doubt that you will be very successful. "

    The agent in question is from an agency that says on its website that they dont do personal rejections due to the vast volume of submissions they get from prospective authors. So remeber; a rejection doesn't have to mean they dont think your book has value or potential.
     
  17. qwr42

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    If you are writing with a pretedermined plot, start in the middle.

    Otherwise, just start somewhere and leave your mind open for possibilities.

    "I write drunk and edit sober" -Hemmingway
     
  18. Oxelotl

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    Usually when I write, I'll have an idea of certain setpieces, ideas, general locations, and I'll build the plot around those. Once I start writing it usally evolves naturally, but mostly my writing is improvised. A lot of the time I won't even know how my story ends until I'm halfway through. I've tried planning in the past but if I have an idea I have to start straight away, and don't have time for planning.
     
  19. malachite

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    I always start with the characters, who they are, their origins, their personalities. The characters are what drive the story, once you know what motivates a character it makes the plot a little easier, at least for me
     
  20. ILuvMusic90

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    I let my stories evolve as I go when I'm practicing my writing skills. When I write my stories that I share with others, I develop the characters, plot, outline, etc.