Wednesday, September 25, 2013

In Behalf of the Plotters

I’ve been writing a long time.  Probably beginning with “The Adventures of Iggy Worm,” which my dad helped me write in kindergarten.  I caught the bug early and I always had a lot of ideas.  I loved the first few chapters: pen scribbling furiously, trying to get words down.  The only problem was… I never knew how to finish.  After 3 or 4 chapters, my ideas would sputter out and I’d get stuck.

And just about that time, I’d get a new idea and off I’d go again!

By 7th grade, I was pretty frustrated.  I had notebooks of unfinished stories.  I attempted a new novel and this time, I finished about 60 pages. 

Progress, right?

As a sophomore and junior in high school, I got another idea for a novel, but I let it sit.  For 6 months, I didn’t write a single scene.  I doodled random creatures from my fantasy world, wrote back-stories for characters and contemplated the plot.

Six Months!

For me, that took a lot of discipline.  I had to keep myself from writing until I was ready – until I knew the ending.

Once I started, I had a detailed, 21 page outline and an entire notebook filled with notes.  I was ready.  And the amazing thing is that I finished!  It was my first full length complete novel.

Since then, my writing process hasn’t changed much.  My stories come in flashes – just a glimpse or a hint of what can be.  Then I have to give it time and space, doodle and draw, scribbling out random thoughts until they finally come together, forming a whole picture.

Of course, over time, I’ve learned to speed up the process.  For my Red WIP, the idea came to me and I spent about a month pondering it.  Once I knew where my story was going, I was able to write the 1st draft – 50,000 words at that point – in 1 ½ weeks.

I’ve heard many argue that plotting (and especially extensive plotting) can ruin the creative journey.  What fun is the journey if there are no surprises on the way?

For me, the destination is just as important as the journey.  If I don’t know where I’m going, how do I know I’ve arrived?  Maybe it’s something I learned from my mom.  Plan in advance so that you don’t have to stress while you’re there.


What do you think?  Plotter or Pantser?

14 comments:

  1. "For me, the destination is just as important as the journey." -- Same here! Without a basic map and an end goal in mind, I'm lost. With the map, there are still plenty of fun surprises along the way, they just don't run out of control and drive me off a cliff of no return. XD

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    1. I agree with that! The map doesn't define the journey, and it at least keeps us out of danger's way!

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  2. I'm like you, Krista. I get a flash of inspiration and off I go but after a few chapters, even though I know the end, there's this gap I have to fill...that's when I sit down and plan. I wouldn't attempt to get to a destination without any clue of how to get there...but we're all different and I'd hesitate to say there's only one way of writing a novel.

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    1. I agree, there are hundreds of ways to write a novel - though in my opinion, most writers have one specific way that works best for them. Not necessarily one that works for others, but we all have our own way of creating. Thanks for commenting!

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  3. I feel you in there. I have 2 unfinished novels, Harry Potter style way back in high school. All because, I lost inspiration and plots to write...

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  4. Can i write something like this? I've been wanting to share how writing all started for me... what's your nationality by the way? :)

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    1. Feel free! We all have different writing processes, and I find that the more I learn about others' the more I learn about writing itself. There's so many ideas I would never have tried if it hadn't have been shared with me.

      I'm a little of everything, Japanese, Northern European. My maiden name was French, my Mom's maiden name was Dutch and my married name is Spanish, so I feel like I can say that I've got a little of everything.

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  5. Both, I pants the rough draft to get my thoughts in order, then plot the rewrite based on what I've learnt. :-)

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  6. Even if you know where you want to end up, the journey can still be full of surprises. Planning the bare bones works for me too.

    I started off two novels with no ending and never finished them. I didn't do enough planning to keep going. It wasn't a waste, though, because I banged out some fun writing, but it is easier if you know your destination. For A Selfish Moment, I knew the main parts and the ending, and I wrote the first draft in less than a month. The fun part was in developing the characters, the scenes, the drama, but the bare bones was there.

    I finished the first draft of my current project in a few weeks (if you don't count summer break). Now I'm still editing, filling in the holes, details, dialog, adding color and textures. That's more fun for me than trying to figure out what happens next and having no idea. I don't think I'll ever start another novel unless I have the bare bones defined.

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    1. I agree. There are still surprises when you plan, but they don't veer you off from your story. I love what you said about editing and adding colors and textures. That's probably my favorite part as well. Once the story is there, I can make it really vibrant so it pops!

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  7. I'm a planner, but my outline is never carved in stone. As Tanya said, there are always surprises. In the novel I'm working on now, two important characters showed up as I was writing. I couldn't exactly send them away. My subconscious knew they belonged.

    I used to be a seat of the pants person, but I discovered that doing some pre-writing work saved me a lot of time. I've cut my writing time in half. I don't have to go back and "fix" as many issues and problems.

    I recently met Elizabeth George at a conference. I like her way of working, and I'm going to try it on my next project. She details her process in her book "Write Way." She writes crime novels, but her system seems perfect for fantasy and science fiction writers who also have complex worlds and characters.

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    1. I've had characters show up mid draft as well. Some of them became favorites for my betas, so of course I couldn't cut them out later. I tried pantsing a novel not too long ago, and I'm already terrified of how much is going to need to be fixed. I much prefer the prework so that the later revisions don't take so much time.

      I haven't read "Write Way," but I'm going to have to! It sounds interesting. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. Oh, both.
    I call that phase (doodling, thinking) "stewing." allowing ideas to simmer & then suddenly things rise to the surface. Usually I'm planning a next book as I'm doing the final editing on a previous one. So it's a bit schizophrenic. Putting on that last coat of paint while searching the tide for driftwood to build the frame of the next :) (if we're sticking to our house-building metaphor.) Funny thing, though. I decided to do a Pinterest inspiration board for my next, kind of intending it as a marketing strategy, to get people interested, and, holy cow. That got ideas rising like nothing else I've ever tried.

    I feel like having an outline is very important, or else you get hopelessly tangled partway through. But it's also important to be flexible & include new ideas, reframe, restructure and let stuff go as I go along. My favorite writing book that describes this is Writing For Story, by Jon Franklin.

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    1. I've never thought of pinterest to boost ideas! I've actually never explored the website that much, but now you make me what to give it a try!

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