PLANNING VS GOING WITH IT

Guffyowl

I was having a conversation with a friend a while back about this and was amazed by his lack of planning. He said he loves to just let the story take, so on my latest project i had an intial idea and went with it so to speak and was amazed how my novel is taking on a life of its own, I have just killed off someone in a horrible way and she was never even meant to be in the original idea.

I would be interested in how many of you plan or let the story take you as you write.

Guffyowl

SilentTony

With short stories I normally know the end before anything else and work backwards. I write a sentence that jumps me in and go from there until the end. Then in the edit the first sentence will usually go with a lot of the other junk but it will all fit together. It's never the same for every one though and sometimes I plan a little, sometimes I start with nothing but a title. Novels are a different kettle of rainbows though

boredrobots

I've tried both and think they both work as well as each other.

I write with rough planning, some parts more than other but tend to pants most of it.
I think both methods are equally useful as I've stumbled across new and interesting ideas/directions using both methods.

I do find that if you pants it and then hit a particular section you need to research it can stall you for a while. I usually try to have a few bits of research in place, or at least a brief read of relevant books, in order to have enough info to write something reasonably convincing and then change it later after I've done some detailed research.

Carol

I have been planning more this last few years- my longer stuff-so I need to see how that works out.
Previously I had an idea of the story with a starting and ending point with points in between, but I went with it.
Every writer is different and for some the spontaneous workks better.

Guffyowl

He was saying that aswell that sometimes he has a title and thats what he works from. I am now bitten by the not planning bug as I look and feel that sometimes I forced issues to make them fit what I wanted to happen at the end.

SilentTony

I'm not sure I'd have to bottle to fly blind on a novel though. It's difficult enough to keep up with all the planning in place. Again though it does depend on the piece and the style.

SusieM

My last three Nano attempts were done with no planning and with just either a character name or brief idea in my head on what the theme was going to be. The planning has come after I've got down the first draft and I've seen where I am going. With short stories, I tend to plan them in my head but don't write any notes.

pbw

[quote=SilentTony]I'm not sure I'd have to bottle to fly blind on a novel though[/quote]

Yeah I did. I started with the 'What if?' and let it take its own direction. You end up with the proverbial Topsy.

Fourteen months, one professional edit and several rewrites later, I wouldn't recommend it. It 'grew' organically to 100,000 words. After the edit, I ditched 50,000 words, pruned down the remainder to 30,000 and built it up again to 60,000.

I've now been given some ideas by my writing tutor which look like inspiring another 10,000 words, so I'll be at the 70,000 which I wanted originally.

I don't recommend the 'fly by the pants' approach but it has helped me to find my voice (I think I'[ve found it). On the other hand, I think if you plan in too much detail, it can restrict you.

Nefertari

Interesting. My first books were written with no plan I just sat down and wrote, this time I wrote the synopsis first and I quite like that, as I find I am not stopping too long to consider plot as I know where the story is going. I think I prefer it and will do that again.

Rosalie

I like to write my first draft, then do a plan (once I've discovered what's going on), then refine my plan, then write the later drafts. If I plan too much at the start, my writing dries up.

Phots Moll

With short stories, I don't plan. With novels I do - although I don't feel obliged to stick to the plan if I get a better idea.

Anna

As PM - Short stories, no. Novel, yes.

Having a chapter by chapter synopsis means I can lay down words knowing where I'm going. It's like planning a strenuoous walk up a mountain - each word is one word nearer the summit. There's still opportunity to veer off-route, but at least the general direction is there for me to refer to.

Jennymf

[quote=Anna] Short stories, no. Novel, yes.
[/quote] Me as well short stories just seem to happen anything else I have to think about and scribble a lot.

SilverLinings

Before my uni course started I would write unguided. I discovered this was why I never finished anything. I didn't know where I was going. - Well I did in my head. No one had informed my characters of this -the buggers kept wandering off into dead ends.
I sat down (with much complaining as I believed the rigid approach of plot, plan and outline would kill all creativity) and wrote down both the synopsis and chapter outline for one of my assignments I was amazed at how much easier it is.

casey

I've tried both ways. The first novel was planned and easier to write, although I did change the ending when the character told me 'she wouldn't do that'. With the second it's grown organically from a short story I wrote and I feel it has more action, pace, depth and imagination. Of the two the first was easier to write as it was plotted, the seond has been scary but the results more spontaneous. For the next one? Who knows?

pbw

Well, there you go...

There's no 'right' or 'wrong' way of doing it, it seems.

Red

With the exception of grammar and punctuation, and a few 'basic' rules, writing really is subjective. It's as individual as a fingerprint. There are no rights or wrongs, but there are guided pathways that are there to help if a writer chooses. Well, that's the theory anyway...

Lou Treleaven

It's fascinating to look at the process though, isn't it? I always used to just make it all up as I go along. Then I tried doing a detailed plan. It killed the book stone dead for me as I felt like I had already written it. Now I compromise with a rough plan that can change as I go along, and usually does quite a lot, but it gives me the backbone I need to structure my book.

Dwight

May I reduce the 'planning or letting the story take you' approach to each scene in a novel, Guffyowl? At least for big scenes. If a crunch scene is coming next, I feel I have to plan what action or development it must contain, and similarly, the dialogue needs to have steps or 'fence-posts' for me to be able to do it. So its pen and paper for brainstorming first, then ordering, and it's only then that I can write the scene. For me, that transforms what could be a big obstacle into a workable task and there's satisfaction in working through it and seeing the progress.

Phots Moll

[quote=paperbackwriter]There's no 'right' or 'wrong' way of doing it, it seems.[/quote] Or maybe there are lots of different right and wrong ways? ;-)

Jenthom72

My novel that's getting published, How Kirsty Gets Her Kicks, was done winging it with no planning. My crime novel that was edited by a published author, that I wrote with a mixture of planning and seeing where it went, is sitting in a drawer with so many suggested corrections in it I just wanted to cry when I saw it.

I think every writer is different.

Jan

[quote=Jenthom72]I think every writer is different. [/quote]
As is every story.

You must have experienced that sudden idea that grabs vulnerable part of your anatomy demanding attention be paid to its creative expansion. The fever swathes oblivion to all else for a period, sometimes deflating within a few sentences, other occasions drowning inspiration as scenes flood through the opened dam.
The diverse scenario might be prompted by an overheard comment or witnessed spectacle. From that germ of conscious thought, hours may be dedicated to constructing a many branched tree of logical connections, meticulous plotting frames a complete storyline.

Either way, journey from inception to conclusion travels a dashed uncomfortable trail of laborious climbs and tobogganing slides.

Such exercise demands greater exertion than pure physical effort which encourages me to show preference toward [quote=Guffyowl]let the story take you as you write[/quote]

pbw

I recognise much in what you have said, Jan.