Do you plot your story before you start writing it?
Or do you just dive straight into it?
Replies
I had three characters and a couple of pivotal events, plus an idea of how I wanted it to start. Then I just started writing, so I guess that makes me a 'Pantser'. I'm not sure if planning the whole thing would suit me as my story and characters tend to twist and change as they are written, even though it all works out in the end. However, this is a creative endeavour and what works for me would not necessarily work for someone else - we all have our own path to take to the end of the story.
I do tend to set an approximate word count though, that seems to rein me in a little.
This is a timely questions as I have just been ruminating over this very dilemma.
I am a bit of a "stream-of-conciousness" writer usually but this is the first time I have thought about doing any writing other than to while away the hours or to distract myself. My stream of conciousness approach can often go unfinished as there are, naturally, distractions such as kids, work and wine. To try and combat this I am forcing myself to think about structure a bit more and it is helping me to avoid tailing off and never getting the job done.
I've posted up a short piece I have written here: https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/profile/chris-o-sullivan/work which I have decided will be a part of a larger piece. I was going to write out chapter titles to give myself structure but have instead written out instances of the book I want to cover as follows:
"Farewell"
"Intro"
"Crossroads"
"Big Cities"
"Come Down"
"Outro"
Will write in this order initially.. they may even become chapter titles- unsure. Not as organised as Mark Davies but a big improvement for me!
I had three characters and a couple of pivotal events, plus an idea of how I wanted it to start. Then I just started writing, so I guess that makes me a 'Pantser'. I'm not sure if planning the whole thing would suit me as my story and characters tend to twist and change as they are written, even though it all works out in the end. However, this is a creative endeavour and what works for me would not necessarily work for someone else - we all have our own path to take to the end of the story.
I do tend to set an approximate word count though, that seems to rein me in a little.
I'd never finish if I didn't have a plan. The outline for my first story ran to 15 pages.
This is a timely questions as I have just been ruminating over this very dilemma.
I am a bit of a "stream-of-conciousness" writer usually but this is the first time I have thought about doing any writing other than to while away the hours or to distract myself. My stream of conciousness approach can often go unfinished as there are, naturally, distractions such as kids, work and wine. To try and combat this I am forcing myself to think about structure a bit more and it is helping me to avoid tailing off and never getting the job done.
I've posted up a short piece I have written here: https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/profile/chris-o-sullivan/work which I have decided will be a part of a larger piece. I was going to write out chapter titles to give myself structure but have instead written out instances of the book I want to cover as follows:
"Farewell"
"Intro"
"Crossroads"
"Big Cities"
"Come Down"
"Outro"
Will write in this order initially.. they may even become chapter titles- unsure. Not as organised as Mark Davies but a big improvement for me!