plan or not to plan that is the question

[Teresa Edgerton]

Originally Posted by dustinzgirl

Intro
Point A
Point B
Point C
Conclusion

Your basic five paragraph article (essay, in school) outline only expanded for a novel.

Then no wonder you don't find writing outlines interesting or productive for novel writing. Fiction is not structured like an article, essay, or term paper. Writing your thoughts out in the form of a narrative is much more relevant to the task at hand: it gives you some ideas about the rhythms and the structure of you novel (they may turn out to be the wrong ideas, but still, they are a starting point), it may show you were the plot holes are, it generates new ideas, and so forth.

You may or may not have notebooks full of other stuff as well -- maps, genealogies, time lines, diagrams of scene and sequel, etc.-- I have spiral notebooks full of random thoughts, which, when I'm feeling the need for a little organization, sometimes get typed up and arranged in folders. I once plotted a novel on index cards -- easy to switch things around. I also color-coded them: action, background, sexual tension (because that was important to that particular story), magic, etc., so I could see if one section became too concentrated with any one thing at the expense of the other parts of the story. That actually worked so well that I'm not sure why I've never done it again. But whatever else you are doing (or not doing) writing that long, detailed synopsis as well can be very useful in many different ways.

It's also what an agent or an editor is looking for when they ask for an outline or chapter outline; so it's good practice for producing one of those.

[Sephiroth]

The index card idea is great, that's something I could see being really useful for me. The flexibility it would offer is attractive. I can cut and paste things in my 'plan' files on Word (I do this, and I have colour codings in there too, very similar to what you describe, Teresa). But I find that having something corporeal, something I can hold, that isn't on the monitor screen, really helps me to clarify things at moments when I get stuck.

At the moment I cover printouts in masses of lines, arrows and scribbles if I'm rearranging things 'offline'. This way would be much clearer.


Given that my plot-arc is rather complex, I couldn't get away with not structuring things, at least in outline.

[Glisterspeck]

Sephiroth, I don't know if you're a mac user, most people aren't, but if you are, there's an excellent lil app called scrivener that I've found useful for organizing ideas, structure, and research. I went from having folders and tons of bookmarks for each storyline to a single, manageable file and a handful of printouts. It uses, in part, an index card metaphor.

(I'm not mature old yet to post links but if you Google the below, it's the first link)
Literature and Latte - Scrivener

[Sephiroth]

Thanks for the tip, Glisterspeck! Unfortunately, I don't use a mac. I wonder if there's anything similar for Windows?

Other than word, I use Excel spreadsheets to keep track of things like the chronology of events, statistics about regions of the world, etc...

[Anne Lyle]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Thanks for the tip, Glisterspeck! Unfortunately, I don't use a mac. I wonder if there's anything similar for Windows?

Yep, it's called SuperNotecard (Mindola Software) - actually it works on Windows and Macs because it's a Java program. I use it to outline my WiP because although it's not quite as pretty as Scrivener, it has more options for adding coloured tags and markers to the cards, including a little thermometer icon for marking tension

I prefer Scrivener for revisions, though, because SuperNotecard's drafting abilities are more limited. The Windows equivalent of Scrivener is a program called Liquid Story Binder - I've heard it's good, though I've never used it...

[dustinzgirl]

Originally Posted by Teresa Edgerton

Then no wonder you don't find writing outlines interesting or productive for novel writing. Fiction is not structured like an article, essay, or term paper. Writing your thoughts out in the form of a narrative is much more relevant to the task at hand: it gives you some ideas about the rhythms and the structure of you novel (they may turn out to be the wrong ideas, but still, they are a starting point), it may show you were the plot holes are, it generates new ideas, and so forth.

You may or may not have notebooks full of other stuff as well -- maps, genealogies, time lines, diagrams of scene and sequel, etc.-- I have spiral notebooks full of random thoughts, which, when I'm feeling the need for a little organization, sometimes get typed up and arranged in folders. I once plotted a novel on index cards -- easy to switch things around. I also color-coded them: action, background, sexual tension (because that was important to that particular story), magic, etc., so I could see if one section became too concentrated with any one thing at the expense of the other parts of the story. That actually worked so well that I'm not sure why I've never done it again. But whatever else you are doing (or not doing) writing that long, detailed synopsis as well can be very useful in many different ways.

It's also what an agent or an editor is looking for when they ask for an outline or chapter outline; so it's good practice for producing one of those.

Great advice as always T!

[Sephiroth]

Anne, thank you. I've downloaded SuperNotecard and it looks like it could be really useful to me. I can't wait to have a mess about with it.

Cheers for the link!

[Anne Lyle]

You're welcome, Seph! Glad you like it

[Anthony G Williams]

I had considerable experience in writing non-fiction - in which a carefully planned structure is essential - before I tried writing fiction. I don't plan my fiction in the same way (it's part of the fun of writing it; I'm never quite sure what's going to happen next) but I suspect that the non-fiction discipline is still there, in the back of my mind, checking that it all makes sense.

[Marvolo]

I think it depends on the length of fiction. If it is a short story up to novelette I think going with the flow is fine because the length lends itself to easy revision of the entire thing if necessary.

If you're writing a novel I'd at least suggest a few notes to keep you on track if not a sketchy outline with a few notes on characters.

[Epona]

I used to do really detailed plans, but it ended up stifling my creativity to the point that I stopped writing for a while.

For my current story I have done a basic plan of about 2 sides of A4. I know how the story will end and the main obstacles my main character will have to overcome, but the other details I'm working out as I go.

I'm finding it more enjoyable this way, now it's an adventure for me as well as my characters.

[Lanista]

Whatever is good for what ails you I think is the answer to this one. I had a plan in mind when I wrote my first book, but it was never written down. For the sequel now, I'm trying to map it out chapter by chapter. It's not easy, to be fair and there is a feeling of not being creative, but I'm trying to apply some science this time around.

My caveat with myself is that a plan is your assistant - you aren't it's slave. So as I sit down to write the work properly (I joined that nowrimo thing to see how much I could hammer out next month), if things develop that aren't in the plan, then so be it.

I like to have a guideline, key plot points and so forth... but I dont think I could be a slave to the plan...then again, my mate says that the planning of his book took ages, but the writing part was a doddle. So...as I say, whatever suits you is best.

Writing is one of those things - there are very few right answers, but a lot choices in the "how to" stakes!

[Marvolo]

The only problem I find with writing off the cuff is that I generally tend to steer the story away from where I originally envisioned and towards an unknown area. Then I stop to think about this new development. In the interim, I lose the inspiration and end up ditching the story.

With short fiction it isn't a problem. I picture the beginning, middle, and end and it turns out that way.

Whenever I next attempt a novel I am going to do some intense world building and also get a generalized plot skeleton with some character notes.