Friday, February 8, 2013

Planning Stages for a New Story

Welcome to my 200th Post!

Which is cool to note, but I have something else to chat about today. :-)

In putting away my last two projects, both years in the making, I realized something very important. Though relationships inspire me, they also drive much of my plot. This results in us getting to know the characters a lot in the first few chapters, then this leads to events developing in the second half that could have been there the whole time. Or my big problem isn't as strong as I thought it was, because it wasn't thought all the way through from the beginning.

The solution, of course, is to figure out the greater plot ahead of time. I'm, uh, not entirely sure how to do this, though I have some theoretical knowledge about it.

Usually, I just start writing and see what happens. I'm trying something entirely different this time around. This past week I've been getting together my inspirational pieces and jotting notes about characters, location, artifacts, groups and cultures, etc. I'm getting to know the world very well, but I'm still not entirely sure what the problem is beyond the dirty laundry of relationships.

This isn't an issue so far. I'm going to write Fantasy this time so there is a lot of world building, and much of the research I do is balanced with me having to make a bunch of crap up. Not having a 'world is ending' plot point yet doesn't matter much at the moment, but it will once details come into play.

So, here's my multifaceted question. How do you start to plan, particularly the 'Big Problem' piece? Do you pants it? Does it come to you first? Or does inspiration come from somewhere else?

12 comments:

  1. Congrats on you 200th post.

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    1. Thank you. :-) It took me by surprise, actually.

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  2. The characters come to me first, as my fiction is very-character driven, too. Once I have an idea who they are, I work on the plot and make an outline.

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    1. Good to know I'm not the only one. I have begun to truly appreciate outlines now. I used to hate them, but they've got me through a few rough scenes recently.

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  3. Big problems can usually be divided into smaller problems and those can be divided again into lesser problems. What I do is to create a timeline for my characters and 'world' events and by doing so the problems become more and more divided. At some point I can start with tackling the tiniest problem and from there on it becomes easier to solve the bigger ones because you already have a few pieces of the puzzle.

    This all works out pretty well for me until I realize I've been staring at the wrong puzzle and start over again:)

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    1. What's funny about that is I have no problem micro-managing my life (I love schedules) but I have an issue doing that with my writing. I think I should learn. I can see all the possibilities in your strategy. :)

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  4. I like to think about the story for a long time before I sit down to write it. Think about the characters. Put them in situations and see what happens. Construct various scenarios.

    After a while, an ending develops. And lately, I've taken to outlining from the end. I start with the ending scenario, and then I work my way backwards--as in, before that can occur, this must. And slowly I work my way back.

    Congrats on reaching 200.

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    1. I've been toying with the outline from the end idea myself. I just don't know what the end is yet. Perhaps more stewing time. :)

      Thanks for the congrats, too. :)

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  5. Regarding my trilogy, I got the idea of the "ability" first. Then the sub-plot of my MC being from one dimension, but growing up in a far away place not knowing who she was. With her ability already established, the main plot revealed itself only a few days later.

    Looking back at it, everything came from her ability, and I built the world and people around it.

    It has taken 9 different versions to get to the one I have now. (Roughly 800,000 words) not including all the different drafts for each version.

    Congratulations on your 200th post! That's awesome :D

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    1. 9 versions, wow! Like, complete rewrites, or major changes that kept the core concept in tact? I'm limited to 3 complete rewrites myself, or I have to move on to a new story. I may get back to it later, but I drive myself crazy wanting to be too perfect with it.

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  6. I pants, for the most part, but I do tend to have the story running through my head when I'm not writing, so I end up plotting a bit in that way, I suppose. I like to just sit at the keyboard and start to write, just to see what comes of it.

    Shannon at The Warrior Muse

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    1. I love pantsing. It's just not working for me the way I would like it to. I don't have the patience, I think, to go through and really tear it apart after. If I plan ahead a bit, I'm able to secure a more stable foundation to move on from.

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