Creating a story

[EileenG]

Sometimes just developing great characters and throwng them into an interesting situation to see what happens is a good way to write a story. However, if your are writing a crime or detective story, you need to plot, since you generally have to work from the back forward - you have to seed the clues in through the story to arrive at the satisfying ending.

One thing I find very useful is to write my synopsis before I start writing the story. This shows you who your essential characters are, where the plot holes are, and keeps you on track. And of course, when you've finished, you've already got your synopsis out of the way.

[teh603]

Originally Posted by EileenG

However, if your are writing a crime or detective story, you need to plot, since you generally have to work from the back forward - you have to seed the clues in through the story to arrive at the satisfying ending.

Dunno, I'd argue that detective stories are a textbook case of the plot beginning halfway through the story, instead of the two beginning at the same time.

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by ekster

But something just refuses to click when I try to plan it out at the chapter by chapter level.

I agree, then don't.

There are 2 distinct methods of writing, with flavoring in between.

Camp One: I came across this camp when reading on Orson Scott Card's web site for writers. He has A LOT of great information there, including essays on how to write. What he does is plan everything out before he writes. Full out line, word counts, etc. Before he starts writing the actual narrative he knows exactly what will happen from beginning to end.

Camp Two: I first saw this method described by Stephen King in his book "On Writing" (side note.. YOU GO BUY THIS ) When King writes he starts with an idea "a tilted lover gets revenge" or something like that. Then he just starts writing with NO IDEA where the story will go, or how it will end.


Both are very successful in their art, and both prove that thier model works... for them.

I fall squarely in Camp Two. I have in my mind a character, and I put that character in a scene and see what he does. From there the story flows out. It is the only way I can work. I can not understand Camp One, and in my experience people that fall in Camp One can not understand Camp Two.

Here is the thing... BOTH are completely valid and proven models. Perhaps your problem is your tying to hard to be something your not. So in summary.. my suggestions...

1) Go by Stephen King's "On Writing" and read it. Then read it again.
2) Sit, write, and stop worrying.
3) Look into a program called Scrivener. Its great if you want to just write scenes in pieces and assemble later.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Marj

It seems to me that over-planning is not good for the creative process.

Depends on what and how you create. If you want to create a stream-of-consciousness manuscript, don't plan... just write, and let the stream of consciousness become your creativity. If you want to create a good and coherent story, you must plan first... then let the words that tell your story reflect your creativity.

Per Vydor's post above, I'm a Camp One kind of guy: Though I may not plan as thoroughly as Card suggests, I basically follow that writing strategy. I have tried Camp Two for short stories (Promotional link deleted - MODERATOR] - Denial of Service stories for examples), but I achieve much more satisfaction from longer works, and I need more structure to write novels than short stories.

[Marj]

Well, I guess I might be Camp 1 1/2. I do plan a rough outline, know where my book is going to end, (though it doesn't always stick to that ending) but I'm a long way from planning chapter to chapter, and like a new water-course, it tends to make its own way to the sea.

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by Marj

Well, I guess I might be Camp 1 1/2. I do plan a rough outline, know where my book is going to end, (though it doesn't always stick to that ending) but I'm a long way from planning chapter to chapter, and like a new water-course, it tends to make its own way to the sea.

Yeah, there are lots of flavors... I listed the two ends of the spectrum. The thing is, everyone is different and we need to work in the manner that is best for each of us. We can read how others do it, and get ideas... but ultimately we need to find our own path.

[Jim Chaseley]

When I write, I rapidly splurge out the initial scene, or idea that's taken me, then slow down and write a chapter per paragraph for the remaining chapters. Be it a description of what's coming in that chapter, or even the opening of that chapter itself.

The only thing that gets me through though, is feedback from others as I write. I simply cannot conceive of the idea of writing 80,000 words, without someone telling me it's "ok" along the way. I get eaten by self doubt...what if I get to 75,000 words, but the story turned to rat droppings at 5K?

As such, my poor friends have read 10% of one project, 30% of another and 25% of yet another... They're very patient!

[dadioflex]

FWIW I point to that website all the time but I've never suggested anyone buys anything from it - the article on the end of the link is all you need. I've nothing AGAINST buying anything from there either, but I've no idea if it's any good or not. The article, on the other hand, is an excellent introduction to the method and should be enough to convince anyone whether they want to plot like that, or not.

For me it was a bolt from the sky. YMMV.

[ekster]

Thanks for the suggestions, Vydor. I'll check out King's book. And I did see Card's info on writing... a bit too much planning for me.

I was thinking that I was doing something wrong when planning... but I guess I am one of those people who just shouldn't plan too much and let the story write itself.

I figured it would be easier for me to properly plan everything from A to Z, as that what I was always told in school and it kind of stuck to me... but it seems like planning too much in detail is just making it harder for me.

But I will try using the backward planning method next time... sounds interesting and I never thought of planning like that before.

[SRH59]

Speaking purely for myself, I'm very much an Anti-Planner. I just find I work faster and more productively when I have a strong central character/idea/scene/line of dialogue in mind, and take it from there.

Of course, I have used the structured, planned in advance method: and while it worked - and worked well - ultimately I just found it far less...fun.

[morriss003]

A common problem. I take a long time to get to sleep at night, so this is when I try to fill in the gaps. I imagine that other people do so while meditating or when moving the lawn or while doing some other repetitive work. Sometimes I just skip a part and go on to the next part. Often when I see that section, I get the sense of how the difficult section needs to read.

[gmw]

It is really interesting to read the different responses here. I can particularly relate to Jim Chaseley's post about self-doubt; some days I'll read over what I've done and think it's great, and other days I'll read over what I've done and think it's absolute crap. I've not yet found anyone to bounce unfinished work off, so for now I've taken the dictum: write. It's become a compulsion to me and so I just keep at it ... and it has paid off. I actually like my first novel now it's complete - and the few people I've shared it with seem to like it too.

But the actual process of getting to the end of that first novel was often quite painful. I bounced back and forth between no plan, no idea at all of where it was headed, and then weeks spent considering the characters, back-story and a rough plan ... which evolved into a much larger story that I am now trying to complete as subsequent novels. But at no point have I felt able to come up with a detailed chapter plan - the story telling remains driven very much by the characters themselves. I can't seem to write unless I am inside the story with the characters.

There are obviously significant risks with such undirected writing, and those risks continue to gnaw at me, increasing my sense of doubt ... but I tell myself that this sense of doubt is a good thing, it keeps me striving to make it all work. I have to be able to read and re-read what I've done without losing that sense of involvement.

I don't come from a background of writing (literature at school, writers groups and so on) - only reading. I've often wondered how much of my lack of direction comes from a lack of experience, I look forward to seeing how things may change as I gain experience. I was sort of hoping that the subsequent novels I have started would be easier, but that doesn't seem to be the case. The main advantage I have now, over when I first started, is a finished novel that I am happy with, and that offers some confidence to keep pushing forward.

[Democracyman]

People have a place to be in were they can concentrate and get into a mental trance or zone the best. This place maybe while walking, very common for deep thinkers or even in the shower, or in bed before going to sleep or in bed after waking up. The concentrated deep thinking or trance state may not be in front of the key board while typing.

Dan

[James_Wilde]

Originally Posted by Marj

Well, I guess I might be Camp 1 1/2. I do plan a rough outline, know where my book is going to end, (though it doesn't always stick to that ending) but I'm a long way from planning chapter to chapter, and like a new water-course, it tends to make its own way to the sea.

Sounds like my method, too, Marj, although my synopsis is quite detailed. Usually runs to about three A4 pages. And then I write my characters' prehistory, that is what has happened to them before the story starts, so I know how they were formed.

Then I take out my calendar and jump a couple of years ahead and start planning major events there, including characters' birthdays. It's the only real way to get a plausible time line I think. I mean you can't have someone start to learn to drive, say, on June 1, and take their test a week later.

And still they surprise me.

[Nancy Fulda]

Originally Posted by ekster

But something just refuses to click when I try to plan it out at the chapter by chapter level.

It sounds like you may be an organic writer (also sometimes called a pantser). Some people are, and although it's possible to force oneself to write to an outline, if you are one of those authors who needs to discover the story as it unfolds, outlines will probably always feel unnatural to you.

If that is indeed the case, then I would suggest that, instead of fighting your natural writing style, you could learn to capitalize on it. Organic writers do need to prune more during revision than outliners, but they also tend to write with a ferver and an artistic genius that outliners find difficult to match.

To a certain extent, there is no way to avoid the pain of false starts and scrapped outlines when one is still inexperienced in the craft of writing. Over time, one learns to recognize literary dead-ends while they are still in the planning stages, and avoid them. But for now, it sounds like you're already doing the best thing you can possible do: keep writing.