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#266144 09/01/06 01:31 AM
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elle Offline OP
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This week's article is about structuring your plot and working out the beginning, middle, climax, and ending.

Do you like to work out your plot before you begin working on your story? Or do you prefer to start with just an idea spark, and find out where it leads you?


Elle Carter Neal
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#266145 09/01/06 06:30 AM
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I like the "hearwritenow". <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Thought I'd put in my voice here, to reciprocate.

When I'm writing fiction (short stories until now, which have been replaced by the novel that is not cooperating), I always begin with a written-out structure. Of course, that hardly ever makes much difference once I actually start writing. The basic theme sticks around (usually), but I find, more often than not, that there was a lot more story in my head than I realized.

Last edited by Jenna_Atheist; 09/01/06 06:32 AM.

Jenna Sawyer
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#266146 09/02/06 03:51 AM
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Thanks Jenna <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Sometimes I find my novels don't co-operate because I'm trying to make a character do something and they insist on doing something else (ie, when plot conflicts with character). When I let go a bit and follow the thread, it usually ends up making more sense than what I was going for, or adds a whole new twist to the story.

It might help to have a break and dream about your characters, and then sit down and dig into their backgrounds and sketch them out a bit more. You might discover something that fits into the bit that's not co-operating. Or you might realise you need to rewrite a section, which is less fun.

My first novel began with only quite a thin outline, and I really found it hard to move from chapter to chapter because I wasn't sure where I was going. But with my second and third novels, because I was thinking about them while writing the first, I captured a lot of plot detail there before I finished the first novel and could begin on the next. The one I'm writing now is zipping along because I have a good outline for each chapter, but even so, I end up with new subplots developing and new characters being introduced, and so as I write those I copy and paste those details into my notes for future reference and detail where I think I'm going with it.

And then you have someone like Stephen King who gets an idea and flogs out the first draft within a few months. That's how he plans his books - I equate that to my detailed synopsis and notes, if I wrote them in past tense they could well equate to a first draft.

Last edited by elleCreatEd; 09/02/06 03:59 AM.

Elle Carter Neal
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#266147 09/02/06 03:57 AM
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That reminds me of what I told my mother yesterday when she called and asked what I was doing, which was, "Well, I was writing, but I had to stop until he decides to listen to reason."
I definitely find my best work is when I just let go, let my brain and fingers just connect.
As crazy as it is, I'm certain I even talk to my characters out loud sometimes, though, of course, I don't actually hear them talk back.
And rewriting...eew, not fun at all. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />


Jenna Sawyer
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#266148 09/02/06 04:01 AM
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Sorry, had an extra thought there after I posted <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />


Elle Carter Neal
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#266149 09/02/06 04:01 AM
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The letting go coming, of course, after I've done all the foundation work. I really find the structuring work in the beginning a lot of fun, and especially important for character, at least mine. Having them planned out so well in the beginning makes it easier to know what they'll do in any situation.


Jenna Sawyer
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#266150 09/02/06 07:03 AM
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I put the characters into a situation, with a germ of an idea as to plot, then when I've had time to work with them I decide whether they work together. If the plot stays in my mind but the characters are difficult, I change them around. If the plot doesn't work, I change it.

When it all jells, I sit down and write a loose outline. I change it about three times before a novel is completed.

If the story is set in a particular time frame, or needs a certain type of person or event to make it work, it will be outlined in the conception stage, before I begin writing. Outlines work for me if they aren't too strictly set down.

My characters have a tendency to have strong personalities, and often an idea comes out of the kind of reaction a character might have to an event. I sometimes don't see it until I sit down to write a scene, when I've defined their personalities and know them better.

#266151 09/05/06 04:08 AM
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Flexible outlines are the reason I prefer to keep my notes on the PC rather than written out. I like to cut and paste and rearrange things when something changes, or a scene in a chapter might become the entire chapter and push the next scene into the next chapter, etc. I love that I can just shuffle things around. I used to do this with post-it notes, but I'd inevitably stick them too close together and then have to shift 10 notes to fit an extra scene in (yeah, lazy, I know.)


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