Hello

I'm a new WW person, and having skulked around the forums for a little while, I thought it high time I got a bit interactive! I was wondering how many of you plot a novel from start to finish before you get on with the writing? Or does anyone just start with their 'vague' idea and see where it takes them? With short stories the 'see where it takes you' approach seems to work for me, but is that too much of a risk with a novel? Should I have every detail nailed before I start? Any advice gratefully appreciated!

PS Apologies if this is not the right thread for this post - still finding my way around...

Hullo and welcome!

Um, I think I'm more of see where it takes me person. But I wouldn't ever embark on a novel without some degree of plotting or research. I guess you have to see which way works best for you.

Nik.

Hello, welcome to WW.

I agree with Nik, it really is down to what feels right for you. Personally, I'm a bit wild in my imagination so if I'm not strict with myself by having a strongly plotted sequence of events, I tend to go 'off road' and get lost. I don't adhere strictly to even the strictest road map anyway, but at least I have it!

I think short stories are easier to 'freewheel', as you say.

JB

It also depends on genre too. My last novel was very free, and it was only when I had completed a first draft that I began to see plots developing that could be expanded and developed. Although this gives a more natural plot - the characters having found their own way - it is a more time consuming method because you have to redraft and redraft. Looking back, I would have saved a lot of time had I plotted it out, but I don't think I could have come up with the ideas that occurred naturally.

Saying that, my current project is a thriller, which I am plotting to quite a high degree, but I have no doubt that things will change once I get deeper into the writing.

Just on a side note: there are writers out there who plot a novel, then ship the skeleton out to a third part who writes it, keeping true to the plot. You can normally spot these a mile off, as the author's name (ie the brand name) is in big letters at the top, then comes the title, and at the bottom, in small letters, it will have, "with John Doe" - the name of the poor sod who did the hard slog.

Colin M

Hi Hiraeth.

I never plot in advance - I just get together some characters and some initial tension, and go where it leads. But I do know everyone is different. Some always have a road map. But what I say is - don't feel you HAVE to plan in advance.

Rosy

That was one of the main points behind the NanoWriMo - an annual event (November) where writers sign up to complete a novel in a month (or a minimum of 50,000 words).

It sounds insane, but the idea is that you don't have time to plan or rewrite or really think too far ahead. The result is that as you turn out pages and pages, the plots and character developments work themselves out.

We tried it on here and it worked well enough to develop into the Novel Motivation Group

Colin M

Hi there, With regards plotting what's that? I have two books on the go at the moment One a thriller under the working title Coincidences.
This is made up of a lot of litttle stories that can be all stitched together. Doing it this way allows me to pickup other plots while I'm working. The other book is a collection of short stories all about the same people just told from different perspectives.
I think as a writer you should sometimes make your own path just to see where it leads you.
All the best. Joe

I sort of have a plan. My first novel, which is trying to get me to notice it and do the re-write, is a crime story and so I knew whodunnit and why before I started and I had an idea of the different relationships I would explore. It did wander off on its own a little bit though and I had to drag it back kicking and screaming.
My second novel which was up to chapter five has just reinvented itself and is now going to end up as two stories no longer intertwined but totally separate. I didn't plan for that at all!
I would say if it works go with it, if the plan stalls then let your mind wander and your plot bunnies free.
Oh, and welcome, this is a great place to be.
Take care
Tracy

I don't fall into either category. I think I have a clear idea of where I am going, how the plot might develop and what happens to the main characters.

However, to me, writing is a truly creative discipline and it's like being on a train journey where I know where I am going. My destination is clear but the journey demands that I get off at quite a few stations along the way; sometimes the names are familiar but each stop represents an exciting challenge and an enjoyable experience.

Len

However, to me, writing is a truly creative discipline and it's like being on a train journey where I know where I am going. My destination is clear but the journey demands that I get off at quite a few stations along the way; sometimes the names are familiar but each stop represents an exciting challenge and an enjoyable experience. Len

What a great way to describe it.
Take care
Tracy

However I start, the finished product is very different. I often start out with words - a sentence occurs to me, and I play around with it and see where it goes. An example:

"She never the children what she did in the War."

So far, I've written three short stories using this -- a mystery and two literary short stories.

My fantasy trilogy started with something that horrified me when I was fifteen, visiting my older sister and two nieces. An elderly, nasty aunt came in. She pointed at Kate, then 3 1/2, and said, "That's the pretty one." My niece Suzy, then 5, looked up from her colouring book and said, "Well, I'm the clever one."

I thought then, think now, that is a truly terrible thing to say to two girls and could result in all kinds of sibling resentment and self-doubt.

Yes, great way to put it, Len.

I plot fully, as my last few novels have been parallel narratives which do rather demand it, like thrillers, but only in the barest of detail, if that makes sense - perhaps five or ten words per strand, per chapter.

But none of that precedes a first idea brooded over and all sorts of ideas written down and maps and spider diagrams and notes to develop it.

And all my plans are in pencil, because everything might change. I do a lot of rubbing out and re-doing.

Emma

Thanks to everyone for their wise words - I think I'll probably try the little bit of plotting/little bit of freewheeling and see where it gets me. Spider diagrams here I come!

Cate

I write for children and my basic storylines tend to be very simple. I have a very basic plotline - something on the lines of 'X starts off in this situation, then Y happens, which changes everything, but then P happens and they all live happily ever after (or not).'

From that I start thinking 'OK, so who are X's family? Who are his friends? What do they think about this?' and they bring with them their own tensions and plotlines which need to be resolved. And I'll get halfway through and I'll suddenly think 'They should all go up in an airship!' or similar.

My books also tend to be under 40,000 words, which I suspect means my storylines can be simpler.

I think there'll always be things that crop up in the plot once you're into the novel that you haven't planned, which cause you to backtrack and foreshadow - for instance, if you write yourself into a a situation where you have an ordinary kid, whose only way out is to drive a car or a motorbike then you're going to have to go back and mention somewhere near the beginning that he can drive one or the other and give reason, so when the reader finally lands on that scene they remember that information and don't feel cheated.

I don't think you can plot to such a degree that the story is waterproof, but in some genres you have to have a go.

Colin M