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Post by samanthabryant on Jul 29, 2016 11:04:34 GMT -5
When you are creating something new and large-scale, how do you go about it? Are you a "pantser" or a "Plotter" or some combination therein? Is it different from project to project?
For me, I'm mostly a pantser, but do find that it helps to do some broad stroke plotting when I get to a certain point in the manuscript. I'm wondering though, if plotting it out more might lead to a more coherent first draft and save me time? Time, of course, is my great enemy--trying to produce manuscripts quickly enough to serve my career.
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Post by Amanda Staley on Jul 29, 2016 11:30:16 GMT -5
I am the same way as you. I'm a bit of a cross between a pantser and a plotter. I do a broad outline on what I want to accomplish, but don't really have a good idea of where I'm going. A few years ago I started reading "Outlining your Novel: Map your way to success" by K.M. Weiland. There were a lot of good ideas. I unfortunately abandoned the book before I finished reading it. At the time I was working on revisions on Dissonance and wasn't in the place to try out some of the outlining techniques she used. I am thinking about picking it back up to see if plotting (with permission to deviate from it) would be a decent enough fit for me. One thing that I took away from the part of the book I did read was the what if scenario. While I am developing my broad outline, I'll come up with a list of what ifs, sort of like free writing ideas, occasionally some of them stick and make great secondary plot lines.
I have started adding the what I want to accomplish as a part of my overall writing plan, sort of like developing a theme for each book. I think I will start to do the same with each chapter, that way as you mentioned perhaps it will save me time on the revision stages.
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Post by zrsouthcombe on Jul 29, 2016 19:48:52 GMT -5
I'm a plotter for writing projects. I find it helpful to know where the story is going, and to ensure I'm doing my job as 'storyteller'. My plotting is based on the three act structure & hero's journey, broadly speaking.
I think with children's fiction, it's more important to keep the reader hooked throughout the story. A plan helps with this too.
Having said that, my finished work always differs from the original plot!
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Post by glynisj on Aug 10, 2016 16:46:33 GMT -5
I'm somewhere in between too. I'll start off with a paragraph of what the theme. I usually can quickly figure out what the beginning and the end will be. The middle is murky at best. I, then, create my characters, putting quite a lot more detail into the main ones than the minor ones. In fact, most minor ones get kind of thrown in along the way while I write.
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Post by zrsouthcombe on Aug 13, 2016 4:29:25 GMT -5
I'm similar, Glynis. The beginning and end are fixed points, but the middle is changeable.
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Post by christinec on Oct 29, 2016 9:22:38 GMT -5
I used to be a pantser, but it definitely means more time is needed to edit and order the draft when it's done. I had a go at being a bit of both, using a broad outline, and that helped. I'm currently trying out being a more of a planner. I started with a 'what if?' scenario, deciding that would be my beginning, then I planned where I would start the story (just before the 'what if?' comes in) Then I decided where I wanted the story to end, chose two or three main plot points that will happen along the way, and did some character outlines. I have also made a note of some of the sub-plots and where they're heading. For me, that is a lot more planning than usual.
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