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Post by saintofm on Jul 6, 2024 0:42:33 GMT -6
There are two main styles, I have dabbled in both, but mostly go with the Pantsting.
Plotter: You plan it out, use outlines. You write down where you want different things to happen. Compare this to the child that needs to follow the instructions on the LEGO kit.
Pros:
-You have an idea what you are working on and working towards.
-There is a start point and an end point, and you know what you need to fill in-between.
-Easy to make goals.
Cons:
-Can take the fun out of it for some as they have it planned, they know what they are getting to so the fun of getting there is gone.
-If you dread writing certain kinds of scenes, it makes you more aware you are getting closer to it.
Pantsers: They make it up as they go. No mape, no problem. Compare this to the kid that throws the instructions away and makes their own LEGO creation.
Personal experience on the pros and cons
Pros:
-Lots of freedom of creativity.
-Find a flow and stick with it.
Cons:
-Feast or Famine with ideas. Sometimes you get lots of them, sometimes you have a flood of idea and its never ending. Other times the well is dried up, and we hit a writer's block.
-Sometimes you can keep writing and realize you lost the plot somewhere and now you have to discard entire sections or save it for later. Great way to make several books, problem when trying to make just one.
o, where do you fit on this and your tips and tricks on how to work in one, the other, or blend the two.
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Post by ScintillaMyntan on Jul 6, 2024 12:46:52 GMT -6
Most of my ideas, at least the ones that I choose to turn into stories, come with some built-in structure. "Character feels guilty about scamming people and decides to make up for it," that was my idea for a contest here. So I had to show the character getting the idea to scam people, scamming people, feeling guilt, and making up for it. That's already an outline.
If you're purely pantsing, does that mean you just start with a scenario, like "the character is approached by someone on the street," and not consider at all how that scenario will turn out or how it fits in a larger story? It seems hard to get a good story out of that. Even so, don't you ever think up a later event and decide you need a chain of events to connect it to what you're writing now? Isn't that outlining? I guess it's hard for me to imagine someone writing without some bigger-picture idea of the story at all.
Maybe the dichotomy isn't really whether you pants or plot, but more like whether you go from individual scenes to big picture, or go from big picture to individual scenes. But even then, there are numerous variants. C.S. Lewis started the Chronicles of Narnia by coming up with seemingly unrelated mental images and then considering what kind of story can unite them, and then refined his idea by incorporating theme. I once talked with a novelist who said he comes up with a beginning and an end and discovery-writes the sequence of events from beginning to end in order.
For myself, I follow the loose structure that my big-picture plans for the story give me, but within that, I improvise.
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Post by pelwrath on Jul 6, 2024 13:20:07 GMT -6
Much more a pantser. When I get an idea for a book (not story), I’ll use powerpoint to create a bubble flow chart. These bubbles are important scenes. The characters, topic/subject, setting, and desired outcome. After I have all these done. I determine #1 then draw solid or dotted lines that represent connecting scenes, solid line is more important than dotted. Then I number the bubbles 2 through whatever.
Next I start writing.When I finish the last bubble. I have a detailed outline/rough draft that should flow adequately. I ditch the power point and begin working on the rough draft.
I’ll do a read along edit and make notes about moving or changing sections based on how it sounds.
I’ll look for what I should call Alpha readers for feedback. I never have a word count attached the the bubbles.
This is the current status of my Space Opera, several short sci-fi stories, and an alternate history in WW2.
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Post by HDSimplicityy on Jul 7, 2024 23:32:30 GMT -6
When I started writing, I was a pantser all the way. For me, it made figuring out what the hell I was writing hard. Like finding the end of a tangled rope. I didn't enjoy that. Maybe it was ADHD or something.
These days I do plan it out. But I don't go overboard. I like to still explore my imagination. Be wild, ya know? But to keep myself aware of where it needs to go, I outline. I type out what may happen, what the characters are, the goals, and any world building.
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Post by Alatariel on Jul 8, 2024 10:29:09 GMT -6
When I started writing, I was a pantser all the way. For me, it made figuring out what the hell I was writing hard. Like finding the end of a tangled rope. I didn't enjoy that. Maybe it was ADHD or something. These days I do plan it out. But I don't go overboard. I like to still explore my imagination. Be wild, ya know? But to keep myself aware of where it needs to go, I outline. I type out what may happen, what the characters are, the goals, and any world building. This is similar to my journey as a writer. Started out as a pure panster. I was a teen when I really started to try writing longer stories. They always started with a vague premise, that's it, and then I'd just jump in and see what happened. And I always stalled around 20k words. Always. Without fail, I'd write myself into a corner or get bored with how things were going or have no idea what the big picture was meant to be or why people were doing what they were doing. It always got really messy and then the projects would be abandoned. So I started planning more, but not much. Just major plot points that needed to be hit along the way but how the characters got there was completely pantsed. Still, I'd find myself deviating from the plan too much and my characters would get into a sticky situation in between big plot points and I'd stall again. Many projects abandoned at 20-40k. Then I joined LF and learned how to outline while still keeping the spontaneous spirit alive (ADHD here as well and I need the thrill of discovery or I get bored). With short stories, I don't plan anything. I go with the vague idea and jump in, figuring it out as I go. But with longer projects, I follow strict outlining methods but allow myself to change things as I go or as needed. I also try to make a few big exciting things happen in the middle of the project (around 20k, 30k, 40k) so that I look forward to getting to that point and writing it. There's a great website I use for outlining called Storyplanner and it has lots of guided options for outlines that you can choose from like Save the Pet or the Snowfake method. All of which are really great for planning and the website will ask what your intended word count will be and tells you when you should be hitting certain planned plot points. It's VERY helpful. It also has Character Arc guides and other things to keep you on track. It'll tell you which story planning option is very rigid and which are looser and which are good for pantsers, etc. GREAT resouces! |
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Post by HDSimplicityy on Jul 8, 2024 11:22:40 GMT -6
When I started writing, I was a pantser all the way. For me, it made figuring out what the hell I was writing hard. Like finding the end of a tangled rope. I didn't enjoy that. Maybe it was ADHD or something. These days I do plan it out. But I don't go overboard. I like to still explore my imagination. Be wild, ya know? But to keep myself aware of where it needs to go, I outline. I type out what may happen, what the characters are, the goals, and any world building. This is similar to my journey as a writer. Started out as a pure panster. I was a teen when I really started to try writing longer stories. They always started with a vague premise, that's it, and then I'd just jump in and see what happened. And I always stalled around 20k words. Always. Without fail, I'd write myself into a corner or get bored with how things were going or have no idea what the big picture was meant to be or why people were doing what they were doing. It always got really messy and then the projects would be abandoned. So I started planning more, but not much. Just major plot points that needed to be hit along the way but how the characters got there was completely pantsed. Still, I'd find myself deviating from the plan too much and my characters would get into a sticky situation in between big plot points and I'd stall again. Many projects abandoned at 20-40k. Then I joined LF and learned how to outline while still keeping the spontaneous spirit alive (ADHD here as well and I need the thrill of discovery or I get bored). With short stories, I don't plan anything. I go with the vague idea and jump in, figuring it out as I go. But with longer projects, I follow strict outlining methods but allow myself to change things as I go or as needed. I also try to make a few big exciting things happen in the middle of the project (around 20k, 30k, 40k) so that I look forward to getting to that point and writing it. There's a great website I use for outlining called Storyplanner and it has lots of guided options for outlines that you can choose from like Save the Pet or the Snowfake method. All of which are really great for planning and the website will ask what your intended word count will be and tells you when you should be hitting certain planned plot points. It's VERY helpful. It also has Character Arc guides and other things to keep you on track. It'll tell you which story planning option is very rigid and which are looser and which are good for pantsers, etc. GREAT resouces! Sometimes planning is helpful. Other times going with the flow of thought is enjoyable. Maybe I can try out letting my mind just wander with a short story. |
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Post by saintofm on Jul 8, 2024 13:29:36 GMT -6
Yeah, my ADHD is the same. I start off with something, and OH SHINY! Distractions and meanderings Galor! On a macro level I have an idea where things are going to be, but its the micro level that I need to go back over with a fine toothed comb.
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You add them to your profile as you do them around the forum.
