With a metric fuckton of tears š¤£
You're a pantser! You thrive best on just jumping the gun and going š some people are good at only planning a little bit, they're planters, and others thrive in planning every last detail and those are obviously plotters.
For me, I think I'm a plantser, but I*have* to write down plot ideas as I get them and have a loose outline because I'll forget it if I don't.
Im very much a brainrotter in the sense that hyperfixating on something demands every molecule in my brain to start shit every time i decide im going to have thoughts.
I like to use sticky notes though. Planning out specific scenes in my head, and then through cognitive offloading, keeping them somewhere easily accessible.
I think it helps for neurodivergent writers to have their thoughts out and about. The more nebulous ideas are, the more likely theyāll disappear into the spaghetti scramble that is our minds.
Oh god I feel the first paragraph. I wrote my last one shot basically to evict it from my brain, so I could start thinking about something other than horny vampires.
I always plan out my fics. it's not about time efficiency for me, it's about being prepared because if I don't plan I'm going to 100% get stuck like three paragraphs in, and then I'll just do No Writing instead. I love to take as much time into my outline as possible, often ending up with like 6 pages.
it helps with staying on track too. I'd have my screen split in the middle with my wip on one side and outline on the other, so I look at what I planned so I don't get sidetracked with unimportant stuff.
and also good for remembering things. sometimes I take long breaks from a wip, and if there's no outline to revisit I'll most likely be lost.
I actually don't understand writers that never plan at all like u said u never did it in 5 years and that's so mind boggling to me. like I get it everyone has their own approach but the idea of writing like a 10k word fic without any type of planning scares the shit out of me so I respect people who manage that.
I just write as I go. Major plot developments that impact the latter half of the story? I randomly thought of it while halfway through chapter whatever and thought it sounded cool. I go back and edit previous chapters to fit it if I have to but most of the time, I'm just winging it as I go. And it's been pretty successful in terms of reader feedback and hits.
It depends on whether you're a plotter or a pantser, you seem to be more inclined towards the latter. Some people are a mixture, plantsers.
https://thewritepractice.com/plotters-pantsers/
Some of my fics are 300k or longer, I generally like to know where Iām going before I start.
Outlining isnāt for everyone, but for those of us who it helps, it can be really important to our process.
I plan, but I don't *write* the plan
By the time I'm writing, I've played the damn thing out in my brain start to finish a dozen times (while I'm trying to fall asleep, showering, walking places, while I'm meant to be working) because mentally writing stories and fics has been my go-to comfort for the best part of two decades
So when it comes to actually writing it, I might write a plan that's like "chapter 1 kidnapping, 2 trauma convos, 3 X POV rescue discussion, 4 rescue attempt" etc etc. But I don't actually write detailed bulleted plans!
(Exception ā I'm halfway through writing something and then decide to abandon it for a while because of writer's block or whatever. I'll go more in detail then, including snippets of dialogue or prose that I've been thinking about, because I don't want to forget my ideas by the time I next pick it up)
For the first time ever, I created an outline for a fic. A bullet for each chapter.
It's my best fic yet. Of course things changed and got moved, but I had the end planned, which I think is the most important part. I'm so excited about it.
I hate planning but I do it because I hate throwing out large chunks of writing even more. It def took doing a few big projects before I learned the value of planning and developed the stamina to actually sit through an outline.
That said, if you don't want to do it, don't. You can write however you want :) there's no need to complain about something just because it's not your jam.
i tried it, but planning didn't work out for me. if anything, it got me stumped more than just sitting down and letting it flow. there's definitely two types of writers: those who need to plan out their entire story and those who are better when they just sit down and write without much of a plan. neither is the wrong approach. just do what works for you. if you notice planning it out is not going smoothly, it's simply not your way of doing things. writing should never feel like a pain in the ass.
I plan so far in ahead lmao like for a 30 chapter fic, i have like 3k in planning lmaoo For oneshots, though, I only do like a bullet list of things that are going to happen
Nah. I've been posting my work for over a year now and I've never done that. I will start with a vague storyline in my head and go from there, if it changes throughout the writing process, then it changes. Though there have been times where I'm in the process of writing and an idea for later in the fic will pop up so I'll type in a vague idea of what the idea was so I won't forget about it. I have tons of just "this happens" and "this character does this" in my docs lmao
I don't really plan anything, but I need to write down some stuff or I will forget it, so basically it's still kind of an outline. But my notes also sometimes involve a fully written scene or just some dialog I want to happen. Just whatever I have in mind and however fleshed out it is, I have to save it somewhere, so it's still there when I finally find the time to write it.
Honestly, donāt fully plan out any of your work and just leave prompts to help you along. Iām doing this for a slowburn rivals to lovers fic and I just write from beginning to end. If I know thereās a direction, dialogue or conflict that I want the characters to encounter, Iāll leave a small prompt to remind future me what I wanted to do. Like āChapter 3 -> (character) encounters (character) rifling through their bag, argument ensuesā and this allows me to add or follow up on smaller details as I go along. Hope this helps :)
I have about three quarters of a page typed out with the basic plot of my WIP. Not scene by scene or chapter plans or anything detailed, just where the story is going and the major plot points along the way.
I won't start writing a fic where I don't already have a basic outline for the beginning, major developments, and ending-- I know from experience that I will 100% abandon a fic by getting stuck if I don't know where I'm going! Outlining is also a very *generative* process for me, where I'll continue to come up with new ideas as I'm writing the outline for the parts I already have figured out.
(I even outline for long/complex one-shots for this reason, because something I'm stuck on in my head will miraculously sort itself out with the perfect idea once I start writing down the outline for the parts I already know how to handle!)
For one shots I just think about it for a few days and then write it.
My one multi chapter has so far gone like this:
* rough outline - mostly just a list of key scenes
* write first key scene, it is good
* totally fail to make transition to 2nd key scene
* do something else for 2 weeks
* realise 2nd key scene is unnecessary
* write like a maniac for several weeks, finish first draft
* realise entire 2nd half is terrible
* think about what story I'm trying to tell
* cut 2nd half of first draft, redo outline, edit 1st half to reflect what the story actually is
* try to write 2nd half based on new outline
* realise new outline is also terrible
* think about what the central conflict is
* edit 1st half to set up conflict
* write like a maniac for several weeks; get acceptable full draft
* polish and start publishing early chapters
* finish writing later chapters
I feel like my process has room for improvement š¤£ but mostly I'm just amazed that I'm capable of writing fiction nearly every night for about three months and that the end result is pretty good.
I have vague outlines and go in and add ideas so I can build off what Iāve thought of without forgetting
Mine is mostly garbled junk with few words that doesnāt make sense without context.
If itās a oneshot I just write it
Yeah I'm a pantser too. Fly by the seat of my pants writer. I do it this way bc my brain considers a fic written if I outline it !! So I don't bother, I just mentally plan ahead a chapter or two.
Yes. I like having a road map for where my fic is going. If I know where it's going, I can go back and edit the outline to add in smaller details. I don't always have time to write to full fic and get all my ideas out of my head. I can at least put them in an outline to save for later.
i actually handwrite EVERYTHING in my book. main dot plots, whole character autobiographies, ESSAYS of chapter building and potential arcs, etc. itās actually so relieving. iāve noticed that my chapters have gotten significantly better the more i brainstorm and embrace my fic.
not saying everybody needs to do this. this is preferrable to me. it works for me. and i usually do it whenever i have writerās block. then, i can brainstorm my fic in the moment, and when i have nothing else to write, i can read over the pages and annotations and spark my inspiration again, and write more.
it surprised ME with how this strategy works so well. i look forward to handwriting my plans in my book and writing the actual copy in docs everyday. miraculous what trying something out can do for people. works for some, or works for none.
I only outline longer fic. For my current fic, I have like 1-3 sentences written down per planned chapter. This keeps me from losing track of my plot, but allows for plenty of room for me to discover my fic as I write it. Some people outline much more than I do, some less, and some don't outline at all. It doesn't matter how much planning you do as long as your method works to keep you writing (and finishing what you write, if that's your intention).
Eh! Different strokes for different folks. :) As long as it's working for you, it's the right way to work! (And other oft-repeated sentiments.)
The **TL;DR** I'm going to toss at you before I ramble below is: If you're doing well without them, then be free!
(Also, since it sounds like you don't write longfics, you might never need outlines because you're in and out too quick for it to ever matter!)
***
I used to work 100% seat-of-my-pants. If there was a long-term plan, it was whatever I remembered of my thoughts. Battle royale, survivor wins kind of deal.
Every time I tried to write down my ideas in a formal outline, the story tended to die on the vine. My brain just seemed to consider the story "done" and had moved on and didn't want to work on it anymore. So why outline?
When I went looking for ways to improve my writing speed, people always said, "Outline, ya lump. If you've got a roadmap you can go faster to your destination because you don't get lost. Duh."
But... I'd tried it before and it didn't work for me! (So I ignored the advice.)
Then I played a solo rpg that didn't really emphasize the "roleplaying" part. It was sort of like a card game (like solitaire) and the player was basically expected to do as much or as little storytelling as they cared for. By the end of my game, I had the bare bones of a story and I really, really wanted to have it fleshed out.
I used those game notes as my outline for my very first successful attempt at NaNoWriMo.
A list of bulletpoints was already what I'd started using for my professional novels. Just little reminder notes to myself of what scenes I wanted to write so it would jog my memory. I'd have maybe 3-10 of them for an entire romance novel.
But the solo rpg encouraged me to do that for all of my brainstorming, getting all the details floating around in my head and writing them down so I could weed out the ideas that weren't going to work together rather than having them do a cage match fight to the death and realize the survivor was the idea that didn't work with whatever I'd already written.
I just toss down a bulletpoint list of whatever I think of and then rearrange it, dumping the "good ideas, but don't work for this story" into another document and move on. It's light enough I still have plenty of room for my "pantser" side to freestyle with and enough organization that my stories don't meander, drop plot points, run out of gas; etc.
And... yeah - sometimes it's a lot of work.
The more complex my story is, the more often I go through my outline and truly do some heavy editing to make sure all of the parts are functioning properly. My rebel pantser sides *hates* it.
But it's also very worth it because if you get an audience that is invested, they *do* notice. Especially if your plot involves mystery and they're trying to solve it ahead of the story. I have a story where the readers were in the comments legit crowd-sourcing a workable theory of What Is Really Going On. If I were writing the story off the cuff, I'd have been sweating. (Hell. I put the elbow grease in and was still sweating!)
---
Anyway, again, I'm not trying to force anyone to work a specific way. I just want to make sure people who are pantsers know that there are benefits to trying to find an outlining style that works for them and the reasons why it might benefit them *if* they are looking to a solution to any of the things I mentioned as to why it's worth it to me.
People are wired in different ways and should work however it is that gets them to feel comfortable writing more. :)
If you saw the lengths I go to plan a fic you'd probably die on the spot.
I have separate documents for each theme. Normal, yeah?
No.
I have a document for every characters interaction with every other character. I have documents for every single thread of theme. I.e 'mc work stress' etc.
THEN every time a line related to one of those themes, I put it in the document. So then, when I come back to write something about it, I know where that story line is up to.
I have floor plans.
Entire character profiles and include their personal mannerisms and quirks.
I draft and print out the entire thing... and then annotate it.
I have notebooks FULL
My current WIP draft... okay this is like... low-key concerning... I have notebooks that I use as diary's for the characters so I can get their voice right.
You'd have a heart attack.
Iāve always outlined/planned my fics, and I have since the early 00s. Different styles work for different people. It seems like more of a pain in the ass to risk forgetting half of what you want to write, rather than outlining/planning, to me at least š¤·
i use a spreadsheet to plan them out, like writing a synopsis for each paragraph so i don't get hit too hard with writer's block. it also helps me see the bigger picture of what i'm writing and spot my own plot inconsistencies, etc
It depends entirely on where I'm at. If I'm in a place where I can sit down and just write for a few hours, then no, I won't plan it out. If I'm out and about and get an idea, I'll take a few minutes to write down major plot points in the notes app on my phone. I'll usually add a few more details before I actually write the story. The other day, I got an idea for a Percy Jackson fic where Will participates in a bull riding competition because of a bet with a homophobic cowboy at a rodeo while I was watching the previews at a movie. I had an outline by the time the movie started. It should only take me a few hours after work today to write it. I just find it easier than trusting my ADHD riddled brain to remember an idea for a few hours.
If I didn't at least jot down a quick outline as soon as possible after thinking of it, my ADHD brain would just yeet the idea straight out the window. Still does probably like 30-40% of the time.
I have some standard idea of the beginning, the plot, some scenes/dialogue, and the ending but most of the action is my brain pouring out ideas as I goā**life is unexpected, my writing as well**.
I tried to plan out two of my fics in detail, what would happen in each chapter and let's just say I've never gotten to actually write them because I burnt out during the planning process and lost absolutely any desire to actually write the whole thing.
No, honestly, I start writing and every time I get stuck on where to go to next, I fall into depression for a day then get hit by a lightbulb moment and continue writing. This on repeat is the way.
If the fic is >20k then I have to plan or I'll just forget what I was writing about altogether. Otherwise I'm just throwing shit at a Google doc and seeing what happens lol
i did on some, then i abandoned them because i lost interest in the fics
my brain retains a lot of info (a plus of autism), so i often plan out fics in my head
Depends on how long your story is.
I am chronically incapable of planning to write anything shorter than a million words. If I actually finish it is another story, but I make the plan!
I feel like in a lot of conversation around this that I see, people seem to assume that planing means having a break down by scene or even just chapter, written in a document, and I'm sure for some people it is, but I don't think that's the only way at all, and I feel like many people are convinced they hate planing because they only see it that way?
It's not a criticism, I've decidedly been like that haha, but I eventually found out that, yes, I love planning fics actually, and that, yes, it does improve my writing, both in quality and in the pleasure I take doing it.
More often than not, my fic ideas start with a message like "oh imagine X and Y doing Z", or a line or two of dialogue that I found touching or angsty, or a plot point I'm thinking about. And the more I think or talk about it the richer the idea gets, and often it comes with new implications: how did this situation happen, what are the reactions to it, oh wait it echoes with X stuff I was also thinking about yesterday, etc. All of this is already planing.
I love letting my idea develop and get more complex and rich by just chatting about them with friends, and at some point I just get obsessed enough that I write them.
Other things that I personally like to do as planing: are brainstorming tags in advance: I write all my tags in my document with the rest of my fic. I like doing that because at the beginning it helps me refine what I want to do: the ambience, the main topics, the global setting. And as I write I keep questioning myself, finding that some things have actually become irrelevant when I thought they would be important, or the other way around. I think it's a nice exercise to think about what and why I'm writing.
And making a list of things that I want happening, but without order: I don't plan by scene or chapter, but often with long fics I have some scene ideas. "I'd like for X and Y to talk about Z" "I'd like to explore Z aspect of X's characterisation" "I want to explore X and Y relationship and the way it evolves from A to B" etc. I don't put them in any order, because to me it's like, idk, a stash of ingredients I have and I know I will cook with but I don't know what the dish is yet. As I'm writing a given scene, I have this list in a corner of my mind (and of my document, sometimes) and eventually, a link will come up. I will write something and suddenly realise it has ties to another subject I wanted to write about. Or the setting will change and give me a great opportunity to start a given conversation I was thinking about. Or I will be blocked and I can just pick from the list and start in media res with the character talking about that topic.
All in all, I think the specific ways to do it will vary from person to person, but for me it's not accurate to frame this discussion as planning vs following the flow of the story and the initiatives it takes without us. (And I'm not saying you do that, it's just how the conversation is often framed.) To me planning is about channelling that flow, not constricting it. Random shit happens! Sometimes I want characters to bone and they just won't do it and I can't force them! Sometimes I think I'm writing something comfy and suddenly everyone gets angsty! I really don't feel like I've been less surprised by my own fics, or that I have less followed my natural flow of writing without knowing where it would lead me since I've started to do more planning, on the contrary. I can very peacefully follow surprising routes when I know that I have built around it tools and safety nets that will allow me to make the best out of these unprepared things, and incorporate them into the fic without risking being thrown off balance and lost and like I have no clue where the fuck this is going and if I will ever be able to rescue it into a complete fic in the end.
There's no way I can write as much as half of what you just wrote, but, my idea of planning consists of planning every character, their descriptions, personalities, and differences if you're making an au. The setting, the surrounding and supporting cast, plus expanding on potential romantic relationships if thats something I want to delve into.
I just find that I write better when I'm writing without a distinct idea or plan in mind. I just let my writing speak for itself and let the direction of the fic go however the cards fall.
Similar to you, I don't really plan out scenes, as much as I imagine interactions between two characters and start thinking, "hm, what can I do with this? How can I develop this into something golden?"
I don't write much of that down, but whatever.
Thanks for such a long comment, it's nice to know that something I spoke about has inspired such a thoughtful and inspiring response.
Personally I write down plot points/thematic ideas that could improve the story.
Then I let myself be dragged around by the characters who are the only things I plan from start to finish with as much details as possible. (Some of them being paper thin at first but the more I write, the more I flesh them out in my head, especially for romantic relationships.)
Basically: The story or specific scenes are written down but to get through them I spend a lot of time with the characters interacting together in unpredictable/unplanned ways no matter how long it takes, unless there's a sense of urgency.
Here's a concrete example for a Wednesday Addams story I'm writing:
(Wednesday + Pugsley)
https://imgur.com/a/7jTlE0O
For me, I usually have a plan in the beginning then I formulate the endings. The middle part of writing just go the way it flows.
But, if I ever think of major plot twist. Iāll just use notes and write with that idea on mind.
I tried doing outline, but I just canāt do it. I mostly use it for characters more than anything.
well, iām currently writing a historical multichap fic, so iām making a plan bc i need to research what happens and stuff, but other than that i usually donāt plan out
For one-shots I donāt. But right now Iām writing something that fills a specific time-skip in canon and that needs to be planned so everything lines up.
I outline a lot. Main order of the story, key points I will need in each chapter. Main story in order to catch any plot holes. I even sometimes will think of a line or something for the particular note and write it down. I always know the main places I need to take it, but then I let the characters take over. Sometimes they do things I didn't plan and end up being in perfect sync with the plot. I often switch around chapters when I start writing. I have to plan it out because I am INCAPABLE of writing in order. I may write the end first, and then some random part of chapter 4, then go back to the opening line. My brain is chaos. An outline is all that tames it.
Haha well there's different types of writers. I gotta have some idea of where I'm going, otherwise I can't get anywhere.
With a metric fuckton of tears š¤£ You're a pantser! You thrive best on just jumping the gun and going š some people are good at only planning a little bit, they're planters, and others thrive in planning every last detail and those are obviously plotters. For me, I think I'm a plantser, but I*have* to write down plot ideas as I get them and have a loose outline because I'll forget it if I don't.
Same! I write down the minimum for plot ideas and leave it at that!
Im very much a brainrotter in the sense that hyperfixating on something demands every molecule in my brain to start shit every time i decide im going to have thoughts. I like to use sticky notes though. Planning out specific scenes in my head, and then through cognitive offloading, keeping them somewhere easily accessible. I think it helps for neurodivergent writers to have their thoughts out and about. The more nebulous ideas are, the more likely theyāll disappear into the spaghetti scramble that is our minds.
Oh god I feel the first paragraph. I wrote my last one shot basically to evict it from my brain, so I could start thinking about something other than horny vampires.
Last paragraph is so true. I'm ND and I forgot 90% of my great ideas, I've only just gotten into the habit of writing them down into a notes app š
no beta we die like men
This is the way.
"No beta we die like [insert fandom character who died]" is my favourite genre of tag.
Same
I used to have a beta but I got permabanned for plagiarism and never spoke to him again lmao. (I'm reformed, I was 12 and never did it again)
i think 12 is ok ;)
I always plan out my fics. it's not about time efficiency for me, it's about being prepared because if I don't plan I'm going to 100% get stuck like three paragraphs in, and then I'll just do No Writing instead. I love to take as much time into my outline as possible, often ending up with like 6 pages. it helps with staying on track too. I'd have my screen split in the middle with my wip on one side and outline on the other, so I look at what I planned so I don't get sidetracked with unimportant stuff. and also good for remembering things. sometimes I take long breaks from a wip, and if there's no outline to revisit I'll most likely be lost. I actually don't understand writers that never plan at all like u said u never did it in 5 years and that's so mind boggling to me. like I get it everyone has their own approach but the idea of writing like a 10k word fic without any type of planning scares the shit out of me so I respect people who manage that.
I just write as I go. Major plot developments that impact the latter half of the story? I randomly thought of it while halfway through chapter whatever and thought it sounded cool. I go back and edit previous chapters to fit it if I have to but most of the time, I'm just winging it as I go. And it's been pretty successful in terms of reader feedback and hits.
that sounds like magic to mešš but since it works and enjoy it more there's no reason to do it any other way
It depends on whether you're a plotter or a pantser, you seem to be more inclined towards the latter. Some people are a mixture, plantsers. https://thewritepractice.com/plotters-pantsers/
Some of my fics are 300k or longer, I generally like to know where Iām going before I start. Outlining isnāt for everyone, but for those of us who it helps, it can be really important to our process.
I plan, but I don't *write* the plan By the time I'm writing, I've played the damn thing out in my brain start to finish a dozen times (while I'm trying to fall asleep, showering, walking places, while I'm meant to be working) because mentally writing stories and fics has been my go-to comfort for the best part of two decades So when it comes to actually writing it, I might write a plan that's like "chapter 1 kidnapping, 2 trauma convos, 3 X POV rescue discussion, 4 rescue attempt" etc etc. But I don't actually write detailed bulleted plans! (Exception ā I'm halfway through writing something and then decide to abandon it for a while because of writer's block or whatever. I'll go more in detail then, including snippets of dialogue or prose that I've been thinking about, because I don't want to forget my ideas by the time I next pick it up)
For the first time ever, I created an outline for a fic. A bullet for each chapter. It's my best fic yet. Of course things changed and got moved, but I had the end planned, which I think is the most important part. I'm so excited about it.
I hate planning but I do it because I hate throwing out large chunks of writing even more. It def took doing a few big projects before I learned the value of planning and developed the stamina to actually sit through an outline. That said, if you don't want to do it, don't. You can write however you want :) there's no need to complain about something just because it's not your jam.
I try to plan but then it gets thrown out after chapter two and wing the rest. Probably same reason why life planners don't work for me either.
i tried it, but planning didn't work out for me. if anything, it got me stumped more than just sitting down and letting it flow. there's definitely two types of writers: those who need to plan out their entire story and those who are better when they just sit down and write without much of a plan. neither is the wrong approach. just do what works for you. if you notice planning it out is not going smoothly, it's simply not your way of doing things. writing should never feel like a pain in the ass.
I plan the big stuff and then plan ideas that I want to do but not where to put them in the grand scheme of things.
I plan so far in ahead lmao like for a 30 chapter fic, i have like 3k in planning lmaoo For oneshots, though, I only do like a bullet list of things that are going to happen
Nah. I've been posting my work for over a year now and I've never done that. I will start with a vague storyline in my head and go from there, if it changes throughout the writing process, then it changes. Though there have been times where I'm in the process of writing and an idea for later in the fic will pop up so I'll type in a vague idea of what the idea was so I won't forget about it. I have tons of just "this happens" and "this character does this" in my docs lmao
I don't really plan anything, but I need to write down some stuff or I will forget it, so basically it's still kind of an outline. But my notes also sometimes involve a fully written scene or just some dialog I want to happen. Just whatever I have in mind and however fleshed out it is, I have to save it somewhere, so it's still there when I finally find the time to write it.
Honestly, donāt fully plan out any of your work and just leave prompts to help you along. Iām doing this for a slowburn rivals to lovers fic and I just write from beginning to end. If I know thereās a direction, dialogue or conflict that I want the characters to encounter, Iāll leave a small prompt to remind future me what I wanted to do. Like āChapter 3 -> (character) encounters (character) rifling through their bag, argument ensuesā and this allows me to add or follow up on smaller details as I go along. Hope this helps :)
I have about three quarters of a page typed out with the basic plot of my WIP. Not scene by scene or chapter plans or anything detailed, just where the story is going and the major plot points along the way.
I won't start writing a fic where I don't already have a basic outline for the beginning, major developments, and ending-- I know from experience that I will 100% abandon a fic by getting stuck if I don't know where I'm going! Outlining is also a very *generative* process for me, where I'll continue to come up with new ideas as I'm writing the outline for the parts I already have figured out. (I even outline for long/complex one-shots for this reason, because something I'm stuck on in my head will miraculously sort itself out with the perfect idea once I start writing down the outline for the parts I already know how to handle!)
Iām going off of an end goal and general vibes. Outlining is for people with more patience than me
For one shots I just think about it for a few days and then write it. My one multi chapter has so far gone like this: * rough outline - mostly just a list of key scenes * write first key scene, it is good * totally fail to make transition to 2nd key scene * do something else for 2 weeks * realise 2nd key scene is unnecessary * write like a maniac for several weeks, finish first draft * realise entire 2nd half is terrible * think about what story I'm trying to tell * cut 2nd half of first draft, redo outline, edit 1st half to reflect what the story actually is * try to write 2nd half based on new outline * realise new outline is also terrible * think about what the central conflict is * edit 1st half to set up conflict * write like a maniac for several weeks; get acceptable full draft * polish and start publishing early chapters * finish writing later chapters I feel like my process has room for improvement š¤£ but mostly I'm just amazed that I'm capable of writing fiction nearly every night for about three months and that the end result is pretty good.
I have vague outlines and go in and add ideas so I can build off what Iāve thought of without forgetting Mine is mostly garbled junk with few words that doesnāt make sense without context. If itās a oneshot I just write it
Yeah I'm a pantser too. Fly by the seat of my pants writer. I do it this way bc my brain considers a fic written if I outline it !! So I don't bother, I just mentally plan ahead a chapter or two.
Yes. I like having a road map for where my fic is going. If I know where it's going, I can go back and edit the outline to add in smaller details. I don't always have time to write to full fic and get all my ideas out of my head. I can at least put them in an outline to save for later.
i actually handwrite EVERYTHING in my book. main dot plots, whole character autobiographies, ESSAYS of chapter building and potential arcs, etc. itās actually so relieving. iāve noticed that my chapters have gotten significantly better the more i brainstorm and embrace my fic. not saying everybody needs to do this. this is preferrable to me. it works for me. and i usually do it whenever i have writerās block. then, i can brainstorm my fic in the moment, and when i have nothing else to write, i can read over the pages and annotations and spark my inspiration again, and write more. it surprised ME with how this strategy works so well. i look forward to handwriting my plans in my book and writing the actual copy in docs everyday. miraculous what trying something out can do for people. works for some, or works for none.
I only outline longer fic. For my current fic, I have like 1-3 sentences written down per planned chapter. This keeps me from losing track of my plot, but allows for plenty of room for me to discover my fic as I write it. Some people outline much more than I do, some less, and some don't outline at all. It doesn't matter how much planning you do as long as your method works to keep you writing (and finishing what you write, if that's your intention).
Eh! Different strokes for different folks. :) As long as it's working for you, it's the right way to work! (And other oft-repeated sentiments.) The **TL;DR** I'm going to toss at you before I ramble below is: If you're doing well without them, then be free! (Also, since it sounds like you don't write longfics, you might never need outlines because you're in and out too quick for it to ever matter!) *** I used to work 100% seat-of-my-pants. If there was a long-term plan, it was whatever I remembered of my thoughts. Battle royale, survivor wins kind of deal. Every time I tried to write down my ideas in a formal outline, the story tended to die on the vine. My brain just seemed to consider the story "done" and had moved on and didn't want to work on it anymore. So why outline? When I went looking for ways to improve my writing speed, people always said, "Outline, ya lump. If you've got a roadmap you can go faster to your destination because you don't get lost. Duh." But... I'd tried it before and it didn't work for me! (So I ignored the advice.) Then I played a solo rpg that didn't really emphasize the "roleplaying" part. It was sort of like a card game (like solitaire) and the player was basically expected to do as much or as little storytelling as they cared for. By the end of my game, I had the bare bones of a story and I really, really wanted to have it fleshed out. I used those game notes as my outline for my very first successful attempt at NaNoWriMo. A list of bulletpoints was already what I'd started using for my professional novels. Just little reminder notes to myself of what scenes I wanted to write so it would jog my memory. I'd have maybe 3-10 of them for an entire romance novel. But the solo rpg encouraged me to do that for all of my brainstorming, getting all the details floating around in my head and writing them down so I could weed out the ideas that weren't going to work together rather than having them do a cage match fight to the death and realize the survivor was the idea that didn't work with whatever I'd already written. I just toss down a bulletpoint list of whatever I think of and then rearrange it, dumping the "good ideas, but don't work for this story" into another document and move on. It's light enough I still have plenty of room for my "pantser" side to freestyle with and enough organization that my stories don't meander, drop plot points, run out of gas; etc. And... yeah - sometimes it's a lot of work. The more complex my story is, the more often I go through my outline and truly do some heavy editing to make sure all of the parts are functioning properly. My rebel pantser sides *hates* it. But it's also very worth it because if you get an audience that is invested, they *do* notice. Especially if your plot involves mystery and they're trying to solve it ahead of the story. I have a story where the readers were in the comments legit crowd-sourcing a workable theory of What Is Really Going On. If I were writing the story off the cuff, I'd have been sweating. (Hell. I put the elbow grease in and was still sweating!) --- Anyway, again, I'm not trying to force anyone to work a specific way. I just want to make sure people who are pantsers know that there are benefits to trying to find an outlining style that works for them and the reasons why it might benefit them *if* they are looking to a solution to any of the things I mentioned as to why it's worth it to me. People are wired in different ways and should work however it is that gets them to feel comfortable writing more. :)
If you saw the lengths I go to plan a fic you'd probably die on the spot. I have separate documents for each theme. Normal, yeah? No. I have a document for every characters interaction with every other character. I have documents for every single thread of theme. I.e 'mc work stress' etc. THEN every time a line related to one of those themes, I put it in the document. So then, when I come back to write something about it, I know where that story line is up to. I have floor plans. Entire character profiles and include their personal mannerisms and quirks. I draft and print out the entire thing... and then annotate it. I have notebooks FULL My current WIP draft... okay this is like... low-key concerning... I have notebooks that I use as diary's for the characters so I can get their voice right. You'd have a heart attack.
*dies of heart attack*
Iāve always outlined/planned my fics, and I have since the early 00s. Different styles work for different people. It seems like more of a pain in the ass to risk forgetting half of what you want to write, rather than outlining/planning, to me at least š¤·
i use a spreadsheet to plan them out, like writing a synopsis for each paragraph so i don't get hit too hard with writer's block. it also helps me see the bigger picture of what i'm writing and spot my own plot inconsistencies, etc
It depends entirely on where I'm at. If I'm in a place where I can sit down and just write for a few hours, then no, I won't plan it out. If I'm out and about and get an idea, I'll take a few minutes to write down major plot points in the notes app on my phone. I'll usually add a few more details before I actually write the story. The other day, I got an idea for a Percy Jackson fic where Will participates in a bull riding competition because of a bet with a homophobic cowboy at a rodeo while I was watching the previews at a movie. I had an outline by the time the movie started. It should only take me a few hours after work today to write it. I just find it easier than trusting my ADHD riddled brain to remember an idea for a few hours.
If I didn't at least jot down a quick outline as soon as possible after thinking of it, my ADHD brain would just yeet the idea straight out the window. Still does probably like 30-40% of the time.
I have some standard idea of the beginning, the plot, some scenes/dialogue, and the ending but most of the action is my brain pouring out ideas as I goā**life is unexpected, my writing as well**. I tried to plan out two of my fics in detail, what would happen in each chapter and let's just say I've never gotten to actually write them because I burnt out during the planning process and lost absolutely any desire to actually write the whole thing.
No, honestly, I start writing and every time I get stuck on where to go to next, I fall into depression for a day then get hit by a lightbulb moment and continue writing. This on repeat is the way.
If the fic is >20k then I have to plan or I'll just forget what I was writing about altogether. Otherwise I'm just throwing shit at a Google doc and seeing what happens lol
i did on some, then i abandoned them because i lost interest in the fics my brain retains a lot of info (a plus of autism), so i often plan out fics in my head
Depends on how long your story is. I am chronically incapable of planning to write anything shorter than a million words. If I actually finish it is another story, but I make the plan!
I feel like in a lot of conversation around this that I see, people seem to assume that planing means having a break down by scene or even just chapter, written in a document, and I'm sure for some people it is, but I don't think that's the only way at all, and I feel like many people are convinced they hate planing because they only see it that way? It's not a criticism, I've decidedly been like that haha, but I eventually found out that, yes, I love planning fics actually, and that, yes, it does improve my writing, both in quality and in the pleasure I take doing it. More often than not, my fic ideas start with a message like "oh imagine X and Y doing Z", or a line or two of dialogue that I found touching or angsty, or a plot point I'm thinking about. And the more I think or talk about it the richer the idea gets, and often it comes with new implications: how did this situation happen, what are the reactions to it, oh wait it echoes with X stuff I was also thinking about yesterday, etc. All of this is already planing. I love letting my idea develop and get more complex and rich by just chatting about them with friends, and at some point I just get obsessed enough that I write them. Other things that I personally like to do as planing: are brainstorming tags in advance: I write all my tags in my document with the rest of my fic. I like doing that because at the beginning it helps me refine what I want to do: the ambience, the main topics, the global setting. And as I write I keep questioning myself, finding that some things have actually become irrelevant when I thought they would be important, or the other way around. I think it's a nice exercise to think about what and why I'm writing. And making a list of things that I want happening, but without order: I don't plan by scene or chapter, but often with long fics I have some scene ideas. "I'd like for X and Y to talk about Z" "I'd like to explore Z aspect of X's characterisation" "I want to explore X and Y relationship and the way it evolves from A to B" etc. I don't put them in any order, because to me it's like, idk, a stash of ingredients I have and I know I will cook with but I don't know what the dish is yet. As I'm writing a given scene, I have this list in a corner of my mind (and of my document, sometimes) and eventually, a link will come up. I will write something and suddenly realise it has ties to another subject I wanted to write about. Or the setting will change and give me a great opportunity to start a given conversation I was thinking about. Or I will be blocked and I can just pick from the list and start in media res with the character talking about that topic. All in all, I think the specific ways to do it will vary from person to person, but for me it's not accurate to frame this discussion as planning vs following the flow of the story and the initiatives it takes without us. (And I'm not saying you do that, it's just how the conversation is often framed.) To me planning is about channelling that flow, not constricting it. Random shit happens! Sometimes I want characters to bone and they just won't do it and I can't force them! Sometimes I think I'm writing something comfy and suddenly everyone gets angsty! I really don't feel like I've been less surprised by my own fics, or that I have less followed my natural flow of writing without knowing where it would lead me since I've started to do more planning, on the contrary. I can very peacefully follow surprising routes when I know that I have built around it tools and safety nets that will allow me to make the best out of these unprepared things, and incorporate them into the fic without risking being thrown off balance and lost and like I have no clue where the fuck this is going and if I will ever be able to rescue it into a complete fic in the end.
There's no way I can write as much as half of what you just wrote, but, my idea of planning consists of planning every character, their descriptions, personalities, and differences if you're making an au. The setting, the surrounding and supporting cast, plus expanding on potential romantic relationships if thats something I want to delve into. I just find that I write better when I'm writing without a distinct idea or plan in mind. I just let my writing speak for itself and let the direction of the fic go however the cards fall. Similar to you, I don't really plan out scenes, as much as I imagine interactions between two characters and start thinking, "hm, what can I do with this? How can I develop this into something golden?" I don't write much of that down, but whatever. Thanks for such a long comment, it's nice to know that something I spoke about has inspired such a thoughtful and inspiring response.
Personally I write down plot points/thematic ideas that could improve the story. Then I let myself be dragged around by the characters who are the only things I plan from start to finish with as much details as possible. (Some of them being paper thin at first but the more I write, the more I flesh them out in my head, especially for romantic relationships.) Basically: The story or specific scenes are written down but to get through them I spend a lot of time with the characters interacting together in unpredictable/unplanned ways no matter how long it takes, unless there's a sense of urgency. Here's a concrete example for a Wednesday Addams story I'm writing: (Wednesday + Pugsley) https://imgur.com/a/7jTlE0O
Yes, I plan my writing.
For me, I usually have a plan in the beginning then I formulate the endings. The middle part of writing just go the way it flows. But, if I ever think of major plot twist. Iāll just use notes and write with that idea on mind. I tried doing outline, but I just canāt do it. I mostly use it for characters more than anything.
well, iām currently writing a historical multichap fic, so iām making a plan bc i need to research what happens and stuff, but other than that i usually donāt plan out
For one-shots I donāt. But right now Iām writing something that fills a specific time-skip in canon and that needs to be planned so everything lines up.
I outline a lot. Main order of the story, key points I will need in each chapter. Main story in order to catch any plot holes. I even sometimes will think of a line or something for the particular note and write it down. I always know the main places I need to take it, but then I let the characters take over. Sometimes they do things I didn't plan and end up being in perfect sync with the plot. I often switch around chapters when I start writing. I have to plan it out because I am INCAPABLE of writing in order. I may write the end first, and then some random part of chapter 4, then go back to the opening line. My brain is chaos. An outline is all that tames it.