How Planned is Your Plan?

[D. Gray Warrior]

I create a general overview of my setting. It usually involves a basic premise (e.g. a man embarks on a quest to save the princess.) and then I determine who my major characters are. I usually have a few vague idea of scenes.

I do minimal worldbuilding. One of my current projects is actually sci fi, and some characters have psychic powers. So, the only real worldbuilding I did was writing down how psionics work in that setting, and then filled in everything else while I wrote. Psionics or magic, I think it's important to know how the paranormal elements in a story work before you sit down and write.

 

[black magic]

I used to get stuck in world-building, character profiles and plot dynamics for years sometimes, until I'd bored myself with the story and I hadn't even written my first line. I have folders full of plans and nothing else. So for me it was a balance. I wasn't one of those writer's who could say: "I have an idea!" Sit down and start typing. Delete it. Type again. What if I wrote it from this character instead? Type, type type...Ah! found my character and off I go. Not me at all.
I needed a character, a problem to solve, an obstacle and a general idea before I tried putting it into words.

So I began planning in like Acts. So I'd plan out Act One then I'd write it. Then plan out Act 2 and write it. I used my first draft as my plan and had to remind myself it wasn't written in stone and could be totally re-worked. I could world build later. If I got to a scene where I really wanted to describe the environment I just leave a note then move on and go back and fill it in later. I have to do it that way otherwise I'd get nothing done and I find it starts to write itself as the character becomes a character un-to itself.

I'm a: get it written, then get it right. Kind of person.

 

[Saigonnus]

Not planned much at all; to be honest. As someone with ADHD, I tend to stay focused on things that I find interesting, engaging, but then lose focus or get bored after a bit. As such, I have to jump around a bit to my various projects, or researches, or do something else for a bit. I have managed to get a couple of my projects to have a good amount of planning; at the least the world-building aspects.

 

[Aelinfireheart]

This thread is interesting to read, though I’ve never written before, I’ve always been under the impression that authors extensively planned every aspect of their works before even starting page one. However I really like the idea of a story coming together as you go along, as you get to know the characters more and get a feel for the world you create, but I think this would end up being much more likely to have plot holes/a lack of ‘hints’ or ‘Easter eggs’ in earlier parts which link to later on which a lot of readers love, myself included. Although I guess you could go back and add these in, which may work out better actually, I’m sort of just thinking out loud now hahaha

 

[Saigonnus]

This thread is interesting to read, though I’ve never written before, I’ve always been under the impression that authors extensively planned every aspect of their works before even starting page one. However I really like the idea of a story coming together as you go along, as you get to know the characters more and get a feel for the world you create, but I think this would end up being much more likely to have plot holes/a lack of ‘hints’ or ‘Easter eggs’ in earlier parts which link to later on which a lot of readers love, myself included. Although I guess you could go back and add these in, which may work out better actually, I’m sort of just thinking out loud now hahaha

Perhaps the first draft might be lacking in "easter eggs" or foreshadowing etc, but that's what the later drafts are for; to add depth to the story, make adjustments, edit language and vocabulary etc.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

My plan is completely Pants.
As in My brain plays 2 or 3 scenes on repeat until I decide to write the dang thing and it doesn't give me anything else in the interim. Not even when I'm writing the darn thing.

So I have to brute force my way through the parts of the story that don't have scenes (usually about 70% of it) then get to the parts that DO have scenes, get stuck on those for a while trying to make sure they're correct, then move on to the other parts that don't have scenes.

It's frustrating, cause it doesn't matter what story idea my brain gives me, it just goes 'you get like 3 scenes, you do the rest' lol

World Building I can do, Character Creating I can do, but actual story planning, nope, not happening, my brain is too lazy for that.

 

[Prince of Spires]

This thread is interesting to read, though I’ve never written before, I’ve always been under the impression that authors extensively planned every aspect of their works before even starting page one. However I really like the idea of a story coming together as you go along, as you get to know the characters more and get a feel for the world you create, but I think this would end up being much more likely to have plot holes/a lack of ‘hints’ or ‘Easter eggs’ in earlier parts which link to later on which a lot of readers love, myself included. Although I guess you could go back and add these in, which may work out better actually, I’m sort of just thinking out loud now hahaha

I don't think that plot holes, easter eggs or foreshadowing is something that only happens or doesn't happen with plotting or pantsing. I write this as someone who plots. And I still have to sometimes go back in second drafts and add specific foreshadowing hints. Plotting doesn't always mean that the complete story is set in stone before you start writing. You still discover stuff about your story as you write, and you adjust your tale accordingly. And many pantsers still know roughly where their tale is going before they start writing.

The only difference I see between plotters and pantsers is that (generalizing a lot here) pantsers tend to have better characters while plotters tend to have stronger endings. That's not universally true, but it is the main difference you can see.