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.