Performance Issues - Does everybody actually have them?

[TheRealKyleTM]

I have what appears to me to be a weird issue. I can see the high level story in my mind. I know what I want to happen for the big story beats and I know where the characters need to get but I have problems creating the bridge between those events?

Maybe my solution is to write the scenes where I know what happens and then figure out what goes in-between? Does anybody else have this issue where you will write and then just kind of leave it because you cannot see the connecting fibers between the main beats?

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Mmm, that can be a tenet of Waypoint Writing. I tend to think in major plot points and then fuss over connecting the dots or filling in gaps. I don't always write the ending or major beats first, but I have

 

[TheRealKyleTM]

Mmm, that can be a tenet of Waypoint Writing. I tend to think in major plot points and then fuss over connecting the dots or filling in gaps. I don't always write the ending or major beats first, but I have

Okay thank you! So, do you typically just write the main points in order and then fuss the connections after finishing the majority of the waypoints?

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Ummm, I tend to write the ending, a beginning, and go from there, and then pieces in between can be random as hell for where they are in the story Sometimes, I will write, for example, from beginning toward some point A and go and go, then I bog down... that's when I go ahead and skip ahead to a scene I do know. This tends to help answer questions about what I'm missing and makes filling in that blank easier.

 

[TheRealKyleTM]

Ummm, I tend to write the ending, a beginning, and go from there, and then pieces in between can be random as hell for where they are in the story Sometimes, I will write, for example, from beginning toward some point A and go and go, then I bog down... that's when I go ahead and skip ahead to a scene I do know. This tends to help answer questions about what I'm missing and makes filling in that blank easier.

Thank you! This helps quite a bit, hopefully I will have some actual work as an update going forward XD

 

[pmmg]

I've started stories with only the end in mind. It happens.

I tend to look at stories as...The enthusiastic part that got me started, the long slog in the middle, and all the cool stuff at the end. Its that long slog in the middle that is the hardest to conceptualize. But I find that once I get started and start driving towards the goal, the scenes kind of take care of themselves. For scenes, I have come to think there are two types, scenes where the story happens, and connecting scenes to tie it all together. During the connecting scenes we get all character building stuff, which is actually quite fun. Though I dont always look forward to the connecting scenes when I am still far away from them.

I also think of myself as a waypoint writer, but sometimes I dont have all the waypoints worked out before hand. They kind of spring up as I go

I think all of that, however, means very little. I suggest using Skips advice and write. Nothing beats words on the page, not even a hundred way points.

I think the best strategy is just to decide that you will write one sentence every night, and start with just that, and see where you are in a month. That does not sound hard, does it? You can write more than one if you want, but one is all you agree to.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Yeah, I never have all the waypoints worked out; not shocking as I don't always even know all the POV characters I'll end up using, LOL. Eve of Snows started with the ending and the gist of where to begin, but where it actually began took a while to solidify. I wrote a beginning, but it changed as other happenings happened.

 

[Mad Swede]

I always write the opening scene first, and often the final scenes. Then I'll write the major scenes in between. And then I write all the bits that go between these major scenes. I'm told this is known as the waypoint method of writing, but I'll freely admit that I had no idea about that when I started writing. It's just the way I work. The only planning I do is in my head, I don't do outlines of any sort.

I would add that writing like this means that sometimes some of the major scenes get chnaged as a result of things whochy happen in all those in-between bits. That's because those in-between bits are where I fill in background details, and sometimes these details become more important than I'd realised when I started. The same can be true of some of the minor characters who populate some of those in-between scenes.

 

[pmmg]

I think if I wrote the end scene first, I would get to it, and find I had to write it all over again. It would be missing any of the developments that got me there.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

For me, the details changed in ridiculous quantity, but that was a given... in particular because the first thing I wrote was the ending of Book 3. But, the gist was stable. Jumping ahead a few chapters tends to be far more solid, heh heh.

I think if I wrote the end scene first, I would get to it, and find I had to write it all over again. It would be missing any of the developments that got me there.

 

[TheRealKyleTM]

I always write the opening scene first, and often the final scenes. Then I'll write the major scenes in between. And then I write all the bits that go between these major scenes. I'm told this is known as the waypoint method of writing, but I'll freely admit that I had no idea about that when I started writing. It's just the way I work. The only planning I do is in my head, I don't do outlines of any sort.

I would add that writing like this means that sometimes some of the major scenes get chnaged as a result of things whochy happen in all those in-between bits. That's because those in-between bits are where I fill in background details, and sometimes these details become more important than I'd realised when I started. The same can be true of some of the minor characters who populate some of those in-between scenes.

I will be working on some of this today. Got a story brewing that hopefully I could at least get a rough draft finished soon ish

 

[Penpilot]

I used to have issues, but then I learned to use the three act structure to plan out the key parts to my story. And over the years, the more I write, the deeper I plan things out before I start writing. Doesn't mean things don't change, because they always do, but I find it very helpful to know where I'm going even if I change my mind half way there and go somewhere else. Having a plan also lets me know how changing one thing will affect the rest of the story, because an idea may seem great in the moment, but when I think about how it changes things in the story, it may not be a good idea after all. Of course the opposite happens, too. Seems like a meh idea but once I think about the consequences, it becomes an awesome idea.

 

[TheRealKyleTM]

I used to have issues, but then I learned to use the three act structure to plan out the key parts to my story. And over the years, the more I write, the deeper I plan things out before I start writing. Doesn't mean things don't change, because they always do, but I find it very helpful to know where I'm going even if I change my mind half way there and go somewhere else. Having a plan also lets me know how changing one thing will affect the rest of the story, because an idea may seem great in the moment, but when I think about how it changes things in the story, it may not be a good idea after all. Of course the opposite happens, too. Seems like a meh idea but once I think about the consequences, it becomes an awesome idea.

I really enjoyed reading this! I will be taking all fo these suggestions into consideration! My current method is to pants it as far as possible but I am a bit scatterbrained

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I really enjoyed reading this! I will be taking all fo these suggestions into consideration! My current method is to pants it as far as possible but I am a bit scatterbrained

I have two nicknames for myself... the Constant Tinkerer and the Absent Minded... ummm, absent minded... What was I saying?

 

[Penpilot]

I really enjoyed reading this! I will be taking all fo these suggestions into consideration! My current method is to pants it as far as possible but I am a bit scatterbrained

I wrote my first book pants on fire all the way through. It was a 275k mess, but I learned sooo much just by doing it that way. And one of the lessons I learned was, I needed at least some sort of rough organization. A lot of times, you don't know what you need until you're in a spot where you actually need it.

 

[pmmg]

I have a long drive to and from work, so I use that time thinking of where the scene is going. When it comes to writing it, I pretty much have its purpose and event(s) worked out. I dont always like the traffic, but it is does help me in that regard.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

The riding mower does wonders for shaking my brain lose and planning out scenes.

I have a long drive to and from work, so I use that time thinking of where the scene is going. When it comes to writing it, I pretty much have its purpose and event(s) worked out. I dont always like the traffic, but it is does help me in that regard.

 

[StrawberryCat]

For me it really depends on what I'm writing. In most of my previous projects I planned most story beats before I even started writing. Currently I'm working on a story that's more of a slice of life or at least a meandering one, so I'm not planning that far ahead at all. I still do plan a bit, but I don't even have an ending figured out yet.

But when I'm planning ahead, I keep in mind that the gaps between story beats are filled with more story beats. Every scene should (among other things) either set up future events or push the story forward. When filling the gap between major story beats, I simply ask myself what intermediary scenes are necessary to go from scene A to scene B, and write just that. I can always polish things later.

 

[Derin Edala]

Different writers work differently, but i find I have to suck it up and push through those bits I don't know. If I skip them, I'll never come back to them. The bits I do know act as motivation.

The bridges, as I write them, tend to become fertile ground for subplots. If that's not working, it's a sign that the events between are boring and can be skipped over as much as possible.

 

[TheRealKyleTM]

Different writers work differently, but i find I have to suck it up and push through those bits I don't know. If I skip them, I'll never come back to them. The bits I do know act as motivation.

The bridges, as I write them, tend to become fertile ground for subplots. If that's not working, it's a sign that the events between are boring and can be skipped over as much as possible.

I hadn't thought about it in this way before. I may have to try this going forward!