McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

Help planning the plot

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KevinEvans:
Here is a link to Dan Wells's presentation on plotting from a writing seminar last Feb.

http://www.fearfulsymmetry.net/?p=405

Really useful.
Regards,
Kevin

Starbeam:
Like Kali said, not everyone plans what they're going to write.  Stephen King is one like that.  He just sits and writes.  Patricia Briggs also sorta just waits to see what happens.  I've not heard the name Kali used, I'd heard discovery writers, from the Writing Excuses podcast.  I can't remember the specific one where it talked about discovery vs outliners, but it's a good podcast to listen to.  Brandon Sanderson, another author, and a webcomic guy, and they talk about all kinds of things related to writing. I'd say to look it up on audible.com; I think all 3 seasons and up to the current one in season 4 are available there.

spikespiegel82:
See but for me personally this has been my main stumbling block in the past, I start to write a story and then hit a wall where I never know where to take it from there.  I figure if I have a general plot outline in mind, I can write toward a goal and write my way toward my goals.  I've always been a pantser in the past, which is why I've never finished more than a short story.  I appreciate all the help guys.  There's some good advice here.  My philosophy now is just to keep working on it because I'm procrastinating my life away. 

Starbeam:
In that situation, what worked for me was to write to the point that everything coming out was tripe, and then go back and do the world/story building, figure out where you want things to end up, and do a very loose outline of how you want to get there.  I tried writing straight through, but that doesn't work for me, and I got stuck so I've gone back and started rewriting/revising the scenes that need it.  Meaning that what I've written later on has changed and the earlier scenes don't reflect that, and they need to before I can move past it. 

the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
Steal a plot shape.  From history or from Shakespeare.  (Shakespeare stole most of his; you can tell the ones he didn't because, brilliant though the language and characterisation is, on a plot level they suck. Seriously, the end of Measure for Measure is on the bad crack.)  Then change bits to taste.

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