[LadyofRohan]

So when you guys actually sit down to write, to you have an outline or a pretty clear idea of where your story is going, or do you just sit and let it flow?

I tend to get an idea but then when I try to write out an outline, it morphs into something completely unrecognizable and it winds up ticking me off so I get frustrated and use it to line the birdcage. As a result, I just wind up doing nothing except talking to the voices in my head. Which they are fun to listen to sometimes, but they do get a bit loud.

What works for you all?

Roh

[SpaceWeavil]

I'm probably the person who shouldn't answer this post, given the mess I've made of recent plots, but...

I tend to take different approaches depending on the story. Just thinking of fics and stuff I have on the go at the moment; 'Grey Havens' started off with an idea, basic plot bunny, then I went through the whole story, plotting it out in 'scenes' in a notebook, from beginning to end. I didn't have it broken down into chapters or anything, just how the story was going to develop. Basically I had the starting point, and because of the canon (Gil-galad and Cirdan not ending up with 'wives' in the texts) I knew where I had to get to by the end of the fic. As I was writing it, the chapter breaks found themselves.

I'm using the same approach for an original fantasy I'm writing, and actually found a thing on http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/getwriting/ about making a full 'plan' of a novel on a huge sheet of paper, so you can see the progress of the story. I'm trying that out, but since I haven't actually started writing the story yet, I don't know how good that will be.

With most of my other fics though, I tend to kind of have a vague idea of the story, like I know with 'And in the Darkness Bind Them' that eventually the Witch King has to end up in Middle-earth, meet up with the other eight soon-to-be-Nazgul, and then eventually meet Annatar-Sauron and get his ring. But I work in small sections deciding how I actually get there. It's almost like I can see the scenes in my mind's eye a lot of the time, other times I can almost hear it as if someone were reading the story to me, and I write down what I hear (yeah, I know how crazy that makes me sound...and if you're scared by that, just remember you don't actually have to live with me... )

With my total disaster of a Virtual Village fic, on the other hand, I'm making it up as I go along. Same with my Da Vinci Code style original fic (which I just discovered has 21,000 words so far, 20,999 of which are rubbish and should be rewritten, but hey...I got a lot of it!)

Anyway, I know probably nothing of what I've just typed makes much sense, because it's pouring out of my brain without much control. I'll go back to sleep now.

[trekqueen]

[NeumeIndil]

I think of it like this: A good story is like a living thing; while it can be trained and encouraged in certain directions, too much "tending" will stunt it's growth and ultimately kill it. I just sit down and type for the first few pages, chapters, whatever you want to use to mark the passing of time. Then, I'll re-read what I just did and jot ideas of where I think I might like it to go. Then, I go back to writing it. It often follows a different road than I thought it would, but that's why I don't plan too hard. As long as I'm not fighting the story to breathe and it's not being stifled by my influence, I find the process takes care of itself.

Some people can't approach it with so many loose ends and that's okay too, but if you're getting frustrated when it goes into an unexpected place, it's probably time to stop and look at both the story and the plan again. There's a lot to be said for having some objective and trusted people that you can send bits of an in progress piece for opinions and ideas. This is a good place to find some.

Hope that helped.

Neume

[SpaceWeavil]

[Neniel]

Well, I tend to write small parts of all kinds of stories, and then gather those that seem more relevant and turn them into a plot... Or I get this plot bunny and start working on it and see how it goes. Most of the time, there are little details about this dialogue or the next, or little things that come out while I write that guide the plot further on. I have tried making an exact plan of a story before writing it, but then there was no joy in going on with it, because it seemed like all the creative work had been done before hand.

I find that the main trouble with this kind of approach, though, is that it's too risky to post anything until it's finished. This sort of 'loose writing' demands lots of rewrites and going back and correcting this scene or that because you wanted something to work out differently at some point of the story later on, so you need to be able to get back and make corrections as you move along. I know, because I tried posting a story while I was writing it, and when I decided I wanted to give it a few massive changes and my hands were tied. Now I just write away, and if I ever get something finished, then I'll consider a post.

You can't rule out the fact, though, that it propably works out differently for each kind of writer... As long as this is not about professional story-writing, I guess it's a matter of what you enjoy doing the most no matter what the outcome.

[SpaceWeavil]

[NeumeIndil]

I'm actually running into the same difficulty Neniel has where things suddenly change what happened or should have happened in the past, but that's why I do multiple drafts. I have yet to write something longer than 200 words that I was happy with after a single pass. Calling a draft finished, though, can be difficult hence the idea people and betas.

Ultimately, I think, plotting and approach are a matter of how each individual works best. I have yet to try the huge piece o' paper thing but other writer friends of mine swear by it. I tend to do a bullet list of main ideas I want to hit and then wander from one to the next. I also cut a lot of stuff from draft to draft or split it off into other scenes and short-shorts, but I have completely unrelated plot bunnies bouncing up in the middle of things too. If I hit a sticky patch, I'll stop and do a sort of rough-cut edit and find problems in what's already written, though I don't usually change things at that time. You never know when it's going to want to change back.

It's a big hairy, tangled mess sometimes but if it wasn't fun to try to sort through I wouldn't do it. I am a bit of a masochist though.

[LadyofRohan]

Thanks to everyone for their tips and thoughts about what works for them. Joining this list has got some really rusty creative juices flowing for me...in fact I think it could be more accurately described as creative sludge at this moment in time. I pulled the shoe box out from under the bed that I have kept my muse in, and boy was she ticked when I opened the lid and she realized it wasn't the 80's anymore. Bad fashion flashback! I haven't written much more than a shopping list since I got married, although I got a minor in English when I was in college. Thanks again, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next!

Roh

[ghettoelleth]

Okay, here's how it works in Ghettoworld,

You have an intricate plot with a million details. You have as many characters as you can possibly find with little or no development. For instance, Glorfindel, Osse, Cirdan, Gildor Inglorian, and some made up dudes you can mess up as much as you like.

The you sit down write three words and then hit the books for two hour researching those three words to make sure you're sticking with canon. Then, when you finally get on a roll you get this

Steve the balrog (my muse): Psst, Jes, this would be way cooler.

Me: Shut up Steve, I'm on a roll.

Steve: But if you do this, how much cooler would it be?

This goes on until he has me convinced to meander completely off the beaten path until I have written myself into a corner. At this point I tearfully turn to such wonderful works as UT and anything with letters from Tolk where I can cheat my way the hell back to my plot.

All the while I'm keeping track of 52 characters and 72 different sub plots. Really, try my method, if nothing else you'll end up heavily medicated, drooling down the front of your shirt and saying things like, "Tolkien? Isn't that the guy who writes all the Chilton's?"

[NeumeIndil]

That explains SO much, Ghetto. Remind me to try that one when I need an insanity plea.

[SpaceWeavil]

[simon22cat]

Outline? We don't need no stinking outline.

Although, I probably should use one. I am more of a let flow kind of writer. Usually, I have a line or two come to me and the story just evolves from there. I usually have the beginning wrote, and know how it is going to end. It is the in between that I have trouble with.

[simon22cat]

Nothing to see here...move along. This was a double post.

[SilverMoonLady]

I try very hard to have an outline, since it helps to track just where i'm going, but it rarely works, since my characters have been taking lessons from Space's WitchKing and tend to wander where they want... I also tend to get trapped into a 'form' that is elegant, but requires more be written just for the sake of symmetry (you can't have 3 of the 4 parts have 3 chapters and then one have just 2... it just doesn't 'feel' right, right? )
Most of the time though, I start off with an idea, a line, a scene that is standing there taunting me, and I write that, and then it will either write itself, or turn into one of these maddening, gotta-outline-this-or-lose-it monsters. This means I have a ton and a half of scenes and sketched out chapters with nothing around them, and several *really* long outlines with a half-dozen parts fleshed out. Sometimes I just end up cannibalizing the bits and mashing them into the big story, which is nice, since there are so many of them lying about doing nothing at all
That's actually what I'm doing right now.. and boy is it a headache!
And this just after vowing never to do really really long fic again... I simply never learn!