Plotting out the story vs. winging it...
If you're a control freak like me then you'll probably choose to plot out every detail of your story, down to the color of your hero's socks. But if you live life haphazardly and consider spontaneity a virtue, then likely you'll prefer to just wing it. My first novel, The Silver Earth Seed, I did just that: I had a character in mind, a fuzzy plot idea, and a question that I needed to answer. The question was simple but crucial to how the story would develop: What made Arnold Cook different than everyone else?
Initially, I had a vision of thirteen year old Arnold Cook waking up on a deserted beach without his memory. As the story progressed other characters helped to shape the plot. Arnold's interaction with the secondary characters helped the story flesh itself out. Arnold discovered he could do things that, even to him, seemed unnatural and unique. And as he began to seek out answers he gradually regained his memory and his purpose. And Voila, the story was made. The spontaneous twists and turns helped the suspense ebb and flow and keep the reader guessing (and me sometimes, too), but ultimately the story culminated in an awesome battle scene! Yes! Just the way a fantasy story should end! And, of course, it wasn't planned. I winged the whole thing!
My recent book, Deacon Leeds and the Pyramid of Symbols, however, was meticulously plotted out from beginning to end. I purposely chose to write very short chapters (7-8 pages) in order to speed up the story's pace. Each chapter ends with a climactic hook, begging the reader to keep reading. Don't you dare put this book down! Just one more chapter, and so on.... And each chapter has a goal and a clue that moves the story along, propelling the character toward discovering his answer.
All in all, I enjoy both methods. The discovery and constant guessing while blindly writing The Silver Earth Seed was both exciting and frightening. There were times when I had no idea where the story was going! Then, like magic, everything began to make sense. As if an invisible hand was doing all the writing and I was simply an instrument for someone else's ideas. But there's something comforting about knowing where you're going and how'll you get there, so plotting out the story is my story writing method of choice. Though I might dabble in the other from time to time....
Till next time, keep reading and writing.
Initially, I had a vision of thirteen year old Arnold Cook waking up on a deserted beach without his memory. As the story progressed other characters helped to shape the plot. Arnold's interaction with the secondary characters helped the story flesh itself out. Arnold discovered he could do things that, even to him, seemed unnatural and unique. And as he began to seek out answers he gradually regained his memory and his purpose. And Voila, the story was made. The spontaneous twists and turns helped the suspense ebb and flow and keep the reader guessing (and me sometimes, too), but ultimately the story culminated in an awesome battle scene! Yes! Just the way a fantasy story should end! And, of course, it wasn't planned. I winged the whole thing!
My recent book, Deacon Leeds and the Pyramid of Symbols, however, was meticulously plotted out from beginning to end. I purposely chose to write very short chapters (7-8 pages) in order to speed up the story's pace. Each chapter ends with a climactic hook, begging the reader to keep reading. Don't you dare put this book down! Just one more chapter, and so on.... And each chapter has a goal and a clue that moves the story along, propelling the character toward discovering his answer.
All in all, I enjoy both methods. The discovery and constant guessing while blindly writing The Silver Earth Seed was both exciting and frightening. There were times when I had no idea where the story was going! Then, like magic, everything began to make sense. As if an invisible hand was doing all the writing and I was simply an instrument for someone else's ideas. But there's something comforting about knowing where you're going and how'll you get there, so plotting out the story is my story writing method of choice. Though I might dabble in the other from time to time....
Till next time, keep reading and writing.
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