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How much does a book write itself?
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I swear I feel like writing is a patchwork process of stitching scenes together with a paragraph or page.
Those inspiration points are some of the most enjoyable moments for me when I'm writing. Sometimes I'm sitting there writing and all of a sudden I think, Oh my gosh that's why he said that a hundred pages ago.
It's like all of a sudden something hits me and I see the connection. I love that feeling.
I plan everything from start to finish. It doesn't mean the outline is 100% complete before I start to type the Prologue, but it is way ahead of story construction. I find that I can't foreshadow or lay false trails and the like unless I know where I'm going, and I also waste weeks on pointless side trips. I compare it to driving to New York (I'm in CA); you can get in your car and start driving. After all, you know where New York is. Then you take side roads from the Badlands to the Ozarks that promise "amazing attractions like no other to be seen," wasting time and wearing out your car, and drive right past things you'd really enjoy like Yellowstone or Mount Rushmore just because you blinked as you were passing the sign.
Or, you can plan your trip, see what's important to you, and arrive in a timely manner just by doing a little advance planning. I've talked with writers who "fly without a compass," and they say when they need to foreshadow, they just go back and put it in. That doesn't work for me. When I do that I have to change something else, and something else, until the domino effect destroys the whole story. After my first novel grew into a 1400-page collection of side trips, I learned how to outline pretty quick!
Or, you can plan your trip, see what's important to you, and arrive in a timely manner just by doing a little advance planning. I've talked with writers who "fly without a compass," and they say when they need to foreshadow, they just go back and put it in. That doesn't work for me. When I do that I have to change something else, and something else, until the domino effect destroys the whole story. After my first novel grew into a 1400-page collection of side trips, I learned how to outline pretty quick!
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Jack wrote: "I plan everything from start to finish. It doesn't mean the outline is 100% complete before I start to type the Prologue, but it is way ahead of story construction. I find that I can't foreshadow o..."
Oh yeah, lost the thread (this Alzheimer's is murder, let me tell you!). All of what I said being true, my characters tend to take over their own scenes to the extent that they won't allow me to force them into word or deed that doesn't fit with their established personalities. At first, when they're new, I can mold them easily, but as their characters become established, they are more and more likely to dig in their heels and tell me, "Hold it, Bub! I ain't doing that."
Oh yeah, lost the thread (this Alzheimer's is murder, let me tell you!). All of what I said being true, my characters tend to take over their own scenes to the extent that they won't allow me to force them into word or deed that doesn't fit with their established personalities. At first, when they're new, I can mold them easily, but as their characters become established, they are more and more likely to dig in their heels and tell me, "Hold it, Bub! I ain't doing that."
I can see that point of view Jack and I don't think there is one right way to do it. Just what works best for each author.I'm more of the put foreshadowing in after kind of person, but honestly, it's mostly just there and then I recognize it as foreshadowing later.
I believe this is because I do a lot of the planning and outlining in my head on a subconscious level before I begin to write.
That's certainly not going to work for everyone, it's just the way that I find I write best.
Yes, different strokes, and all that. If it works for you, more power to you. I need the discipline; I've never seen a rabbit-hole that I could resist!
Too many times I've tried to go one way and my words failed me until my story turned around entirely. It felt as if my characters had something else in mind. The thing is, in the end, 'they' were right and the story evolved in a way it could never have if not for that bug. So yeah, I think characters developed their own personality as the story unfolds.
Characters do that to me, too. After a while, once their personalities are affirmed, they start acting the way they want. I don't know if anyone has explained this phenomenon, but I find it interesting. And funny.
It's a hard thing to talk about and not worry that the person you're talking to is going to think you're a little bit nutty.In the book I wrote that's now on Amazon, there was a thing that the main character (a serial killer) wanted to do that I just did not want to write about.
I could see this event happening about twenty pages or so before it happened.
I was talking to a friend of mine (who is not a writer) about how I didn't want the scene to happen.
He said, "why don't you just write it a different way then, make it not happen?"
My response, "I can't do that, it's what the character wants."
It was hard to express, but I knew my main character was going to do it if I liked it or not. Could I have written it differently, taken more control? Sure, but that would feel like a cheat to me. Making the story go how I wanted it, instead of letting the story unfold how it wanted to.
It's like riding a horse. At first, I have the reigns. But eventually, it wants to go where it wants to go. I can fight it and try to be controlling and struggle through the ride, or I can give her her head and let her go where she wants and enjoy it a lot more. Eventually she always makes it home.I try to outline, but my characters refuse to follow them and at some point we always end up far from the road I laid out. If I know the ending, that usually keeps me focused enough to finish. Yes, I have detours. But they are easily cut, and sometimes lead to undiscovered territory more beautiful than the expected attractions like Mt. Rushmore
i'd say 50/50I got several scenes I have in mind that I want in the story, character background, random spurts of dialogue. everything in between however is just as I go.
In my own experience, I find that sometimes I know how things are going to turn out in a book I'm writing but most times I have no idea.
What drives the story for me is the characters and their choices. Sometimes their choices surprise me and they kind of take the story along for the ride with them.
I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this. How do you think your stories are written? Do you know/plan how everything is going to work out or do things take unexpected turns?
Stephen King has famously said that he believes that stories are basically lost artifacts. That they are found things that writers interpret.
An interesting idea. What does everyone else think?