Let's discuss structure

[K.S.R.]

What is structure? Can't you just start writing and go from there?

That's what I did three years ago, and I ended up having to rewrite the whole thing. More dirt later....if you want to know.

Are there different kinds of story structure? Why do they matter, depending on what kind of story you want to write?

[Catherine]

I just start writing and go from there.

For my second novel, I wrote a one or two sentence summary of each chapter just after I was done writing it, when it was still fresh. So it only takes a minute, and it makes for a complete outline once the book is finished. I find it very helpful for editing. But I couldn't write an outline from the start because I have no idea at first where the book will take me, what the characters will be like, how they will act, etc.

For me this element of surprise is one of the most exhilarating things about writing.

[K.S.R.]

So true about the element of surprise. Isn't it a neat feeling to be sitting there writing, not knowing what's going to happen next? It's almost like watching a movie unfold before your eyes, yet you're the one tapping away at the keyboard as the scenes unfold.

Unlike you, Catherine, I've found that I had to resort to structure, once I realized I'd ended up with a big mess when I wrote, "The End."

So, I started over, with just the ending in mind, but also limiting how many characters are in the story, etc. This time around it's been even more exciting for me to see how the story unfolds before my eyes...but within certain parameters.

[Jim]

I've never made a plan before I started working on a novel. Since they are all character driven plot is of little consequence. In my first book we follow a man over two day. On the first day he gets up, goes to work, has lunch, wanders along a shore front, goes back to work, buys a carry out, gets visited by his sister, watches some TV and goes to bed. None of what he does or where he does it is important. It's what's going on while he's going through these mundane things that matters.

The closest I came to a plan was with my fourth novel. I knew where the protagonists needed to end up but that was it. How I got them there didn't matter.

I've always started off the same way. I conceive a character or two, put them in a situation and then let nature take its course.

[Snow]

I generally write when I feel like it, without any general outline, so the story kinda has to write itself.

[Shanna]

I feel that I need to know the ending as I write. If I don't it ends up as one huge mess with at least ten main characters all in the same scene together with absolutely no plot...

But even though I know the end and the beginning and many of the important scenes in between, there's still grey area. I write based on what kind of scene I feel like writing. If I want to write a fight scene, my mind comes up with one that my characters are in, and then it gets tied into the story. It's the same way with sappy romantic junk, and sad, depressing scenes. I can't just sit and write in chronological order. I have to skip around.