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How much of the story do you map out?
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Pia Cathrin wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Pia Cathrin wrote: "I've tried mapping out stories all the way and then lost the will to write them. I write much better if I just go with the flow. It usually starts with an idea and..."Are we talking police drama, murder mystery, blood and guts? If so I know just the person, he's a fellow Goodreads friend, maybe you know him? Paul Anthony DM him it will be worth your while Pia. You think you character is strange check my guy out http://www.comingsoontosarahswall.wee... he is a class A weirdo if ever there was one, my muse adores him...
Sarah wrote: "Pia Cathrin wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Pia Cathrin wrote: "I've tried mapping out stories all the way and then lost the will to write them. I write much better if I just go with the flow. It usually sta..."Unfortunately it's Sci-Fi/Horror, although there is a murder mystery mixed into it. :) I'll go check your your guy now. :) Thanks for the heads up, by the way. If you think he might be interested in sci-fi/horror ... please let me know. :D
Pia Cathrin wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Pia Cathrin wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Pia Cathrin wrote: "I've tried mapping out stories all the way and then lost the will to write them. I write much better if I just go with the flow. ..."Best to ask the man himself, I know he specialises in Police thrillers because he told me. Asking costs nothing Pia, just a little time. Are you on Twitter?
Sarah wrote: "Pia Cathrin wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Pia Cathrin wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Pia Cathrin wrote: "I've tried mapping out stories all the way and then lost the will to write them. I write much better if I jus..."I do have a Twitter account, but I hardly ever use it. I should try to get in touch with Paul Anthony and see if he can help me out. Thanks for the head's up.
It took me a year to map out the fiction novel I am presently writing.Lots of characters.
Plenty of plot twists and surprises.
Novel is titled "Family"
Will be published soon.
Thanks!
Mod
I have a big overarching plot for the series and each book I know what is going on and roughly how each is supposed to go. I don't plan in minute detail as most of the time I decide to change aspects. Sometimes ideas lead on from other ideas, or ideas I thought were great turn out to be a pile of poo. Often I know where I have to be just not how to get there and it takes several attempts to get there. I have a really good friend who is my sounding board and she tells me if it is is poo or not.
I recently decided to change the ending of my current WIP to something a little simplier and less restricting and now I am much happier as it is opened up a lot of possible ideas. I am not on so much of a time scale.
Currently I am stuggling with the last big battle scene and it is not playing nicely. I can see it in my head but every time I try and write it gets more confused.
It will get there, although I suspect there will be much cussing and frustration involved.
I could not map out a story even if I wanted to, which I do not, fortunately. It took me 14 years to understand my characters, which is serendipitous because my main character is 14 years old so I learned her in real time. I am able to create a synopsis of a story beforehand but I do not always do so. I have created several synopses for several stories that I will eventually write including sequels to my current novel, novella, novelettes, short stories, and flash fiction. I will be getting into poetry to pass the time until my books begin to sell, for I will not write the sequels until there seems to be an audience for them. I think it is flatly amazing, even astounding, that someone can understand their characters before they write about them. I did not even have the foggiest clue who my characters were; what they would do; who they liked; who they didn't like; what their favorite meal was, before I wrote about it. I understood the plot, setting, theme, and idea of the story, yet the characters – complex interwoven entities of emotion, desires, traits, and whims – did not manifest themselves so easily.
I think the thing to remember about world-building is that you don't actually HAVE to fill in every detail of the world into your story. The purpose of building a world is so that you understand what you need to understand in order to write the story you want to write. Focus on what's relevant to the story, and to the texture of the story, and leave the rest.As for plotting in advance, I tend to know where I'm starting, know where I want to finish, and know several points in between. I don't plot out each chapter, but make rough mental bookmarks and work to reach them. Sometimes different story avenues or sub-plots reveal themselves along the way. If I can squeeze them in without derailing the main thread, I do, if not, I set them aside for possible later stories.
I honestly don't map it out... well I sorta do, but not before hand. I have an idea, and I start writing. I know they teach you differently in school but I always go off track anyway A LOT. So what I do is make notes in a different Word document and do an outline as I write of the main plot points and important details. That way if I don't write for a few days or I forgot about something, I can review the outline instead of reading the whole thing. However, I have not finished a book yet... so there you go. LoL But I think it's because I never keep my passion about an idea and always get distracted by day-to-day life that I don't write like I should. I tend to start and never finish. But long story short... I write them map. :)
How long have you worked on a book-to-be so far?
All of it, but I keep it general because it's bound to shift and change as I write.
I guess I like to keep things pretty simple. On my last book the closest thing I used to an outline or "map" was about two dozen index cards. I would write a word or phrase on each index card that represented something I wanted to have happen in my story. Once I had them all written out, I moved them around until the order seemed right, later I might change the order to fit the needs of the story. Usually that little keyword turned into a full-fledged chapter. About historical/factual details, I would usually fill those out while in the process of writing. I guess it's different because I wrote a Western, building your own world for your story can be even more complicated. I'm also trying to get in the habit of writing mini bios for my characters, that way I can refer to those details for my sequel.
I think my biggest problem with story-mapping is that I come up with a great idea, especially a great ending, and then I just want to hurry up and write the whole novel so I could write the ending.
Mod
Pia Cathrin wrote: "I've tried mapping out stories all the way and then lost the will to write them. I write much better if I just go with the flow. It usually starts with an idea and grows from there. If I like my ch..."This is so me! I have an idea, go from there and keep a jot list of ideas (a bunch of random phrases scattered across a random sheet of paper).
Jessica wrote: "I think my biggest problem with story-mapping is that I come up with a great idea, especially a great ending, and then I just want to hurry up and write the whole novel so I could write the ending."Have you tried writing the ending first? I have a friend who does that and then makes the story from there with a few altercations to the ending.
I've tried, but it just messes me up. >.<
Ah.....well then......maybe don't plan out the ending?
Mod
I just write out ideas as I come up with them, assemble them into the books and stories in which they will fit, put as much of a timeline together, for each story, as I can then just write as soon as I am ready to work on it and see where my writing takes me. It seems that most often I work out the big happenings and important plot elements before writing but speech, with the exception of a few lines here and there, and character development, except for the case of superheroes in which I try to plan out all their powers and abilities, can only be done once I have begun the free writing process.
Sometimes I just start writing and see where it goes. Other times, i write the whole plot out. Sometimes, it's a combination of both.
Oh, quite true. Funny thing is, I completed a book a few months ago (need to find an editor that I can afford, though) and I'm still in two minds about whether I like the main character or not. He's not exactly a nice guy. :) And I have the same problem as you. My muse likes it bloody. No romance. At the moment at least.