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I’ll just tag who I can remember right now XD
@thearcaneaxiom @princesachronicle22 @keilah-h @freedomwriter76 @euodia-vision @crocheter12 @hybridlore @awsumfaith @godlyfantasy12 @landric @mineralizedwritings @whalekeeper @everyone-i-forgot-i’m-drawing-a-blank-lolAlright! So, the thing with plotting…
I try. I really do. But… I’m naturally a pantser. 😅🤣
I do a bunch of random worldbuilding, figure out the loose (and I mean LOOSE) idea of the story, and just start writing. That’s just how my brain works.
The problem: I struggle to finish things. I mean, I get really far (up into like four-hundred page long books). But there’s no real ending. Nothing really tying it together. Now, I’ve gotten better, don’t get me wrong, and I think a lot about where I want the story to go, but the in-between is where I get mixed up. I figure out the beginning and the very end and get lost in the middle. It’s not like I can just have a bunch of random stuff happen and then throw readers into the big end scene (well, it’s been done before, but that’s not how I’d like to write XD)
Now, I was wondering, does anyone have any advice for making things work out? I know this is kind of vague, but I’m pantsing this too lol. For other pantsers, how do you do it? Plotters, any advice on plotting?
I’d appreciate any help you have to give. 🙂
You can make anything by writing - C. S. Lewis
Im not sure Im the best to help with this but @otherworldlyHistorian should have something good to say about plotting (he is a bit of a crazy plotter)
Hey! Here’s the deal….I’m something of a plotter and simultaneously a panster, but I typically lean more toward the plotting side. (To back myself up, I have legitimately finished an entire co-written novel, several successful short stories, and a novella. I’m not saying that to brag, just proving that I do finish projects XD)
I know it’s hard when you get caught up in the excitement of a new story to just start writing and not take the time to think through the ins and outs of how the story will play out! What I’ve found helpful is to take all of the creativity that happens at the beginning of the story and write it all down. Don’t start writing the story yet, just throw down everything you have into a random notebook or a random doc on your computer. Make yourself take a couple of days just to mull over the characters/setting/etc. in your head before you start your project. (Another thing that can really help is thinking about your MC’s greatest fear, their deepest longing, their best strength and worst weakness. You can also jot down things like what theme you hope to express in the book, etc.) So once you have this really messy document with all the important stuff after a couple of days with all your ideas, start a new page and make a general outline of what you want the story to look like. Then…start writing! If your outline goes out the window when you start, who cares? You can change it whenever you want. Just make sure that you stick to the big themes and progressions you imagined in the beginning.
I don’t know if this will be helpful to you at all, but it’s what has worked for me in the past. Hope it’s helpful!!
"To death or to victory"
Oh my goodness I need this so much!!
I struggle with plotting, especially starting things and not ending them, 🤣🤣
I don’t think I’ve ever made it past 30 pages or so? I know that’s . . . really short . . . but I really haven’t been writing for too long, XD
I tend to get distracted or bored with stuff and then will start something else — I think outlining is really supposed to help with that, but I’ve always pantsed stuff . . . Lol
So if anyone has feedback for Solfyre, please tag me too!
There is always light behind the clouds.
- Little Women, Louisa May AlcottOk, so I’m the girl with a plan lol, I spent two years (I know, I’m too much of a planner 😂) planning and world building, character development and working out kinks. I finally started writing on… Friday. Finally lol. So, I have to agree with @landric, take time to work out the kinks and plotholes, and to plan. Even if it’s just a rough outline, it’ll help a lot I bet.
Ofc, this may not work for you, everyone is different. But I hope it helps 🙂
"does anyone have any good ideas?"
"Oh yeah, but none for this"Alright!
@landric (oooh I want to read those now XD) @awsumfaithThanks so much for the advice!!! I’m definitely going to be working on just putting all my ideas together and then narrowing it down like that. It should at least help me figure out what I want to focus on in the story for sure.
Thanks again!!! 🙂
You can make anything by writing - C. S. Lewis
@kyronthearcanin Well….
I can’t plot for the life of me. If I plot any more than a vague outline, I lose interest.
Sooooo I jump straight into it with only a simple idea of what I want to do. That gets me into trouble sometimes.
But here are some helpful things!
If you need to, write out of order. I do this with series but not individual books. You can always redraft if something in a previous story changes.
If you get a random perfect idea, write it down somewhere! That’s worked for me. It doesn’t have to be a full on-story–it could be just a “(character name) does (something) at this point in the story” or “what if (character) was actually working for this character?”
Where'd I get ya this time? The liver? The kidney? I'm runnin' outta places to put holes in ya.
I’ve written backstory and stuff before, but I can’t say I’ve done much writing ahead. I know I haven’t done any in Healer, because it would probably help.
So… I’ll definitely have to try that. 😉
You can make anything by writing - C. S. Lewis
@kyronthearcanin Ok!
Oh, BTW I might’ve asked you this before but is your username a character in the story?
Where'd I get ya this time? The liver? The kidney? I'm runnin' outta places to put holes in ya.
Interesting thing. The username Solfyre is based off of a couple characters. Sol is a dragon in my WIP Finding the Light. Fyre is the guardian of another realm they have to journey to in the book.
The tag KyrontheArcanin is a character in Healer, too, but to tell you who he is would be a MAJOR spoiler, so I’ll hold back XD
You can make anything by writing - C. S. Lewis
@kyronthearcanin Kyron and Rina are related? Or maybe he’s the leader of the arcanin?
Oh, and the meaning of Solfyre is cool!
Where'd I get ya this time? The liver? The kidney? I'm runnin' outta places to put holes in ya.
Lol how’d I know you’d guess it?
Yes Kyron is Rina’s father.XDAnd thanks!
You can make anything by writing - C. S. Lewis
@kyronthearcanin Cool! Is he alive or dead? Does he play any other role in the story?
Where'd I get ya this time? The liver? The kidney? I'm runnin' outta places to put holes in ya.
He’s alive! He plays a pretty big role in helping free the slaves. Like Rina, he has healing powers, and actually ends up saving her life.
You can make anything by writing - C. S. Lewis
@kyronthearcanin Awesome!!! He sounds really cool.
Where'd I get ya this time? The liver? The kidney? I'm runnin' outta places to put holes in ya.
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