lirazel | (no subject)

brithistorian is having this discussion over at his journal, but I wanted to ask my friends as well:

When you write fiction, how much planning/outlining do you do before you start? Do you plot extensively? Do you fly by the seat of your pants?

Here's what I said:

Plot is so hard. I find characterization, worldbuilding, etc. pretty intuitive, but I am incapable of coming up with more than the vaguest plot before I start writing. Any plot that ends up existing emerges as I write.

That said, I usually have a vague idea of where I'm headed with the story--both some kind of emotional arc and a vague idea of where the plot is going. But the details of it? HA! I have learned that I have to just start writing because if I wait until I figure out a plot, I will never start.

In thinking about it, I have to daydream enough beforehand to have a really good sense of the world and the characters and the atmosphere I'm trying to create. This is a kind of planning. But it's not plotting. Plotting is a different thing, and it's not really a thing I do.

I'll use an example of the fics I've written recently.

With my Wen Qing fic, I knew this before I started writing: Jiang Yanli goes to Nightless City for the indoctrination. She has an attack of her illness and Wen Qing treats her and they begin to bond. I knew I wanted to explore chronic illness, the relief of having a doctor actually listen to you, the emotional toll of being an eldest sister, and moral dilemmas. I knew I wanted Wen Qing to ultimately decide to help the sect heirs bust out of Nightless City. I knew I wanted to lay the foundation for a Wen Qing/Jiang Yanli relationship. I knew I wanted Wen Qing to be enthralled by Jiang Yanli's everything and yet be very resistant to that.

And that's it. That's all I knew when I started. So I had some firm ideas about themes and characterization, but my plot was very sketchy (initial premise and where we end up). And that's pretty typical for most of my fics.

With my Benjamin January fic, I also knew what I was starting with: all the things that both

dolorosa_12 and I are most interested in (it was such a joy writing a fic for someone who has exactly the same interests and investments in the canon as I do!!!).

Things I knew before I started: the focus would be on Minou and Chloe solving a mystery together. They would both use their very different talents to do so (Minou's personal connections and emotional intelligence; Chloe's unflappability and scholarly intelligence). They would somehow save another woman from a terrible situation, but, in keeping with Hambly's world, it wouldn't solve the heart of the injustice that was being committed.

From there, I basically just started writing and wrote myself into a plot. And I've found that's what I have to do: just start writing. The plot will emerge eventually, and it will need to be refined a great deal in subsequent drafts, but it will emerge.

But I know that some people plot extensively--outlining and such--before they start. Some people can't even start at all until they've got it all outlined! So tell me about your approach--I really want to know!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I am what my zayde-advisor once called, in classic zayde fashion, a "vomit pruner." My "outline" is essentially a sprawling stream-of-consciousness wall of words that I then cut and trim and refashion with great prejudice. I can't tell how much it helps me relative to careful outlining; it's just how it goes.