When you daydreamed as a kid did you frequently ‘do over’ things. Basically an idea would occur to you part way through and you’d have to go back to the beginning and ‘press play’ to run through it again till the new stuff was put in…
I’ve always done this. It’s only now I realize (with amusement) how intent my daydreaming was. Such furious plotting! And it all had to make sense. If it were planning an escape route (usually when stuck in a very boring school assembly or church service.. I’d imagine dinosaurs were attacking and how/where to get out..) I’d go over and over the route trying to ‘rationalize’ whether or not I could actually do it. This would take a while and then I’d go back to the beginning to play it all out again, on that movie screen in my head, delighting in being the heroine *hee*
Now I find this habit incredibly useful for plotting my stories. I have all the ‘Major events/climaxes’ plotted out and then I go through all the minor ones. Some that I had in mind from the beginning of planning BirthRight have been discarded. This is because they weren’t practical when I got to the ‘now how would they actually do this in real life’ part (I know, I know – it’s a novel.. not real life.. but it needs to be believable!). My next two installments in the BirthRight are drawn out on monster sheets of paper and taped to the back of my door. This way I can add ‘snippets’ and minor events easily (post its!) to see how it looks. I know that some people don’t like plotting and even Stephen King doesn’t consider it necessary (not particularly anyway) but for me it’s essential. It’s the same reason I sketch the characters. The better I can see it physically the clearer it is in my head and then the sharper it is on the paper.
It’s all a point of view I guess *grin* so what’s your POV on plotting – do you have any clever methods?
I actually plot quite a bit. I use a software program that helps me diving things more easily into sub plots or romantic plots…then I chain them all together in blocks of text. From there all I have to do is write because I know where I'm going.
Edge of Your Seat Romance
I think everyone has their own way of getting their thoughts onto paper. Like I wouldn't be able to think of tapping pictures of the monsters in my WIP on the back of my doors, but I do use post-its and notes to myself even though I consider myself a pantser. I need to keep in-check that my characters have the same hair style that they had in chapter 1 that they had in chapter 30 and that I don't repeat scenes.
All I can say is post-its, post-its, post-its! Those are the best invention/tool for any writer, so write on!
I think the trick is to come up with new material. When I studied mythos sources in undergrad, I realized the vast majority of fiction is drawn from existing sources, repackaged, and slicked with a title and cover art. New material is the trick in my mind. Inspiration. Uninfluenced imagination. Unencumbered thought. Formulating the initial and then going from there. I can not say I know how to do so and make something palatable to others, but strive to bring new perspectives I feel is a productive exercise. It is a little tricky to then have others relate to the new perspectives as the existing are what are socially known and are therefore open as points of reference.
For instance, I believe a marriage where the wife is the leader and the husband the servile to be a better approach. Because this concept is rarely known about, I find it difficult to communicate to others why this is the case. I feel I have a mountain of evidence to prove my point and against a 50-50 egalitarian dynamic, but because few have a point of reference with which to relate, it is difficult to have discourse.
Sorry for the ramble.
I'm a what-if plotter. What if this happened? What if that happened? What might happen then? this thinking then leads me into who the character is and how should would react to the situation, most of my plotting is absolute rambling nonsense, I may pick 1 idea out of all the rambling then try to run with it.
I may have to reassess my approach… 🙂
I wish i could sketch- it sounds very useful for visualising characters clearer. thanks for sharing Nicole!
I struggle with plot, so this may not be the best advice, but I find it helps to write a short summary– a 2-3 paragraph synopsis type thing– to see if the general plot holds together. Once it does, I just write and try to work on increasing tension in the second draft.
Perri
http://www.lesserapricots.blogspot.com
Sketching characters sounds like a fun way to organize. I put an alien on my website just for fun. If I was an artist I would fill my website with drawings.
I do not describe characters when I write. I let the reader imagine what the character looks like based on the character's actions.
@ SH – blogs are all about rambling 🙂 it's all good
@ Walter – you don't describe them at all? I'd be curious to see how that worked.. Do you just use a few key words?
and at everyone who keeps referring to me sketching *grin* I didn't say that! I said I drew out the plot (words) on a monster (big) piece of paper ;p I do sketch characters too but I didn't refer to that in this post *hee*