Fic Talk > General Discussion
The Writing Thread
RokofAges75:
I'm definitely a planner. I don't plan out every detail in advance, but I do typically outline or at least put a summary of the general plot - beginning, middle, and end - on paper before I start writing the actual story. How detailed my outline gets depends on the story.
The one I'm writing now, The Road to Bethlehem, is a pretty straightforwar d series of events that take place over just a few days, so its outline is short. It's mainly just a summary of the events and some research notes on the setting. I haven't planned it out chapter by chapter; I've just been writing it one scene at a time, always thinking ahead to what will happen next and which guy I will focus on, since I'm trying to keep it balanced between all five boys' perspectives.
With stories that have more intricate plots or time-sensitive details to keep track of, I tend to keep a more detailed outline. For example, Secrets of the Heart had two separate but interwoven storylines that took place months apart and were told out of order, so I did outline that one chapter by chapter to help me figure out the best order to tell it in. Curtain Call had a detailed timeline for an outline because I was working in real life events from the This Is Us tour with fictional events and had to keep track of when everything happened.
I do change my outlines as I get new ideas, but I don't usually change the basic plot points I planned out at the beginning. It's more just adding details that fill in the gaps to help get me from the beginning to the middle to the end. If I get a great idea for far down the line, I'll write it down in my outline so I don't forget, but I don't write actual scenes out of order.
My ideas tend to be plot-based, so I focus on the plot first. Then I work on any fictional characters I'll need. I usually already know which Boy(s) the story will be about based on the plot.
nicksgal:
I'm team plantser over here. I'll usually have a vague idea of things that I write down, major answers to major ideas basically and then I just write. I think I have more fun pantsing because unexpected things often happen, but when I know that something is going to be major down the line or will keep coming up, I go hardcore planner: maps, character charts, outlines on everything from plot to character growth arcs to tropes that appear in different parts of the story, whole documents of research references. I usually have the beginning down, end is kind of vague, middle gets kind of squiggly, then I usually figure out the end for sure around chapter 15? That sounds about right. I learned with PBox the first time that it's better for me to settle into a story before fully deciding the end, because sometimes someone annoying will tell you that they're not interested in the story ending that way and have other ideas for their journey... (*cough* Nick *cough* Still love you!)
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 03, 2021, 02:36:30 PM ---Curtain Call had a detailed timeline for an outline because I was working in real life events from the This Is Us tour with fictional events and had to keep track of when everything happened.
--- End quote ---
I've never written an "on tour" story for the sheer fear that being really dedicated to the real timeline gives me. I'd rather be vague about it.
I made a major change in my outline today after reading about Gypsydoodle and the chips, haha. I was laughing along and then went, "OMG! This is way better! Get this lightening out of your head and on paper!" Then hurriedly and excitedly wrote it all down. I used to go chapter by chapter, but these days I've found it's more motivating for me if I write what's interesting to me and then fill in the gaps, even if it's just a little dialogue exchange that comes later than where I'm at.
As time goes, I find that initially my plots tend to react to the characters more than the characters react to the plots, so the direction I've gone now is "where are these characters at in their growth and what does the plot need to do for them to get from A to B?" Then go back and get them reacting to the events of the plot.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 03, 2021, 02:36:30 PM ---The one I'm writing now, The Road to Bethlehem, is a pretty straightforwar d series of events that take place over just a few days, so its outline is short. It's mainly just a summary of the events and some research notes on the setting. I haven't planned it out chapter by chapter; I've just been writing it one scene at a time, always thinking ahead to what will happen next and which guy I will focus on, since I'm trying to keep it balanced between all five boys' perspectives.
With stories that have more intricate plots or time-sensitive details to keep track of, I tend to keep a more detailed outline. For example, Secrets of the Heart had two separate but interwoven storylines that took place months apart and were told out of order, so I did outline that one chapter by chapter to help me figure out the best order to tell it in.
--- End quote ---
Do you find it hard to keep perspectives balanced? And do they tend to lean toward anyone in particular in any of your writing?
And that sounds like a tough, but fun challenge for Secrets of the Heart! Like This Is Us (the show, not the album)!
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 03, 2021, 03:24:31 PM ---I've never written an "on tour" story for the sheer fear that being really dedicated to the real timeline gives me. I'd rather be vague about it.
--- End quote ---
It definitely required a lot of research, but it was a fun challenge for that story to see how much I could make my fictional storyline fit with real events. I wouldn't want to do that all the time though.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 03, 2021, 03:24:31 PM ---As time goes, I find that initially my plots tend to react to the characters more than the characters react to the plots, so the direction I've gone now is "where are these characters at in their growth and what does the plot need to do for them to get from A to B?" Then go back and get them reacting to the events of the plot.
--- End quote ---
That is probably a good way to plan. Sometimes I wish my stories were more character-driven. I tend to either gently guide my characters in the direction I want them to go or hurl obstacles at them until they're forced to go that way LOL. They don't usually get to decide.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 03, 2021, 03:28:52 PM ---Do you find it hard to keep perspectives balanced? And do they tend to lean toward anyone in particular in any of your writing?
And that sounds like a tough, but fun challenge for Secrets of the Heart! Like This Is Us (the show, not the album)!
--- End quote ---
I definitely tend to focus most on Nick and Brian. I've written stories where I alternate between different characters' point of view in a set way, or like in Song for the Undead, we made sure each character got a chapter within each ten-chapter arc, but in Bethlehem, I've just been trying to decide which perspective works best for each particular scene. So it's not perfectly balanced, but each boy has had his moment in the spotlight.
Aww, This Is Us. Yeah, Secrets was a little like the pilot of that show, where you don't realize the storylines are taking place in totally different time periods or how they'll connect until the end. It was a hard story to write, but I'm happy with how it turned out.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 03, 2021, 03:50:06 PM ---That is probably a good way to plan. Sometimes I wish my stories were more character-driven. I tend to either gently guide my characters in the direction I want them to go or hurl obstacles at them until they're forced to go that way LOL. They don't usually get to decide.
--- End quote ---
My life is basically Nick telling me what he wants to do and over time I have learned that he will never shut up about it, so I just go with it at this point, haha. At least PBox Nick is that way regardless of the obstacles I throw at him, persistent little guy that he is. I think I trend character-based way now more than I did in the past because the only stories I've ever committed to finishing and/or finished were the ones that ended up being more about the characters than the plot. Ones where I was like "This plot is good!" are pretty much abandoned forever. Sorry everyone who liked anything I wrote that wasn't PBox, possibly Gobosei, and some original fiction you've never seen. If you want to know what was going to happen, I can probably summarize. I have long ago lost anything that had to do with any of them if they're not those two, so summary is what you'll get.
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