How extensively do you plan out scenes before writing them?

If this is your first "baby", just keep on writing. What you are doing now is "writing for the writer" and it is part of the process of developing yourself as a writer. You will use your more analytic part of your brain when you edit the text, so don't worry.
As to what I do? I keep huge chunks of my novel in my head. I've said it before and say again - with two small kids in the house (one is technically a baby), I get very little time for writing, especially since I have a day job too. So my only choice is to do the worldbuilding first, develop the scenes and then, in the course of 10-30 minutes that I have left before I fall to bed, unconscious, I write it all down. It's not my ideal way of writing, but in the current circumstances, it's the best I can do.
If you have more free time, you can try whatever suits you best. You are trying to find your method for writing and you'll never find it out, if you don't try all the options.
Good luck!

I rarely plan anything on paper, which isn't to say I don't plan at all, but its virtually non-existent. There are several reasons for this, chief among them being that I hate rewriting things that are even vaguely close together. In previous projects, I wrote down ideas for scenes, snippets of dialogue, anything relevant really to remind me of where I was going. I found this sapped all the drive and excitement out of writing for the scene. 'I've already written this right? Why do I need to do it twice?' Now I like to keep it locked up in my little old brain and then just spill everything out on paper to clean up in edits. At least it means I have something finished at the end.

I also like having the freedom of having my characters take scenes in their own direction: I'm very much a character planner, and I like to have very defined characters before I start a manuscript as my 'planning'. I then simply hand them my general idea for a scene and let them have at it. Sometimes it takes them in a very unexpected direction from what I had in mind, but still drives towards the main plot, so everyone is happy.

smellycat6464 said:

I just realized I basically go in blind, which i'm not sure if I like/is a good idea.

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I usually have an idea of what I want the scene to accomplish and how it will link to a following scene, but then I just pile in and start writing. My Muse, Spike, takes care of the rest.

Plan?

PLAN?


I have what has happened before, and what my MC is like and what the other characters are up to/want. Mix well with TNT and stand well back...

That's it

Nothing wrong with winging it, esp in a first draft

Get it written. THEN get it right.

There's no "should" in this. You do what works for you. If you're enjoying winging it, then wing it. There's nothing wrong with that. On the other hand, if you feel like stepping back and planning first, then you can do that. Personally I do like to do some planning and kind of sketch out the scene/story before I write it, including dialogue, but that's just me. Every writer is different. If you keep trying eventually you'll find what works for you.

I usually write as a means to plan.

I sketch out the main "argument" in a scene, i.e. the tense back-and-forth of two people/entities in opposition.

I keep going until I hit the "turning point", i.e. the moment of irreversible change.

That usually gives me enough chicken-scratch to sit down and write the scene with, although I often find I have to go back and add physical description to anchor that scene to reality.

I just bought Contour, which is a tool to help generate a proven plot structure. The first two novels I attempted, I ran out of steam by chapters 4 and 5 because I didn't have any direction once I put my story idea down.

I think it's going to make a difference for me. The software also demonstrates how winning movies break down into the same plot elements. Pretty interesting.

If you want to win a free copy let me know. I have a giveaway going on at my blog. It's a $50.00 value, so you can't beat that!

I have a general idea of what I want the scene to accomplish and just dive in. I'm the type of writer who doesn't really know what he wants to say until he says it.

Plan? What is plan?

I just start writing the scene and add characters as needed. Sometimes I name them right away, sometimes not.

You need a beginning, a middle, and an end and I for one am not paying anything to be told that.

Reading books of the type one wishes to write isn't a bad way of working out what works and how stories are structured.

I doubt the tool generates a proven plot structure - I suspect it has its own built in structure and it's a case of filling in the appropriate blanks to link everything up.

But if it works for you -good luck to you.

pyrosama said:

I just bought Contour, which is a tool to help generate a proven plot structure. The first two novels I attempted, I ran out of steam by chapters 4 and 5 because I didn't have any direction once I put my story idea down.

I think it's going to make a difference for me. The software also demonstrates how winning movies break down into the same plot elements. Pretty interesting.

If you want to win a free copy let me know. I have a giveaway going on at my blog. It's a $50.00 value, so you can't beat that!

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I plan out all my major plot points, reversals, the climax, and the ending. Once these are in place, then the rest of the scenes fall logically into place, since I have a roadmap and know where I have to go to get to my destination.

Bufty said:

You need a beginning, a middle, and an end and I for one am not paying anything to be told that.

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I'm with you on that!

Actually, what it does is ask some key questions, then you compile from that your story completion question. But from there it's quite interesting because you have to answer questions dealing with archetypes (which it defines and instructs upon) and then you must reflect upon and reveal your plot points in a very structured way.

In the end, you have this unique story that follows a compelling path for your main character. Very interesting!



I think it works for me because I do get so seriously stuck with writing ideas with no purpose, but I'm the type of person who needs an ending to feel accomplished. Until now, I haven't been successful at it! lol



You can tell it's very much a planning tool

Fingers to keyboard, write. No plan ever in the first draft.

I really don't plan scenes. I'm a discovery writer. I have a very, very general idea of what's happening and then let the characters lead. Right now I'm working on a sort of standard mystery and my characters are sort of jerking me around. I can see the next scene, but it's all sort of foggy.

Writing this way is often hard to describe or explain. Outliners do a better job of explaining what they do than the other kind of writer.

But I'm answering your question because I want you to know that it's not necessary to plan out scenes. Some of us do; some of us don't. But both types of writers can still get the job done, write a good story, and get it published.

When I plan, things tend to turn cliche.

My partner is awesome at coming up with ideas and plots.

I've never been able to do a plot graph and create something worth reading.

It's a mix. Some scenes I go into with a basic idea of what's to happen and what the scene is meant to achieve and just figure it out as I go. Others I have the scene so clear in my mind it's almost like describing and transcribing a scene from a movie. And then of course when I try to write it it starts to change...

To me it is simple.

First you need to know what your objective is. My primary objective is to have fun. I may never sell what I'm writing so I might as well have a great time writing it. My secondary objective is to sell it, because I enjoy selling stories almost as much as I enjoy writing them.

If your primary objective is selling rather than enjoying what you write then go for the Dean Koontz and/or Earl Stanley Gardner approaches to writing. First find out what the reader wants to read, then write it. Start by mastering plotting. Plotting is the screenwriter's master tool because it sells. The best resources for plot mastery are books about screenwriting.

If you go about it more like I do then...

There is writing and there is problem solving. If you write sooner or later you will have a problem.

There is no right or wrong. As long as you are writing and are having fun doing it then continue until you hit a problem. It is possible to write a novel and never hit a problem. It happens. Usually these are novels that have been dwelling in the subconscious mind for a while.

When you hit a problem there are certain tools that help to solve them. The first one I go for is diving into character. Outlining is one. Plotting is a great one. Knowing how to plot can really bail you out.

So if you haven't hit a problem, what is the problem?

i do a chapter by chapter summary as i come across it. I finish a chapter then plan the next one out. I decided whose POV it's going to be in, I do major plot events and plan some dialogue guide lines (what kind of conversation, what it's about, etc) then go from there. I pretty much go in blind except for those few elements.

I like having a small guide line so i know what direction im going in. and if i get stuck i refer back to my planning and it helps me stay on track and keep going.