Overplanning

Windcutter · Jan 16, 2012

Overplanning is basically planning too much yet being unable to stop worrying about the structure and different possibilities. Are the stakes high enough? Is the ending intense enough? Is there some other plot development that will make it more interesting? But as a result, the whole thing feels kind of emasculated and emotionless. Like when you sit down to write and feel like you are writing source code because instead of beautiful drama all you can think about are plot points and acts and set-ups.

Does it even happen to you? How do you battle it?
I know some pantsers complain about planning, but in my case the reason seems to be different--it happens not because I hate planning & analysis but because I have a natural predisposition for it, and it overwhelms the creative part of the brain.

Guerrien · Jan 16, 2012

I think something key for me is being willing to deviate. I don't really outline the entire novel to begin with. I like to get the beginning act's outline down so I know what my set-up is, and that naturally brings with it a kind of understanding of what I want to include in the middle and the end (and I'll usually hit on an idea of my final scene long before I know how I'm going to start it). But because I don't plan out what happens in every single scene during my first draft, I find that I can get creative with exactly how the characters move from one bullet point to another.

The things I get excited about writing are the bits where I feel like I'm exploring not necessarily something unexpected in terms of where the characters end up, or even in terms of how they get there...but I really get excited about little details that I didn't realise even existed, and how things fall into place to explain facets of a character's relationship with another character that I maybe hadn't considered. For example, in my current WIP, I have a secondary character who wasn't particularly fleshed out in outlines, who is revealing his own problems and his relationship with his Dad. It might not even make it into the final draft, but there's a definite excitement to creating things during the process, even small things.

I think that's key, personally. I don't stick to my outline too stringently.

quicklime · Jan 16, 2012

there is a reason for the phrase "paralysis by analysis". in your case perhaps you need to stop in your head before you've completely asphyxiated the idea....

bearilou · Jan 16, 2012

Guerrien said:
I think that's key, personally. I don't stick to my outline too stringently.

This. I'm an outliner. Some projects I plan very tightly, others I have a very loose structure that I sort of follow along.

For all of them, if something takes me off on a new tangent, I let it, within reason. I'd like think I can see the difference between taking a side route on my way to the end, and falling off into another dimension entirely that makes the entire project unrecognizable. If it does the latter, I still have my outline to get me back on track. If the former, I just readjust my outline and go with it to see what happens.

fireluxlou · Jan 16, 2012

Yes I've scrapped many ideas because of it. Because they were not strong enough and overplanning took the love, lost the voice of the character etc. Overthinking it mainly to the point where I could not deviate.

I'm sticking with this pantsing thing. A lil blurb some questions to answer about plot then writing away and worldbuilding as I go. I want to stay in love with my characters

character names are still the bane of my existence.

Should call them a, b, c, d maybe.

sunandshadow · Jan 16, 2012

Hmm. I plan a lot, but if I lose my enthusiasm for a concept it's not because it feels dead, but because it feels like a satisfactorily solved problem - like I've basically already written it, so why do I have to do this annoying low-level part of actually cobbling words into sentences? But that actually goes away if I leave the idea alone for a few months; it starts to seem interesting again and now I have a workable plan for tackling it.

dangerousbill · Jan 16, 2012

Windcutter said:
Does it even happen to you? How do you battle it?
I know some pantsers complain about planning, but in my case the reason seems to be different--it happens not because I hate planning & analysis but because I have a natural predisposition for it, and it overwhelms the creative part of the brain.

Freedom from OCD depends on my ability to write a first draft in full knowledge that it's going to be greatly changed, even unrecognizable, when it's finished. There's no shortcoming, no mistake, that won't be corrected later.

Thinking this way and doing it are two different things. I'm slowly working toward this ideal.

Barbara R. · Jan 16, 2012

I'm a planner, too. What works for me is making lots of notes before writing a scene or block of scenes, then putting the notes aside and writing without reference to them. I find that this provides parameters for the imagination without handcuffing it. Working without any notes encourages meandering. Making notes, then putting them aside, allows unplanned ideas to bubble up.

BethS · Jan 16, 2012

Windcutter said:
How do you battle it?

Stop doing it?

Jon Sprunk · Jan 16, 2012

The simple answer isn't going to help much: it's practice. Learning how your brain needs to organize a novel is a process that takes a great deal of time. And the only way I know to get there is by doing it over and over, until you find the right path for you.

Katrina S. Forest · Jan 16, 2012

Jon Sprunk said:
Learning how your brain needs to organize a novel is a process that takes a great deal of time.

This.

With each new novel, I've taken a different approach to writing and putting it all together. I like to think someday I'll have a system down, but for right now, I'm still learning.

Orchestra · Jan 16, 2012

Planning is only a problem if it keeps you from writing. You can be as detailed as you like as long as your planning is both effective (it helps you write the damn thing) and efficient (it's the best use of your time at any given moment). If you feel one or both of these conditions are not met, it's time to do something else. If you have trouble getting started writing, I recommend giving timed writing a try.

I really like your source code analogy. Revision must be like compiling then? But you can't compile until you have the source done. So code away!

blacbird · Jan 16, 2012

Orchestra said:
Planning is only a problem if it keeps you from writing. You can be as detailed as you like as long as your planning is both effective (it helps you write the damn thing) and efficient (it's the best use of your time at any given moment). If you feel one or both of these conditions are not met, it's time to do something else. If you have trouble getting started writing, I recommend giving timed writing a try.

I really like your source code analogy. Revision must be like compiling then? But you can't compile until you have the source done. So code away!

Good post. I simply would say what may seem obvious: Somewhere along the line, ya gotta write something. Planning isn't writing, in the same way that a baseball manager making out a starting lineup for tomorrow's game isn't playing the game.

Think scenes. If you have, in your plan, places where certain things actually must happen, write them as scenes. Have characters interact, with dialogue. Git'r done (the only half-intelligent thing Larry the Cable Guy has ever said). Composing actual scenes is likely to generate new energy and new ideas, and you can never have enough of those things. No amount of planning does that, in my experience.

Finally, nothing, nothing, says you have to write any story in its final order, start to finish. Banish that idea from your head, if it's there. My discussions with over-planners have always come to a point where this obsession with getting the beginning exactly right represents the biggest obstacle to getting the writing started. "Starting" is not "the beginning". Insisting on having to "start" "at the beginning" is a quick way to "end" your writing.

caw

Saint09 · Jan 17, 2012

blacbird said:
Good post. I simply would say what may seem obvious: Somewhere along the line, ya gotta write something. Planning isn't writing, in the same way that a baseball manager making out a starting lineup for tomorrow's game isn't playing the game.

Think scenes. If you have, in your plan, places where certain things actually must happen, write them as scenes. Have characters interact, with dialogue. Git'r done (the only half-intelligent thing Larry the Cable Guy has ever said). Composing actual scenes is likely to generate new energy and new ideas, and you can never have enough of those things. No amount of planning does that, in my experience.

Finally, nothing, nothing, says you have to write any story in its final order, start to finish. Banish that idea from your head, if it's there. My discussions with over-planners have always come to a point where this obsession with getting the beginning exactly right represents the biggest obstacle to getting the writing started. "Starting" is not "the beginning". Insisting on having to "start" "at the beginning" is a quick way to "end" your writing.

caw

Wonderful post. Breaking my novel into all the key scenes, and THEN writing the in-between has saved my novel...and sanity. And it all keeps me excited, as I'm not sticking with the streamlined order. Not only that, but it gives you mini-goals. The stuff in between seems less daunting because you only have a small ways to go to bridge the way from scene to scene rather than from the beginning to the end.

I find thi process combines my planning with actual writing, as writing out various scenes IS, in a sense, planning...but you are actually writing as well. If that makes any sense. I rarely make sense at a decent hour if the day, much less at 2am.

backslashbaby · Jan 17, 2012

I get in trouble if I try to plan out too many scenes. I have a brilliant ability to turn anything into a boring research paper

Yes, overplanning will suck the life out of my work.

I do let myself jot down notes about direction and ideas for how to go. Just some notes! I totally want to pull out my analysis skills and go crazy for a while, but it's bad news if I get there.

Messy notes. On a messy sheet of real paper. Keep the spreadsheets and meeting boards far, far away!

And if the writing strays from the direction, that's fine. That's usually good, for me. It's coming from a better part of the brain for fiction

Arch Stanton · Jan 17, 2012

I'm pretty much a "pantser". I come up with a situation, toss it into a blender, and then mix in a few characters. Their organic reactions to the situation are the meat of my book.

The first couple of chapters are always the hardest. But once I get going, the novel writes itself. As I write, I come up with future scenes and jot down notes in Windows Notepad, which I keep in my main project folder.

With this process, I can complete a first draft in two months.

You may want to let your characters lead you for a bit. You might prefer what they say and do to your outline.

lady_K · Feb 2, 2012

I know exactly what you mean. Anytime I feel myself planning too much ahead, I go back to where I am in the story and keep writing. Then I make a promise to myself that I have to surprise myself once I get to the end of the book. I can't know everything at once.
hope that helps

bellabar · Feb 2, 2012

I like to plan. It's the best way to prevent writer's block from striking first thing in the morning. But once I've started writing, I let my characters say and do as they please, even if it deviates from that plan. As long as the overall goal remains, allowing some flexibility gives me a better piece of writing than following a rigid plan that invariably ends up being a list. First go to A , then to B then to C.
I also find that some scenes are really clear in my head while others are more "write something here". Again ,if I'm struggling to get started, I'll write one of the easier scenes and then go backwards as I now know what needs to go in the "write something here" scene.

Hilldawg · Feb 2, 2012

Guerrien said:
The things I get excited about writing are the bits where I feel like I'm exploring not necessarily something unexpected in terms of where the characters end up, or even in terms of how they get there...but I really get excited about little details that I didn't realise even existed, and how things fall into place to explain facets of a character's relationship with another character that I maybe hadn't considered. For example, in my current WIP, I have a secondary character who wasn't particularly fleshed out in outlines, who is revealing his own problems and his relationship with his Dad. stringently.

For some reason, I can plan and outline the plot and write all sorts of notes about setting and culture but I have a very difficult time planning my character in advance. There's something special and important to me about discovering my character as I go.

Hill

Sirion · Feb 2, 2012

I use outlines, but I've always thought that outlines should be like the Pirate Code--guidelines, rather than rules.

Captain Teague may disagree with me on this.

The Seanchai · Feb 6, 2012

I used to be a hard and fast "no outline"r for this reason. The minute I start to outline it a) begins to feel like I've already written the story and b) makes me overplot which leads to way too much going on in the story. But if I just sit down and write, then it usually works itself out ok.

That all being said I do have a GENERAL idea of where I want the story to go at all times, whether I outline or not.

jaksen · Feb 6, 2012

I've seen numerous writers on AW talk about their outlining process, how they create character sketches and maps, they prepare a 'Bible' of information for the book. Others say they know their characters down to their favorite flavor of ice cream. For some this works, as evidenced by these writers' productivity, but for others...

It becomes an endless round of planning-planning-planning. For anyone caught in that cycle, try starting a story or novel without a plan, with merely an idea or a character or two and see where it takes you.

For me, anything that takes time away from writing is anathema. I have to put up with children, spouse, elderly parent, etc. I can't avoid some things. But I can stay off the internet, avoid FB and similar social sites, reduce the time I spend watching TV, etc. Planning my stories is just one more distraction and time spent planning could be put into writing.

So to answer your ques.; I keep planning to the bare minimum, just enough to keep me focused and headed in the right direction. (And most of the time I barely know what the direction is until I get there.)

Niiicola · Feb 6, 2012

Arch Stanton said:
I'm pretty much a "pantser". I come up with a situation, toss it into a blender, and then mix in a few characters. Their organic reactions to the situation are the meat of my book.

The first couple of chapters are always the hardest. But once I get going, the novel writes itself. As I write, I come up with future scenes and jot down notes in Windows Notepad, which I keep in my main project folder.

With this process, I can complete a first draft in two months.

You may want to let your characters lead you for a bit. You might prefer what they say and do to your outline.

Me too. Except I can't finish a novel that fast.

But what about trying some exercises where you take a character and give them a scenario and just let them react? Maybe it'd help to do it in a completely separate file from your manuscript so that you don't feel like you're messing up your carefully planned work.

Overplanning

Windcutter

Guerrien

Fire Bad, Tree Pretty

quicklime

all out of fucks to give

bearilou

DenturePunk writer

fireluxlou

sunandshadow

Impractical Fantasy Animal

dangerousbill

Retired Illuminatus

Barbara R.

Old Hand in the Biz

BethS

Jon Sprunk

Katrina S. Forest

Orchestra

practical experience, GTFO

blacbird

Saint09

is a very hoopy frood.

backslashbaby

*

Arch Stanton

New kid, be gentle!

lady_K

It's all about the F.A.M.I.L.Y :)

bellabar

figuring it all out

Hilldawg

Sirion

practical experience, FTW

The Seanchai

jaksen

Caped Codder

Niiicola

Twitchy

Overplanning

Fire Bad, Tree Pretty

all out of fucks to give

DenturePunk writer

Impractical Fantasy Animal

Retired Illuminatus

Old Hand in the Biz

practical experience, GTFO

is a very hoopy frood.

~~~~*~~~~

New kid, be gentle!

It's all about the F.A.M.I.L.Y :)

figuring it all out

practical experience, FTW

Caped Codder

Twitchy

*