It's getting away from me!

MadScientistMatt · May 16, 2006

My novel has hit the 10,000 word mark. I've made a few starts at writing novels before, but this is the first time I've really stuck to it regularly. And, well, a strange thing has started to happen. This novel hasn't been plotted at all; I just started dropping in characters and watching them go.

It started when I mentioned a few bits of ancient history. Being the author, I knew what had happened because I'd done a little world-building. But my character who was studying the ancient history didn't. Now it seems like the characters have pulled the same thing on me! One of my characters wants to dig up an ancient bit of machinery that he thinks is important. But I don't know what he thinks he is going to find there! Or, for that matter, what he will actually find. I know there's a machine there, but I think he's searching for something else that was placed on or inside it.

And I've found a few other strange loose ends popping up that I'm not sure how they will be resolved. Some of them have alread joined up with other loose ends and tied themselves together, but I'm not sure where other ones are going.

When loose ends drop into your novel, do you usually have some idea where they will tie off to? Or do you just let them crop up and hope something will come along? I'm worried that some of these may never resolve, or worse, that a character may go looking for something and I'll draw a blank at what he finds. How do you more experienced authors handle this?

badducky · May 16, 2006

I keep an Excel spreadsheet open in the background with the projected number of chapters, and the rough outline of what must occur per chapter.

Tab over one cell from where you are at the end of your writing day to make note of your discover. Then, roughly plot the extrapolation of your discovery onto your spreadsheet. You can plan your new subplot, and adjust everything as you go.

Outlining will save you from writer's block when you don't have the rush of discoveries to pull you forward.

Good luck!

Tilly · May 16, 2006

MadScientistMatt said:
I'm worried that some of these may never resolve, or worse, that a character may go looking for something and I'll draw a blank at what he finds.

Don't worry. In the second draft, any loose ends that you find can be resolved or removed.
If you draw a blank on something, give yourself a little time, don't panic, and it will come to you. Probably

.

icerose · May 16, 2006

Tilly said:
Don't worry. In the second draft, any loose ends that you find can be resolved or removed.
If you draw a blank on something, give yourself a little time, don't panic, and it will come to you. Probably.

I'm with Tilly. Where as this is going to be your first completed novel. (it better be!

) Just keep on writing and see where it takes you, worry about the little stuff in the second draft.

Have fun with it!

Merricat · May 16, 2006

I can't say I'm a more experienced writer than you, but I've always just let the loose ends come. A lot of them became very useful later on, and you can always take out the ones that remained loose and floppy.

Nangleator · May 16, 2006

Ah, the fire is truly lit when your characters start surprising you. That's the fun part.

I like the Excel spreadsheet idea for planning subplots. It does sound like an excellent idea for when your brain doesn't want to explore on a particular day.

It will be helpful when you run into the mid-book slow-down. (I forget the correct term for it, but it's discussed in the Uncle Jim thread.)

maestrowork · May 16, 2006

Keep going when the flame is strong. There will always be second, third, fourth... drafts to tidy things up.

RTH · May 16, 2006

Let 'em go! After all, they're not you -- they have their own things they want to do, and if you try and tell 'em otherwise it won't ring true.

I say plan as little as you can. Get to know your people 1st, then put them on the stage, and let THEM tell you their story. Like other people have said, if things don't make sense then fix it later.

Besides, digging up ancient pieces of machinery sounds awfully cool. It'd be a shame to cut that off...

kc361 · May 16, 2006

It's helpful to have an outline and a general idea of where you're going, but if a character takes you in a different direction than you intended, don't be alarmed - let him! He likely strayed from the original plan for a reason. See where it takes you, you can always axe it when you go to revisions.

JAK · May 16, 2006

Sounds like some cool exploration.

Ends can be tied roughly in your current draft. eg. Fred did not find the missing link, but he did come face-to-face with his own haunted past.

And keep rolling.

Or, if the first tie is too whacked, do another. eg. Fred did not find the missing link, but he identified the virus that wiped out the ancient tribes of the Masgral Valley.

Smooth things out in subsequent drafts.

Starbrazer · May 16, 2006

MadScientistMatt said:
When loose ends drop into your novel, do you usually have some idea where they will tie off to? Or do you just let them crop up and hope something will come along? I'm worried that some of these may never resolve, or worse, that a character may go looking for something and I'll draw a blank at what he finds. How do you more experienced authors handle this?

I started to write three different novels without an outline and each one hit brick walls. I would suggest that you write an 'overview' of what you want to happen; and then if it changes along the way you have more subconscious control. Writing is largely subconscious; that's why writers are so hard to understand sometimes (we are stuck in a perpetual world of fantasy). Write it out and see what happens, you might be surprised.

Cat Scratch · May 16, 2006

.

I think the answers are as varied as there are writers in the world. Outlines seem stifling to me. I write the way you do: letting the plot/characters surprise me. I find the lose ends tie themselves up if I'm paying enough attention, and if not, that's what rewrites are for. In my last ms I had a character in the first few chapters that I was convinced I would have to cut in rewrites because I just didn't understand what he was doing there. Midway through I realized he had a huge secret and played a key role in the ending. (No, it wasn't a murder mystery where he was the killer, that would be too easy.) In rewrites I gave him more to do in the beginning so the very avid readers wouldn't suspect he had other purposes, but if I'd overthought it I may have just cut him initially and never found my own surprise ending!

writeorwrong · May 16, 2006

That's part of the fun of writing, when you hit that zone and your imagination is in overdrive. But that's why I find it helpful to have an outline, because what if I've written myself into a 10,000 word trap and I discover what I've been doing isn't working?

Rewriting is a given, but personally, I have to have some kind of vision as to where I'm going to end up before I start to write. And that means an outline. It doesn't have to be detailed. But I can't just start writing and know that the plot will eventually reveal itself to me; I have to make a conscious effort to think it through. I hate that, because it's the dullest and most laborious part of writing, but the payoff comes when I actually start to write and the process goes much smoother.

But it's one of those "whatever works for you" type of things.

Popeyesays · May 16, 2006

Try a storyboard instead of an outline. Think cinematically and figure out what the scenes need to be.

Don't worry if your storyboard takes a diversion or you can collapse one board into another. Just adjust and go on.

Loose ends? Sometimes life is more loose ends than anything else.

Regards,
Scott

MadScientistMatt · May 16, 2006

Well, thanks to all who responded. I think I'm just going to barrel on ahead and figure things out in the next draft.

This book has very little planning. I started it with a modicum of world-building (which I had to revise a bit after I realized some of it wouldn't fit the story) and, in keeping with some of Orson Scott Card's theories of writing, I gave it two Big Ideas.

That was about all the planning I did. Then I took some characters and put them in a rather bad situation - stranded in an unfamiliar land, with one of them starting to see things that only he can see. No outline, not a clear idea of how it will end - only some ideas of the possible things that their arrival may set in motion.

And I'm not sure I can really outline this. I don't know where it is going, and I seem to be better at getting ideas when I'm going through it slowly.

NeuroFizz · May 16, 2006

Chaps and spurs, Matt. Give the hoss a kick in the sides and hold on for dear life. Just try to stay within the margins. Having one with spirit is opposite to the problem many writers have. It sounds like yours certainly isn't headed for the glue factory.

SC Harrison · May 16, 2006

MadScientistMatt said:
That was about all the planning I did. Then I took some characters and put them in a rather bad situation - stranded in an unfamiliar land, with one of them starting to see things that only he can see. No outline, not a clear idea of how it will end - only some ideas of the possible things that their arrival may set in motion.

Just run with it, man. Discovery and adaptation is what it's all about. You'll probably develop more structure and focus as the story unfolds in your mind but, in the mean time, let your characters grow. You may later decide to change what they did and do, but you probably won't want to change who they are.

hitchhiker · May 17, 2006

I know how you feel and look forward to your (and my) resolution. I've had this story (somewhat) in my head for 10-12 years. After accidentally finding this site, I got motivated (BIC) to put it down. I had a very rough outline, which only involved 18-20 plot points and each was a simple one or two sentence description. I knew most of the characters from the beginning and most of the pitfalls that make up the story, but at the rate I'm going now I'll have a 200k word novel. I've written almost seventy pages and haven't done much other than backstory and setup. Obviously I'll correct a lot with the first revision, but right now I'm discovering wondeful (back)stories with the characters that I feel are important to the story. I'm not worried that the story will change because of these tangents, but I feel that it may push the writing from a thriller to more of a literary novel. I'm having fun either way, and I'm beginning to understand why so many people feel the need to write. I'd love to get published and do this full time, but as it's going now that won't be the deciding factor. I'm just enjoying this too much.

It's getting away from me!

MadScientistMatt

Empirical Storm Trooper

badducky

No Time For Chitchat, Kemosabe.

Tilly

icerose

Lost in School Work

Merricat

Writing Workshop Junkie

Nangleator

Rep Point Whore

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

RTH

Call me Ishmael

kc361

JAK

Starbrazer

Cat Scratch

The Peacock Next Door

writeorwrong

Popeyesays

Now departed. Rest in peace, Scott, from all of us

MadScientistMatt

Empirical Storm Trooper

NeuroFizz

The grad students did it

SC Harrison

Dances With Hamsters

hitchhiker

Human Torpedo