I have NO idea...

ccarver30 · May 23, 2007

what I am going to write until I start typing. I never use an outline and only know the main plot.
For instance- I had no idea my characters were going to pick out an engagement ring today, but that's what they ended up doing. LOL
Does anyone else do this? :poke:

scarletpeaches · May 23, 2007

Aye, me.

It's great when I go off on what I think is a tangent in chapter four and it turns out to be something crucial to chapter nineteen, when I get there.

Of course it could be the case that whatever you plant in an earlier chapter would grow into something, at least, by the later sections of the book, but it's still a good feeling when it happens.

'Writing blind' is exhilirating, especially so when you tie it all up at the end of the book and it all seems to fit somehow.

Jedi Dad · May 23, 2007

I have done both. I have used an outline, and it was very helpful when I had to put the story away for awhile and go back to it.

But I generally like to think and write as I go as opposed to outlining too much, and I too have been shocked at what my characters do or say.

I think it helps especially in the area of adding some humor to a conversation in the story.

ccarver30 · May 23, 2007

N - Yeah, the whole shifting of events can be frustrating!

I too have been shocked at what my characters do or say.

Love that!

CaroGirl · May 23, 2007

Me, me!! I have a beginning and end, and only the vaguest of notions about how to get there. I usually let my characters take the lead. My biggest surprise was when one of my characters threw a potted plant of an apartment balcony. Who the heck knew she was going to do THAT?!

Jedi Dad · May 23, 2007

'Writing blind' is exhilirating, especially so when you tie it all up at the end of the book and it all seems to fit somehow.[/quote]

Oh I love it when I write some small detail, almost as an after thought, and then it comes up again later as something really good and I wonder "How did I do that?" :Shrug:

scarletpeaches · May 23, 2007

CaroGirl said:
Me, me!! I have a beginning and end, and only the vaguest of notions about how to get there. I usually let my characters take the lead. My biggest surprise was when one of my characters threw a potted plant of an apartment balcony. Who the heck knew she was going to do THAT?!

It's liking knowing where you are, knowing where you want to get to, and having not a clue how to make the journey, so you just set out and make it up as you go along.

Stew21 · May 23, 2007

Just happened to me. I had a few things piling up for what seemed like no particular reason, and yesterday it came to me in a big blast of "DUH!" it finally made sense and I couldn't believe how it fell together. I also love it when I do that.

ccarver30 · May 23, 2007

I just posted in the What you wrote TODAY thread.

Stijn Hommes · May 23, 2007

I usually outline at least part of a story, but despite that my characters have qualms about not following the outline. If I write myself in a corner, they're usually the ones that get me out.

Sassee · May 23, 2007

I give myself a vague idea of direction, put a blindfold on, and give myself a push to get started. It's much more fun than giving myself GPS tracking and a detailed map

I'm constantly suprised at what my characters do or say, and it's so awesome when some little bit of detail comes back to play an important role later on in my WIP. I'm like hey, check that out, my subconcious knew where I was going before I did! I win at life.

I actually have the most problems when I try to follow an outline. My characters go, "I'm sorry, you want me to do what?" and wander off in the other direction like "f*** you!"

So yeah, I know exactly what you mean

ccarver30 · May 23, 2007

I actually have the most problems when I try to follow an outline. My characters go, "I'm sorry, you want me to do what?" and wander off in the other direction like "f*** you!"

LMAO!!!!!

johnzakour · May 23, 2007

I find the older I get and the more books I have contracts for the more important outlines become to keep things straight so I finish on time.

Outlines aren't carved in stone, but they make nice roadmaps as long as you are willing to be adventurous.

AllieB · May 23, 2007

I pretty much use an outline so I know where the plot's going, when the major conflicts need to happen, etc.

That isn't to say that the characters don't surprise me, though. In my most recent novel, I knew I needed to have my hero in the hospital after a motorcycle crash, with pretty serious injuries. What I didn't know was that he was going to end up having a conversation with his dead younger brother while he was there.

Surprised the heck out of me and totally worked in the chapter. Go figure.

Namatu · May 23, 2007

Sassee said:
I actually have the most problems when I try to follow an outline. My characters go, "I'm sorry, you want me to do what?" and wander off in the other direction like "f*** you!"

Mine do this a lot. You'd think they'd have more respect.

My WIP began as a fun short story for friends. It morphed without telling me and has at times threatened to be quite unruly. Perhaps if I'd started with an actual idea or plot, this wouldn't happen. Maybe?

ccarver30 · May 23, 2007

AllieB said:
I pretty much use an outline so I know where the plot's going, when the major conflicts need to happen, etc.

That isn't to say that the characters don't surprise me, though. In my most recent novel, I knew I needed to have my hero in the hospital after a motorcycle crash, with pretty serious injuries. What I didn't know was that he was going to end up having a conversation with his dead younger brother while he was there.

Surprised the heck out of me and totally worked in the chapter. Go figure.

Gotta love it when that happens!!

AdamH · May 23, 2007

Short stories: I have no clue what I'm going to write. I have a general idea and run with it.

Novels: I create an outline of main plot points and "try" to hit them while I write...most times, this "trying" leads me in another direction away from the initial story. This is the problem I have with characters that have a life of their own. Yet, the story always seems to work out one way or another.

Alana Mortensen · May 23, 2007

To tell the truth here........... I have done both but could never follow the outline. I don't know why it is so. Now my novel, short story, or whatever is written in my head before it gets to paper or computer. However I do write down ideas for certain events and notes on direction, plot, character, and setting, also editing notes. That is about it. Free-writing (I call it) allows for more creative license and that is what I love about writing without an out line. There is so much freedom in what can be done. i.e., including music referances, partial or paraphrased lyrics (with permission), referance to other published novels, a character's writing, and so much more.

Nickie · May 23, 2007

All my stories have sort of written itself. I start out with an idea, and take it from there. Once I sit behind my pc, my fingers punch the keys automatically and the thoughts just flow. Sometimes, the story turns quite differently than I had expected before!

Nickie

Jamesaritchie · May 23, 2007

Method

ccarver30 said:
what I am going to write until I start typing. I never use an outline and only know the main plot.
For instance- I had no idea my characters were going to pick out an engagement ring today, but that's what they ended up doing. LOL
Does anyone else do this?

It's the only way I will write.

Cassidy · May 23, 2007

me too. i like the idea of outlines-- seems very sensible and time-saving and all that-- but it doesn't seem to work for me.
i like not knowing what happens next-- keeps me engaged with the story (hmm, kind of like reading...)

ccarver30 · May 23, 2007

Jamesaritchie said:
It's the only way I will write.

Cassidy said:
me too. i like the idea of outlines-- seems very sensible and time-saving and all that-- but it doesn't seem to work for me.
i like not knowing what happens next-- keeps me engaged with the story (hmm, kind of like reading...)

Exactly.

alaskamatt17 · May 23, 2007

It depends on what I'm writing. For The Blight I'm writing blind, since the characters were kind of thrown into the events without much choice. For Orion's Key I made up some outlines, since the protagonists had clear goals in mind at the onset of the story (and I naturally needed to put some good obstacles in the way).

SilverVistani · May 23, 2007

Most definitely... That's the way almost all of my even remotely recent works have started. ^_^() Generally, I have no idea what's going to happen until I get well into the story and start to know my characters.

Now... eventually, things start weaving themselves together for future events and my book comes to a close within my mind before it does on paper. But they always start like what you're describing...

scarletpeaches · May 24, 2007

Jamesaritchie said:
It's the only way I will write.

What he said.

I have NO idea...

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