- Joined
- Jan 26, 2018
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Hello everyone! I was hoping to pick your brains on an issue I've been struggling with i.e. convoluted plot lines. Now, I'm a plantser but for the novel I'm writing - sprawling world, huge cast - I decided that the best way forward was to write a plot and mark out when major events happen and where each of the MCs happen to be at. My problem? My plot consists of around 120 chapters for the 1st book. I've written about 20% of that and have already hit the 110k word mark.
My question is simple: If you were in my position, would you pause the writing and take a deep hard look at the plot before moving forward or just proceed with writing the story (all 120 chapters) before doing an extremely brutal edit? Bearing in mind that I do even with the plot written out, I do allow for flexibility - the characters still do things that surprise me, events happen that weren't in the original plot - but the general direction in which the story and the whole cast is moving towards remains the same. It frustrates me because I'm aware of what a SF novel length normally is; with my word count, I should already be wrapping the story up but right now, my cast has barely begun their journey! And if I continue at this rate, I'll need to look at cutting around 80% of what I'll have written!
Would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you!
My question is simple: If you were in my position, would you pause the writing and take a deep hard look at the plot before moving forward or just proceed with writing the story (all 120 chapters) before doing an extremely brutal edit? Bearing in mind that I do even with the plot written out, I do allow for flexibility - the characters still do things that surprise me, events happen that weren't in the original plot - but the general direction in which the story and the whole cast is moving towards remains the same. It frustrates me because I'm aware of what a SF novel length normally is; with my word count, I should already be wrapping the story up but right now, my cast has barely begun their journey! And if I continue at this rate, I'll need to look at cutting around 80% of what I'll have written!
Would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you!