Thread: A matter of style...

A few years back I was fortunate enough to get my name in The Wall Street Journal here in the states. It was a short interview regarding three (at the time) novel-length fan fictions I'd written about the television show "24." The entire article, titled "Re-writing the Rules of Fiction," was about the role of fan fiction in increasing the popularity of shows, films, and/or books. Of course, fan fiction is not something you can actually sell. If I wanted to be a "serious writer" I'd have to get started on some original work.

Thing is, I've never found writing to be more difficult than I do now. When writing my fan fictions I had a very strict regimen. First, I would map out an overall plot that served as a guide for where I wanted the story to go. Then, I would map out the 24 chapters required to fulfill the show's 24 hour gimmick. Next, I would map out scenes in five page chunks (or about ten minutes to fit the "real time" nature of the show), then proceed to write those five pages. I'd then map out another five pages until completing the entire chapter (or hour). With this strict format I was able to weave together dozens of sub-plots, all combining to form a whole story.

Then I tried to write a novel.

Don't plan it out, that's what everyone said. Don't outline. Just write. And so I have. I've managed to pump out two original novels (still looking for an agent), and started several more. Problem is, writing has never been more difficult for me. I knew how to write those fan fictions way back when. I had a system that I stuck to, and I think the end result was, to toot my own horn, pretty darn good. I never thought about what I was writing, or how I was writing it, I just followed my system and good things happened. Heck, I've already mapped out an idea for a new 24 chapter/hour fan fiction that I could probably write at the drop of a hat. But that original story I have in mind? Nope, I keep stalling. I keep wanting to outline, and keep realizing that this is an entirely different beast. This is a novel I'm trying to write, not 24 short stories combined into one.

Okay, so for those not sleeping and actually still reading this, what's my issue? Should I fall back to my old ways and try to incorporate the style I know into my current, original work? Or should I learn to embrace the style of "write first, think later?" I honestly don't know which school of thought to follow. The obvious answer is to use the method that works best for me...but that's the problem. My original work doesn't really lend itself to the same formatting and style of my fan fictions. But without it, I often feel like I'm dead in the water.

Argh!

I don't know who told you to "write first, think later", but they did you no favor. Preplanning your work obviously works well for you and is the way you should continue to write. Just do so with an original concept. Each of us writes differently and each of us needs to approach it in a way that works for our style. All any writer can do is tell you what works for them, then you go out and do your own thing.

Good luck with that next project.

Originally Posted by rane

Don't plan it out, that's what everyone said. Don't outline. Just write.

"Everyone" is wrong. If you plan first, your characters will be more realistic and your plots will be tighter. Writing will be easier and the end product will be more polished and coherent.

Why is novel writing an entirely different beast? It still has characters, right? It still has arcs and themes and a setting and dialogue and everything else, right? The ONLY different between novels and fanfiction is that you have to create your own characters and settings in the former. You still use both the same way, though.

In fact, I'd argue outlining is even more important in a novel than in fanfiction. With a novel, you don't have any starting point. You don't have existing personalities or past arcs. You have an entirely blank slate. If you don't structure things, you can end up far more off-track than you would with fanfiction.

Write the way you know how. If it works for you, why change it?

Originally Posted by Gamer_2k4

"Everyone" is wrong. If you plan first, your characters will be more realistic and your plots will be tighter. Writing will be easier and the end product will be more polished and coherent.
In fact, I'd argue outlining is even more important in a novel than in fanfiction. With a novel, you don't have any starting point. You don't have existing personalities or past arcs. You have an entirely blank slate. If you don't structure things, you can end up far more off-track than you would with fanfiction.

I agree and disagree.

First of all, I don't outline, and that suits me. I prefer the spontaneity and hate being boxed in by my own writing, so, as the OP says, I 'just write'.
As somebody who also wrote novel length fan fictions for about five years (if you're interested; The Matrix, LOST, Harry Potter and Jurassic Park were my big projects) I think that writing fan fiction is a hell of a lot easier. Everything is given to you when you start; history, characters, tone, settings, conflicts, minor characters to exploit, the works. You can 'just write'. With a novel, as you say, you have a blank slate, and so planning all of those elements is inevitably artificial in a creative sense (at least it is for me, and if it isn't for you then I envy you greatly) and can restrict you later on.

But don't listen to me, or anybody else.

Outlining may work for you, and it may not. Do whatever works, as Gamer wisely recommended.