Thread: Pre Writing

I thought that we could discuss how we free write, to see if maybe we can implement the ideas of others.

Do you have all your chapters deeply mapped out before you even begin to write?
Do you base what you want one chapter to be about by the previous?
Do you summarize what you want your next chapter to be about?
Do you mention snippets of the chapter's going-on's, and then add in the details later?

Anything else?

Personally, I have an overall idea for where I want a story to go and its details, but throughout I end up changing major things, and the story morphs. I like to mention over 10 or so main things I want to happen in the chapter and fill in the blanks later so I know I'm staying on track. I won't know where I'm going otherwise.

What I generally do, I take two oaken pails down to the Words & Ideas store on the corner, and fill both to overflowing. Then, after paying the kindly old lady who’s knitting at the checkout, I bring both pails back to my studio. There, I up-end first one pail and then the other, heaving their contents holus-bolus at a writing tablet on my desk. Next, I make a mug of coffee, and then sit down to read what I have created.

^ Hah!

I think mostly about characters. Who are they, what are their personalities.. do they have accents? How do they dress? What kind of society do they live in?

Once I feel like I've gotten a good handle on my characters, then I think about sources of conflict between them.. and I ponder that until I've come across something dramatic enough to be considered an "ending" to move towards.

Then I try to figure out how they get there.. and once I have a beginning in mind, I sit down to write everything that happens in between, and see how it goes.

I have a general timeline of events for the entire story, and just before I reach a chapter, I will outline its specifics so that writing it is easier. Often I work in chunks (several chapters at a time), so I just write where I feel like writing, and let the rest fall into place.

If we're talking about story planning in general, I often begin with a story or TV show or movie that I really enjoy, and go with the nebulous, "I want to make something like THAT." Sometimes it's just the story structure. Sometimes it's the theme of the story. Sometimes it's the characters. Really, I'll try to draw inspiration from whatever it is that appeals to me. After that, I try to figure out a conclusion (basically, "What do I want to accomplish with this story?"). The rest is simply working towards that conclusion. Who's involved? How do they get there? What motivates them?

Work at it long enough, and the story writes itself.

I think of a character - or I think of a situation - and then I think about both for a while. Then I start writing. Eventually a story appears.

Okay, not quite. But I don't plan anything but a very very general idea of what the thing will be about, and the 'opening' character(s). It takes a while to get that first sentence, but then it's game on. Each chapter, each scene, each new character, each new event is dependent on what I've already written.

First I have to be inspired and in the right mood for it.
I dare to think about those who write for a living.
I would not be able to cope because it is need rather fun.
I never plan and never know what I might write about.
It is totally on the spot there and then.
It usually happens as I type the word and then it becomes a paragraph then a text..
Then I woud leave it or not..it is really as unpredictable as the wind..the way I like it to be.

I won't describe how my ideas manifest in my head, as I made a thread on that a couple of weeks ago, though I will say what my process is once I'm ready for paper.

I'm not sure how it is for everybody else, though my first 'ready' draft will be composed in swift session, ranging anywhere from two to forty pages. I'll write as if possessed, in an amalgam of heavy description and time-saving shorthand. Once I've decided to hit the computer, I'll do a combination of expansion, reduction, rewriting and correcting all at once, until the first computerised draft is complete. I'll go over that draft up to a dozen times.

Slightly related, though not asked by the OP: do you guys save your handwritten works?

I have a shoebox with all my work rolled up into scrolls. There must be dozens of them in there; some written up, others never having left the paper.

Originally Posted by philistine

Slightly related, though not asked by the OP: do you guys save your handwritten works?

I don't do anything by hand. I'm always by a computer, and typing is so much easier (both in getting the words down initially and editing them afterwards).

I've got enough handwritten garbage lying around to be a significant fire hazard, but God knows I can't read my own writing anymore.

i usually start with an idea, like an overwhelming scheme. basically it boils down to one line that says exactly what 'the story' is. i put together a location, not necessarily a defined one, just a scene - a desert, a house, a city, etc. from there i come up with the base characters, beginning with a 'protagonist' or at least a root character (if there's multiple 'protagonists') and likewise for an 'antagonist.' then i start with the ending. that might sound weird, but i find it easier to establish what happens at the end first since that way i have a kind of a target to aim at. then i develop the beginning. i don't do a whole lot of planning apart from that. i'm not a great believer in writing a synopsis or storyboarding or anything like that. i don't know why exactly, since in many respects i imagine writing would be a lot easier if one was able to have such a thing to work from, but it's just not for me. i've tried it and always find it disruptive, for two reasons. firstly because it often forces me to 'make my mind up' about the story before it's actually written. that's disruptive to me because a lot of the time i've found something that doesn't seem to work in a plan can actually work when it's 'fleshed out'. the other thing that i don't like about formal planning is it seems to produce more questions than answers, which i then feel compelled to try and figure out before i begin. that to me wastes time.

the main problem with intensive planning of a novel (i should point out i'm only referring to novels with this) is that it seems to go against the organic process of writing for me. although i do figure out the basic story before writing i quite enjoy the way it changes when i'm actually writing it. i like the fact i feel able to come up with new ideas spontaneously through not sticking to a rigid plan. i also think it can cause too much emphasis to be placed on 'plot' when actually, for me, the characters are the most important aspects of writing and the plot is dictated by them. that said i do respect people with the discipline to actually do it.

First I create my main character. For me the main character is the heart and life blood of my fictional universes. I want to know who my character is, not so much the details of his/her origin what the personality is and what their philosophy of life is. for me it's like making a new friend. First they have interesting, funny, or intriguing, (or really really hot). Something about them must capture my attentions then I sit down with my character and talk life. I must understand his/her personality, their philosophy of life and why they live the way they do. Their ticks and habits must be burned into the back of my head. Their faults while often unaware to my character most be something I see with their every other action. And once we've broken the ice built and friendship I must build a world around them. A world that will force his/her beliefs, personality, strengths, and weakness to the forefront. The universe around them becomes a character in of itself a foil to my character's existence, quite often a antagonist that forces my character into action. From their I build a supporting cast of the friend of foes that inhabit this world. Each of which draw out some inner personality trait of belief of my main character to the forefront. Everyone and everything must be a foil. Then and only then do I begin to write....