Writers- Do you plan and draft, and how?

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PhosphorusDecree
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11 Feb 2018, 6:46 am

When you write (fiction or non-fiction) how much planning goes into it? Do you do full-length drafts, outlines, something else entirely, or "none of that nonsense"?

I never really got the concept of drafting when I was younger- I'd just try to write the final version straight out of my head. I actually got good marks on essays at university, but they were always late and it was a hideously stressful process. And I never got very far writing fiction- it'd start well then peter out in confusion.

I've started work on a SF novella. I've done some rudimentary planning: pick a scene and excitedly scribble down notes on all the things that ought to happen in it. Put them in some kind of order, then sit down and write actual sentences. It helps. But I'm sure there's many more tricks of the trade to learn.


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funeralxempire
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11 Feb 2018, 4:55 pm

I plan, plan, world-build, plan some more and never get to an actual first draft.


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redrobin62
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22 Feb 2018, 11:24 am

I outline. I'd like to write a crime/horror/thriller novel this year called Jack Sprat. It'll basically be a revenge thriller, that is, skinny Jack Sprat going on a killing rampage of those who killed his fat wife. Since the idea is relatively simple I have to create subplots and layer Jack's character. Should he be bipolar? PTSD? A veteran from war? All these things have to be developed and outlined; I'll just fill in the blanks later.



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25 Feb 2018, 1:37 am

I know of the advantages of outlining a story beforehand, and if that helps a writer, then go for it. But in all honesty, I've never done it. Oh, I have a general idea in my head about an idea, characters, and where the story's going, but even that can shift and change as I work. I suspect I may have to do an outline for a book that I keep working on and dropping, as opposed to the short stories that make up the bulk of my work.


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funeralxempire
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25 Feb 2018, 12:53 pm

Kraichgauer wrote:
I know of the advantages of outlining a story beforehand, and if that helps a writer, then go for it. But in all honesty, I've never done it. Oh, I have a general idea in my head about an idea, characters, and where the story's going, but even that can shift and change as I work. I suspect I may have to do an outline for a book that I keep working on and dropping, as opposed to the short stories that make up the bulk of my work.


That makes sense. A short story is typically much more simple. Longer stories seem to have a tipping point where they become too complex to 'one shot'. (I think this also might roughly line-up with where they become too complicated to adapt into a normal movie length screenplay, but that's a tune from another opera).


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kraftiekortie
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25 Feb 2018, 12:54 pm

I tend to write extemporaneously, then hone down the crags in the mountain.



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04 Mar 2018, 1:45 pm

I always have a beginning, middle, and end in mind before I start, but I also like to leave wiggle room for things to develop naturally along the way. Sometimes characters and events present themselves as I'm writing, and those can often become the best parts of the story.



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12 Mar 2018, 6:11 pm

I plan the end first, then the beginning, then most of the key events that get to the end. Occasionally something I didn't plan ahead of time happens, but it's pretty rare.