Tiana Calthye Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 (edited) Before you start writing a story, do you outline it, or do you believe that an outline stiffles the creativity of a writer? If you outline, to what extent do you outline? I used to constantly write from the seat of my pants... okay, I still do. About halfway through, THEN I'll write the outline. Edited August 31, 2009 by Guest Just when I thought it was over, I watched Tiana kick Almira in the head, effectively putting her out of her misery. I did not expect that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reptilia Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Planning is for fuzz nuts, come up with it as you go like the Obama administration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Ar-Pharazon Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Planning is for fuzz nuts, come up with it as you go like the Obama administration. Yeah, and the Obama administration sucks balls. I write, but outline just a bit ahead as I'm going. Like, as I was writing Chapter 5 for Advent of Shadows, I have chapter 6 pretty much imagined, but just ideas and a vague track of where the story is going. [Associate of the Illinois Mafia since November 2002.] Member of the Four Horsemen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reptilia Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Wow, you totally didn't get the joke. But I don't plan at all, it comes to me but my stories suck so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 For me, if I am going to write a story (and I have written several), I outline things in my head and generally know where I want to go and how I want to do it. Then, all I do is write it down and fill in the details. Then, I go back and fill it in and edit it and refine it further. Finally, I do a final edit for little details that I thought of but want to reference or foreshadow them earlier in the world. Things like a plot that I came up with near the end and I want to put in clues or developments earlier to make it flow smoothly. Once that is all done, I submit it or store it, whatever I am going to do with it. Click for the best site ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiana Calthye Posted August 31, 2009 Author Share Posted August 31, 2009 I retconned in a couple more poll options. >_> Sorry. I still tend to write by the seat of my pants, which leads to inconsistancies, especially when I'm publishing a story online as it goes. I try now to know how it's going to end before I go, but half the time I don't. I just post them online so that people pressure me to keep writing. Do you guys think your stories would be better if you wrote differently? I think mine would lose something, because a lot of my interesting ideas come from just rolling with whatever and seeing what happens. I guess it's no good to read, though, since I usually post first drafts. Just when I thought it was over, I watched Tiana kick Almira in the head, effectively putting her out of her misery. I did not expect that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Ar-Pharazon Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 I just post them online so that people pressure me to keep writing. That's exactly why I love having a stickied thread, in all seriousness. The reason I made a big announcement about my AoS story before I started posting the actual story was to give me a big reason to force myself to write. Since I sort of committed beforehand, I had to go through with it, and it's been a great experience since. Glad you added, and glad I didn't vote initially. [Associate of the Illinois Mafia since November 2002.] Member of the Four Horsemen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wookiee Jedi Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 I planned mine, but it helped me when I realized that it would work better in three parts as opposed to one long one. The Jedi Holocron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 I am with you, LAP. When I was writing my first attempted novel, that I had a buddy that constantly wanted to read it was motivation to work on it. He enjoyed it, but eventually I had to give it up for many reasons. Now, I am trying to get support and people interested so that I can build motivation to get started. This will be a big project, one that will involve a lot of behind the scenes stuff even before I start actually writing the book. I hope to get it published some day, but who knows? Click for the best site ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jidai Geki Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 I sometimes outline, sometimes not. I find the story changes direction as it goes anyway, often deviating from the outline. I agree with you Travis, on the motivation thing- it makes me so much more motivated to write if I know people are going to read it. http://www.themire.co.uk-- being a veracious and lurid account of the goings-on in the savage Mire and the sootblown alleys of Portstown's Rookery! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amidala Skywalker Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 I usually plan a bit, but not to the end. That's for most stories. Others I write other ways. For example, for both Hope's Battle and Twinkling of an Eye, I had the whole thing outlined, then I filled it in with the story. There were a few little changes while I was writing it, but nothing major. For my novel I'm working on, however, I just started writing by the seat of my pants, then decided I really liked the idea and wanted to continue with it, then sat down and outlined. However, it's gone through several major morphs in the past few years, each time adding more detail to what I want to see. Most of my one-shots are writing by the seat of my pants. So I guess for me it just depends. I like each way for different reasons. SHE MEANS TO END US ALL!!! DOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!!11eleventyone! There goes Ami's reputation of being a peaceful, nice person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthBrendo Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 Seat of the pants. Have never really lined anything up. Which is very odd, considering I'm a bit of a planning/organisational freak. Member of Jnet Addict Club 12/05 Order of the Nocturnal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Kheldar vos Correlli Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 I have a general outline- I know how I want my stories to begin, how I want them to end, and the truly major plotpoints I want hit along the way. After that, I take a bit of a seat of the pants method in flying from A to B to C, and such all the way to Z. The monarch of madness has returned! [Associate of the Illinois Mafia since March 2002.] [2nd in Command of the Lords of Hate since March 2002.] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dartha Athanth Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 Ooo the votes are rather close. Actually I have it all planned out in my head, just not written down...? Darsha Assant turned dark at 2734 posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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