How do you write?

[bluflamingo]

So, I have a file sitting on my computer, entitled 'Big Bang notes' into which, currently, everything I'm thinking about for this story is being shoved. It's a better way of keeping things together than endless post-it notes, which is how I organised my entire working life when I was working somewhere that I had a desk.

Currently, the contents of this file are about half a page of A4, and there is one thing that is actualy a major plot point. It's three words: search for Elizabeth?

Everything else is notes for little moments that I'd like to have in the story; some of them are tiny ideas, like 'Cam having a this is so cool moment' and 'Lorne with Parrish and Cadman, being teased for something really embarrassing that's happened recently'; some of them are actually vaguely related to plot, like 'Cam and Rodney get stuck somewhere to make it up' (because hell no are they going to get along in the beginning) and 'Cam sent to Atlantis because of injury?' (because, really, wouldn't Daniel be a much better choice?).

There's also half a dozen or so lines of a fight between John and Rodney, because even I in my happy John/Cam OTP land think that John's feelings for Rodney by season 4 aren't just friendship. Actually, this scene has been bouncing round in my head all week.

I still don't have an actual plot, but I figure I'm going to go with my tried and true method of plotting, which is to say, start it and the plot will develop as I go along. Plotting everything out beforehand bores me to tears, to be honest, because I feel like I'm just writing up what I already know, and there are no surprises.

I've been reading a lot of posts about people plotting out their stories by chapter, or by main plot points, or even just knowing most of what's going to happen, though, and I'm kind of curious about this. How do you know what's going to happen? Does the plot come to you pretty much fully-formed, or do you develop it as you write your notes or what? Explain this mysterious method of plotting to me! I don't get it!

Also - do you make notes for other stuff as you go along? Every story I've ever written has had a page at the bottom as I've gone along where I've stuck ideas for what will come next, and bits of dialogue, or description that I'm thinking of using, and sometimes even the end line (not always - more often than not, I'm writing away happily and suddenly realise, huh, that's the end and I have nothing else to say). Do you do that? Do you find yourself walking around with your main characters playing out a scene you haven't written yet in your head? Do you wake up with a brilliant idea for what comes next, or find yourself jotting ideas in the margins of your lecture notes? If you make notes, what kind of things go into them? Do you usually use everything that you jot down or does some of it never happen? Does your plot ever get derailed partway through, or are you stronger than that and keep it going where you originally intended? What makes the difference?

If you're anything like me, you love to talk about how you write, how you plot, why you do it that way... so come tell me!

Comments

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

Uh, this has gotten very long. Sorry.

How do you know what's going to happen? Does the plot come to you pretty much fully-formed, or do you develop it as you write your notes or what? Explain this mysterious method of plotting to me!

That's a bit difficult to explain. The plot usually starts with a general idea, though it can also be a specific scene. I think about how to get there and come up with a beginning. I write the beginning down. I take it from there. It's kind of like sitting down and just writing the story, except a lot faster and more condensed. Some of it is very general outline, some of it is more detailed.

Like, the plot outline for my Big Bang story is about four A4 pages long. It contains gems such as Infirmary: Carson running a battery of tests on John (bug or stable?), but also stuff like this: For one impossibly long second, everything inside John went still. Then he drew in a long, shaky breath. "Where?"

It also has this: John being happy//Foreshadowing! It has scenes I put in to emphasise what I decided would be the main storyline (because it's not always obvious). It has a completely reworked ending because the one I came up with was far too… dunno, spongy? to really be satisfactory to anyone. There are little notes about where to put in more character development and a snippet of background story that won't be used as such, but is nevertheless important to how a certain group of people react to what's going on.

I know this is very vague – I hope you get what I'm so ineptly trying to talk about. *g*

Also - do you make notes for other stuff as you go along? Do you find yourself walking around with your main characters playing out a scene you haven't written yet in your head? Do you wake up with a brilliant idea for what comes next, or find yourself jotting ideas in the margins of your lecture notes?

Yes, to all of that. I also sometimes write scenes in the middle first and then have to change them around a bit to make them fit the beginning once I get there. While I try to stay true to the plot outline once I've decided it's finished, it's always possible that the underlying emotions of a scene aren't what I initially imagined anymore. So instead of John being angry as I thought he would, by the time I connect the story snippets he might well be sulking.

If you make notes, what kind of things go into them?

Everything. Background, snippets of dialogues, a line to remind myself that John should have mandatory sessions with Heightmeyer at this point – everything.

Do you usually use everything that you jot down or does some of it never happen? Does your plot ever get derailed partway through, or are you stronger than that and keep it going where you originally intended? What makes the difference?

I usually try to use everything I jot down, but some of it doesn't fit the story anymore by the time I get there, or I scan the plot outline for scenes-wot-are-pretty-but-don't-lead-to-story-progress and scratch them wherever I can. I might have this really nifty idea of the Wraith attacking Atlantis and Zelenka figuring out how to submerge and move the city, but they have only two ZPMs and the strain leads to all kinds of problems and OMG peril and drama eleventyone, but since it's a story about John's way to self-acceptance and his search for abducted!Rodney, the scene would just take up space that could be used better. It doesn't help the plot or even subplot, so a cutting board victim it is.

As for the derailing thing, yes, that happens. I usually try to work out if the new direction works better than the original one while still allowing the character to take the important steps of his journey. If it does, the changes are incorporated into the plot outline and the old bits are taken out. But that's really a case-to-case thing. :)

[bluflamingo.livejournal.com]

Ah, foreshadowing - I have to admit that's one of those things that I go back and write in once the thing that needs to be foreshadowed has happened. A bit like writing the introduction to an essay once I've written the content.

I do the reminders thing as well - it's what I like about handrwriting stuff - there are margins in which these things can be jotted. It's not the same on a computer, because I tend to read back as I'm going along, and I'll see things in the margins on paper, but not on the next page of a screen.

You have more self-control than me I think - I'd totally let the story go off into a tangent about ZPMs and sinking the city and drama, and then have to try and drag it back to the actual plot. I'm just weak-willed when it comes to these things :)