More P For Your Pound


As I was doing my daily browse through the blogs on the A-Z Challenge, I came across Madeleine Maddocks' Plotter or Pantser blogfest (via Kyra Lennon - thanks for the tip ^_~), and decided to sign up.

The fest seems especially poignant, as last night I mentioned I had a new story idea I'm going to begin plotting and planning, so I'm ready to begin writing for NaNoWriMo in November.

So what's Madeleine's fest all about?

Sign up to the linky and post your tips and secrets on how you plot your novels. Even if you are a Pantser rather than a Plotter, there must be some methods you follow when writing your stories. Or you can post about any aspect of plotting. 
 
How do you Plot your novels?

I've used both methods to varying degrees of success. 

Back in my fanfic writing days I'd write on the fly, hammering out a story as the inspiration hit - usually going for about a month straight before running out of steam. Often times I'd then lose my drive, and the story would remain incomplete. However, there was one fic I had a crude chapter plan for and I deem that my most successful fanfic.

For NaNo 2010 I had no plan. I signed up a month before, and had a vague premise. During the course of November and beyond that vague premise became the incomplete (at 69, 340 words) first draft of Destiny's Road. If I'm honest, it's a mess. There's not enough ground work for the plot, characters or world. Fantasy world building is hard, and I've now come to realise you can't jump straight into a world without all the kinks ironed out. There's the reason I've since shelved Destiny's Road - it's too much of a mess for me to want to fix right now. 

NaNo 2011 was different. For starters, I was basing Sibylline Nights in a slightly altered version of our world. It also helped that I'd had the idea for the story knocking around in my head for a few years before NaNo, and already had the three MCs planned out, as well as a few other characters. Before NaNo started I planned the supporting characters, and had a loose idea of the plot. I had a beginning and and end. What came in between was all discovered as I wrote, and it's worked pretty well. Some things didn't even pop into my head until I reached them, but they feel like integral parts of the story that have been there all along. Other aspects still need ironing out and going over as I edit the first draft. 

Now, I'm thinking of NaNo 2012. Once again I'm faced with a story that will take some world building. This time I'm determined to get it right. I don't want to invest months of effort, and tens of thousands of words only for me to have to scrap the story. I want to be able to take this idea as far as I possibly can. That's why I'm starting now. Today I bought myself a lovely notebook (that came with a pen) and for the next six months until NaNo I'm going to plot, plan and research, so that by the time November hits, I'm can start writing knowing exactly who my characters are, what their world is, and where they're headed.

However, as a general rule, I don't like to be too regimented in my planning. As I said above, some excellent ideas have come on the fly, and often if I have too strict a plan I feel boxed in and my creative juices stilted.

My feelings on plotting and planning are best described in this quote by the awesome George R R Martin:

"But I like to compare my books to a journey.
Like that map there [gestures to a U.S. map on the wall]. If you were going from Los Angeles to New York, you would look at a map like that and you would say, well, okay, I’m going to leave and I’m going to follow the route through Albuquerque and I’m gonna go north to Denver… So you know your eventual destination and the main roads and some of the big landmarks you’re going to go through, but you don’t know where you’re gonna stop for dinner the first night, or where there’s gonna be road construction that will force you to take a detour, where a hitchhiker is going to show up on the side of the road and tell you a fascinating story. These are the things you discover during the journey.
I know the ultimate destination, I know the principal landmarks and things that happen along the way, like [big event redacted] which had been planned from the beginning and all of that. But some of them I discover in the writing. Essentially I know the big stuff, but a lot of little stuff occurs in the course of the writing. And of course some of the little stuff is very, very important. The devil is in the details. The devil is what makes the journey more than just an outline or a Cliff’s Notes kind of experience." 
– George R R Martin, April 14th, 2011

That's how I hope to approach writing, and if I can write a novel even half as good Martin's I'll be happy. 



20 comments:

  1. Great post! Good luck on the world building, that is way too complex for my little brain to handle lol!

    And is there anything more awesome than a new notebook?? :D

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    1. Thanks. I can't wait to tell you all about it.

      I really love world building, it's a lot of fun, but it is very complex!

      Yes, a new notenook with a pen! ;)

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  2. George Martin is the best. I spent the summer with my head in the Game of Thrones series and I didn't ever want to come out :) I have NO idea how he juggles so much in his head, I'm in total awe of him.

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    1. The books are fantastic, and he is such an inspiration.

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  3. Brilliant! I love your post and your entry to my blogfest. I agree I started by hammering out a story as the inspiration hit and found i ran out of steam. I can see that most of us try to plot but let the muse take us as it will. Congrats on doing nano. I am impressed.

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    1. Thank you. I think a lot of writers prefer the more organic approach, even if we plot a little.

      Thanks, NaNo is a lot of fun. I think I'm slightly addicted to it!

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  4. Wow, what a great quote! And a great post :) You've described my personal approach to writing perfectly - enough planning to get a solid foundation/plot, but lots of room for detours along the way.

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    1. Thanks. I think it's an excellent approach. It's the way I've had most success.

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  5. My first attempts at world building were a mess, too. Don't give up on that story though. We learn from it what's required in a world, and we get better at it as we go along. Great meeting you.

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    1. Thanks, nice meeting you too. I think one day I will go back to that story, and I'll certainly take the lessons I've learned from it.

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  6. You're really planning ahead! But if there is a lot of world-building, you'll need it.
    My last book was written during NaNo 2010. (Yes, I had a detailed outline.) So if I can create something publishable, anyone can!

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    1. NaNo is excellent, my current WiP is from NaNo 2011. Yes, world building is so complex. I do really enjoy it though.

      Thanks for commenting.

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  7. Stopping by on my tour of the A to Z Challenge list!
    This is an informative blog post and you've shared a delightful quote from George R.R. Martin.
    I have yet to attempt a NaNoWriMo. Your organizational tips may give me the incentive to jump in for 2012.
    http://gail-baugniet.blogspot.com Theme: A World of Crime

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    1. Thank you. I'm glad I inspired you to give NaNo a try. It's great fun.

      George R.R. Martin is very inspirational.

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  8. I'm more of a pantser in first drafts, and I totally agree with you and the great Mr. Martin. (He's one of my idols!) I've done NaNoWriMo for years and I love it. Discovering the story as I write it is a great thrill for me.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog. New follower here! :)

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    1. Thanks for the follow and dropping by to comment :)

      Your own A-Z is excellent, by the way.

      Mr. Martin is one of my idols, too. He is so inspirational. He and Patrick Rothfuss are what drive me to write.

      I love NaNo, I think I'm slightly addicted to that fast paced way of writing.

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  9. Thanks for that Martin quote. I'm floundering in my first journey into writing a novel-- and this was helpful.
    Look forward to the rest of your challenge run…can’t believe we’ve had 16 days already!
    --Damyanti, Co-host A to Z Challenge April 2012

    Twitter: @AprilA2Z
    #atozchallenge

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    1. Glad the quote could help you some. Making that jump into novel writing can be very hard, so I take inspiration and motivation from anywhere I can.

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  10. Hi, Clare! Nice to meet you via Madeleine's blog fest!

    I'm a hopeless pantster and I usually let my characters take over the story and lead me through it.

    That said, I usually have a beginning I stick to and an ending planned. I know the general course of the plot, but not how I'll manage it.

    As for world building, that wasn't a big problem while I was writing historical fiction, even if it had a bit of paranormal in it. When I started a steampunk story (or rightly, a Tesla-punk story) it took more effort, but I carved out the details during revision rather than the first draft.

    This time, I'm attempting contemporary fantasy. (Gulp.) Having learned from the Tesla story, I am focusing on getting through the plot first. I'll worry about refining the details of this world in revisions.

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  11. Nice to meet you too, Dianne. Thanks for dropping by and commenting. :D

    Listening to your characters is a good thing, they usually know what they're talking about! ;)

    A rough plan always helps. Sometimes I like a little more, so I don't flounder in the middle.

    For me world building depends on the world. Making my own from scratch was hard, and I know the next time I do it I'll need to put more thought into it.

    I found contemporary fantasy pretty easy, as it's OUR world, only with some of the rules changed. Good look with your attempt.

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Thank you for taking the time to read this entry, and comment. I really appreciate it.