Message Board Topic 5/11

[Comsie]

If you're planning to write a story from beginning to end, and you're really ready to do it...then it's safe to assume that you've already got some ideas for the kind of story that you want to make. Maybe you have a certain character in mind, and a vague plot or storyline thought out...maybe even a few scenes and conversations already mapped out in your mind. But before you sit down to start typing...do you really know how everything is going to go?

 

The question this week is...how do you plan out your stories from beginning to end? How do you organize your ideas before you get started? Do you take notes, create a basic outline, just put certain events in a sequential order? Or maybe you don't plot your stories out at all? Maybe you just have an idea in your mind and just 'wing it', letting the story guide you until you find a satisfying way to end it all? Whatever you do, let us in on the process! I'm sure a lot of writers would love to know how to get started!

[Graeme]

Personally, I have an ending in mind, and a few events along the way. I then just write. I don't usually have a written outline, though I'm thinking I may need to, if I'm going to write anything more complex that the only third person novel I've written so far.

 

I'll have a detailed idea to start with, but it varies from story to story. Sometimes it's the opening. Sometimes it's a scene in the middle of the story. Sometimes it's the overall concept, with the fine level detail still to be worked out.

 

For short stories, I usually have the complete scenario in mind when I start, and it's just a case of transferring the image in my mind into words (not always easy, because a scene that plays out fine in my mind doesn't always translate into written words).

 

But the key for me is to have the ending in mind, because that gives me the target to aim for, and keeps the whole story in check. I won't start a story now unless I know how I want it to end, or have a handful of options on how it will end. They don't usually get written down ahead of time, but I have them in mind throughout the writing process.