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Help Me With My Dastardly Plots!

Sean the frumious Bandersnatch

22:04 / 30.12.04

I've spent the past month and a half trying to plot out a novel, and I've come to the conclusion that I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I don't want to talk a lot about the idea online, but the story is loosly about psychology and telepathy.

I know how to write, having done plenty of short stories, but it's been a long time since I've attempted to do anything which requires commitment.

I'm finding it hard to link all of my disparate ideas together. How do other people go about plotting for novel-length stories? What tricks do writers use to commit themselves to just one concept and keep writing?

TeN

02:46 / 31.12.04

it's certainly hard... theirs a huge leap between short story writing and novel writing. I've never attempted that leap myself, but I have heard some advice about it, and one thing that I agree with is don't overplan. if you outline every last detail, you'll get bored with the actual writing of the thing very quickly. instead, have a general idea of where you want it to go, and let it develop itself as you write it. as for tying all your ideas together - if you just puch through it, you'll get to a point where everything will make sense. this is what everyone who's been successful at it has told me - that they'll be a certain point at which, having established everything and put all events in motion, the story will practically write itself, and all of the ideas you have will either fit into place of be discarded. and don't be afraid to discard ideas - it's all part of the creative process.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

09:42 / 31.12.04

I plotted my big crap rambling fantasy novel but only because it was set over a century and so I needed to have an idea of what I was doing when. It'll almost certainly never see the light of day because it's flawed on so many levels. Most of the other stuff I've kept mainly in my head, although i have scrawled out occasional notes if important plot points crystalise in my mind before I get to writing that point of the story.

Spaniel

10:36 / 31.12.04

For practical advice I'd suggest reading Story by Robert McKee. Although ostensibly about writing for cinema, it's a useful tool for just about any narrative enterprise.

If you can put up with McKee preposterous, self important tone, and all his talk about platonic priciples and suchlike, that is.

All Acting Regiment

20:03 / 02.01.05

From experience, and from what others who are better than me have said, any peice of writing will probably find it's own length- if something feels like it should be a short story, let it be that. Don't get led into the trap of writing a novel because it seems cool, it'll be a waste of your potential.
However, if this feels like it could be expanded into something bigger, then go ahead, because you obviously have the energy and skill to do it. But don't whatever you do get bogged down in bits of it that you don't get a buzz off, that are just for for bulk.
Also, I guess you know this already, remember that Rome wasn't built in a day. Or Teohitucan or any other cool place.

Heroes Journey is also a good reference book - by Joseph Campbell.

But the best thing to do is realise that you will be rewriting this thing, don't get caught up on trying to get everything perfect.

Plot, outline and make a real effort to develop an idea of the characters, then set yourself a daily aim (a set amount of time or words to be done every day) and stick to it, even if you really don't feel like it.

Remember that this thing will develop and evolve, and you'll get other ideas as you go on, but work towards finishing it (don't go back and rewrite until a draft is done - make notes but don't go back) and then once finished the first draft, you'll have a much better idea of what works and what doesn't.

A lot of discipline is needed, but it feels great when in the swing of it.

Icicle

08:25 / 09.01.05

Find your own way of doing it. Some writers make massive plans and other's don't plan at all.
As has been said above what works best for me is writing a very very rough draft and not going back to edit it until I've finished.
I think that the initial writing spurt is very unconscious whereas the editing is a much more conscious activity, and when you start editing, it's becoming critical which inhibits the unconscious writing.
I would just try and accept all your disparate ideas even if they seem confusing or contradict each other, or not properly linked to the story. Gradually as you write they will start connecting with each other, or you will come to realise that they are superfluous and delete them. In my experience, I find writing a story is like letting it reveal it's inner logic to you, though this is a very gradual and slow process, if you just carry on writing it'll sort itself out, even if it does take years!

Spaniel

11:08 / 09.01.05

I take a similar route. I suggest Story, however, because it's some of the advice it good when you're lost.

Spaniel

11:10 / 09.01.05

Could my last post have been any more incoherent? Bloody hangover.

Whisky Priestess

11:40 / 09.01.05

One common trick which is also good for resting your brain (i.e. not concentrating on one thing for two, six, twelve months or however long it takes you to write the book) is to write two or more narratives which interweave and interconnect.

Have two (or more) characters whose stories you can tell, and alternate between them. It gives you a rest as well as the reader. Examples are: any epic sci-fi you care to name, Iain M. Banks's Walking on Glass (or whatever the one with Quiss is called) and ... oh, there's loads of them. And it really works.

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