Pantser Plotting Techiques

This week the Wicked Writer team is discussing plot techniques. My hope is that by the end of this week, by the time we get to my little contribution to the debate, that you will have had some good instruction, dialogue, etc., because it is doubtful that you’ll be getting any from me.

You see, I have written two novels. Currently, the second installation of my crossover horror/Christian vampire series is somewhere within the bowels of the Vamplit Publishing building, awaiting its day in the sun, so it’s either one book or two, depending upon your point of view.

In any case, I practically wrote them from the seat of my pants, and I am not altogether sure that I know how to write any other way. If you have not yet heard this from me, then allow me to take a moment to explain.

The way this works is that once I have an idea for my next project, I begin a process where my mind begins to form scenarios which I either allow to continue or I mentally dispose of in my head. In the initial phase of this, I just keep playing with the ideas until I have enough and I feel that the project can continue.

It is at this point that I begin to type out an outline. I do this only to assist the process until there begin to be so many ideas pouring forth that I can foresee the the body. Once I begin writing what I believe to be the beginning, my mind simply begins to play the scenes inside my head. Each day, I write until there is nothing left. Then I go away from the computer, allowing the scenes, dialogue, etc., to have their way with me inside my mind, whether I am in the shower, driving to work, preparing to fall asleep or dreaming. By the next day, the next bit of writing has been loaded and ready to be recorded.

Not very helpful, is it?

What do you think of this type of seat of your pants kind of writing? Is there anyone else out there who writes this same way? Should we begin a support group? God forbid I lose the gift. Whose advice would I seek out? Certainly not my own.

On the other hand, as the photo above can attest, a lot can happen in dreams... 

Plotting Plots

Thanks to the A to Z Blogging Challenge, I find my topics repeating themselves. So, I hope you guys don't mind me recycling posts today. See, I just blogged about this topic on my personal blog, not realizing the same topic was on Wicked Writers. No harm done, though. Saves me time. :)

Enjoy.

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There is a formula for correct plot structure. It looks something like this:

• Introduce characters.
• Introduce story goal or theme.
• Characters create a short-term goal as a means to accomplish the story goal.
• The short-term goal is thwarted. Characters react to this then create a new short-term goal.
• The new goal is also thwarted.
• This repeats over and over until the climax is reached (by making the failure worse each time until the tension reaches a breaking point).
• The characters try one more time. This time they beat the opposition.
• The story goal and subplots are tied up. The End.

Relativity simple, right? It's a great way to outline a story. The trouble comes when it's obvious that you used a formula. And there are several authors out there who's writing is formulaic. I won't name them, but you can usually tell who they are because they come out with several books a year and they all sound alike. But, this is a great tool for beginners who may need a little guidance or practice in building a strong plot arch.

As for Scene Structure, remember this sequence: "Action, Emotion, Reaction, Decision."

Seriously, memorize it. I have it written down on a sticky-note and posted on my desk. Allow me to explain.

Action: Always start a scene with action. Remember the saying "actions speak louder than words"? It's true for your characters as well. Act first, explain later. Action is what moves your characters forward. Plot is what movies your characters forward. So, action equals plot.

Emotion: Your characters have to have some sort of feelings about the action that just happened. This is usually their first reaction and it's usually the wrong one. That doesn't mean it's wrong for the character or for the book. What I mean is that this is usually a negative emotion, such as anger, sadness, etc. that will make your character do something dumb out of spite. This is good. This is deep point of view and makes your characters real.

Reaction: This is when your characters start to think more clearly and re-asses what happened. They're more level-headed here.

Decision: Your characters make a decision about what to do next, which leads into the action beginning the next scene. The cycle starts over.

This lesson is a quick summary of a long version from the book "First Draft in 30 Days" by Karen S. Wiesner and is hands-down the most valuable book in my personal library.

Outlining your Goals

Hello again bloggers. This week we are discussing the topic of setting realistic writing goals or outlining. I'm going to try and touch on both of these because I think they go hand in hand.

I used to be a panster. No outline, no character sketches, just go! It was the worst thing I ever did. While I had a story there, it was written so poorly that it sickens me to see the first drafts of some of my stories. I had characters with magically changing hair and eye color, thier personalities would take a sudden 180! The plot would jump and skip and go off on a side direction - completely out of control.

So I tried writing notes and keeping them in a notebook. This quickly became disorganized so I switched to loose paper in a three ring binder. It really made a difference in my writing but even still, I felt like my stories were missing something and I couldn't figure out why.

I took a workshop earlier this summer about outlining and plotting. The workshop used the book JD mentioned yesterday First Draft in 30 Days by Karen S. Wiesner. I enjoyed it so much, I actually bought the book. Do I follow her steps completely? No. But I do use many of them.

I write very, very detailed character and setting sketches using the sketch worksheets in Karen's book. I added a few things of my own of course, to work with my fantasy level stories. I also made a few changes to make them work with my series. In Karen's book, I believe she says to make new sketches for each book of a series (or maybe I heard it somewhere else). I think that is a waste of valuable time and paper. When I go to outline/plan the second or third book, I merely add to what is already there. I don't create brand new sketches.

Now when it comes to actual plot outlines and summaries, I don't do this. Occasionally I'll write down a few notes or ideas in a bulleted list, but I don't actually outline the story in order or anything like that. It doesn't hinder my creativity when I do, I just don't like to do it. Since I character and setting sketch so deeply, I get extremely excited about the story and just want to write it.

Before I edit any story however, I always write an outline. I don't know why I do this, but it seems to help me stay on track. Usually as I go to edit, I come up with great ideas for scenes or things to add that take away from the main plot of the story. So, I have to have an outline handy to make sure I stay on track.

How does this relate to setting realstic goals? Well first point, if you don't know how you write, you can't set any time frame or goal to complete anything, in my opinion. I can say that I can sketch and write a full draft in a month - without the crazyness of NaNoWriMo. However, editing takes at a bare minimum, three months. (And that's not counting my main WIP that has taken forever - that's how badly it was written the first time.) So, I realistically set a goal to write a new book and have it finished in the next four months. Extra time given for when life gets in the way and to make sure I don't skip school and things like that.

Also, sketching and outlining the way I do helps me to stay focused - so that four month goal I can actually keep. Without focus, it would take me much longer to write and edit a book! My main WIP is a perfect example of this. I've been working on this story for EIGHT YEARS! But I have many other stories that are ready and waiting for a final polish or even the first edit.

Sketching out details greatly helps and I recommend this method even to pansters. At least get some notes written down about the setting and characters to help you stay on track - without hindering any of the plot. It works great for me - and I wish I used this method years ago.