When you sit down to write, how do you actually write? Do you know ahead of time what’s going to happen or do you just let it flow?

If you plan before-hand, how thoroughly do you plan? How closely do you stick to that plan?

I’m a plotter. I plot and plan everything before I start to write. I know exactly what’s going to happen before I ever begin writing a book or a scene within the book I’m writing. But what I don’t do is sit and look at my notes as I’m writing.

I get the scene into my head. I imagine what I believe should happen, I know where I want the characters to go, what I think they should do, and how I think they should get there.

For a story to flow, I need to get into my character’s head and live the scene as I write it. If that doesn’t happen, I could very well end up with writing like I recently read for a contest I’m judging.

The writing was proficient. The story was well thought out. But it, perhaps, was too well thought out. It progressed in such a stilted way that the only thing I could imagine was that the writer was following her notes as she wrote.

There was no flow.

Because of this, it took an incredible amount of concentration to stay with the story. To keep reading. No one should have to work so hard to read a story. A reader should fall into a story and live it right along with the characters. In the story I just read, not only could I not live the story, it was clear that the writer hadn’t lived it when she wrote it.

So, how do you do that? How do you live the story?

In truth, it doesn’t matter if you plot before-hand or are a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer. You need to live your story.

I written here before on “Method Writing”, but not for a while, so I think I’ll throw a quick refresher at you.

Method writing is just like method acting. You become the character from whose POV you are writing. You live the story as they would—only you do it in your mind.

In order to become the character, you need to consider their life. Where do they come from? What’s important to them? How do they see the world? What wounds do they carry with them? It is through all these bits and pieces that we create a person, a true human being, and then it is through their eyes that we experience the story.

By living the story as you write it, the story will flow. If you’ve plotted it out before hand and things happen that you hadn’t anticipated, that’s okay! In fact, it might just prove a lot more interesting than what you had planned. If not, that’s what editing is for.

The point is to let the story happen, don’t force it. It’s when you force it that you get stilted writing.

So next time you sit down to write, just relax. Take a moment to close your eyes and put yourself into the mind and body of your character… and then just go with flow.