Writing Passionates discussion

Do you guys plan your writing before you write it? like if you get an idea do you immediatly start writing or do you grab a paper and start planning it out? for me, i get an idea, maybe write a paragraph, then plan it out.

i used to just wing it, but then i found that i always ran out of ideas. sooo now i usually do a rough outline before i start writing. i don't plan out all the little details, but i give myself a basic pathway, if you know what i mean.

yeah, me too! i realized i cant just throw something else into a story. it has to be related to the topic.

Usually, I just start. And as I write the first page, I figure out exactly what the story is about. As I continue to write, I find out what will happen next, or even at the end.

So, I write and plan at the same time. I usually do everything in my head. Sometimnes I write it on paper, but then it is just the beginnings of an idea and by halfway through the story, I give up entirely on any sort of an 'outline' written on paper and never look at it again. It's all in my head, anyhow.

I do like you do, Roni. It's not really like I'm telling a story, it's more like my characters are telling a story through me. So I have to write it. And most of the time they don't reveal what happens at the end until I'm about halfway through.

I know! It totally agree with Roni and Kenzie!

Like Brigid, I used to just write, but then I always got stuck, so now (usually) I start out with an outline...

i dont write on paper, i kind of set aside my story and start thinking. and for a half hour i find out what's happening. but its very basic. someone does something to get to something else, and you end up here.

I don't write on paper. I let the words flow as I type them.

You know for me what's really helping is using small things to create a story, like song lyrics, dreams I've had, dreams my friends have had. But what's really helped me to actually find new ideas, or plan out a new story, is write a "what if" list. things like that are helping me, sort of.

I do what you do Operandi.

I carry a notebook around where I keep all my story outlines. I used to just wing it but I never finish anything because I keep changing the basic storyline midway, so I end up with several versions of the original idea. The problem is I have too many ideas I want to cram into one story, so I need an outline to sort of "de-clutter" it :)

I ALWAYS plan it! But in my head, not on paper

yeah, me too.

NEVER EVER DO I PLAN OUT MY STORY

haha.

i try to. i think i will for my two most recent ideas.

If I have an idea, I'll plan a bit... If I don't, and I just want to write, I'll just start writing and see what I get.

coolz...i always just write

haha this is a really old topic...

BUT, I try to plan... but I get tired of trying to figure everything out... so I usually have the main parts down, and then there's big gaps in between (which is where I usually have writer's block). And also I never have the ending down, it seems.

yeah i have problems w/gaps, too. D: aggh

I hate when I can't write something... like right now, I'm having a lot of trouble writing about pain... and it sounds really realistic... and gap-y. XD and it also doesn't really make sense/isn't realistic. -sigh-

Yeah, I always have gaps randomly in the middle of my outlines...and I'm just like "I'll figure it out later." And then that part comes and I'm like "uhhh..." >.<

OMG that happens to me too!! every other bullet point in my outline will be like "oh i'll figure out what happens here later ...", figuring i'll know what to do when i get there ... and then i DON'T know ... so then i'm like "well. crap." O_o

What I hate about writing, is that you have this brilliant idea, but you have to go somewhere, and you can't write that brilliant idea down, so then you come back to writing that section, and you can't remember what your brilliant idea was.

ooh yeah that sucks.
like last night i thought of this really good name for a character ... and then i woke up this morning and i forgot it!!! NOOOO

Sadness!!

i know :'(

I have a little notebook of ideas!

I've tried just spouting out words and hoping for a story to flow, but after a point it just dies because you don't know where to take it next.
I use tons and tons of excel spreadsheets to get my thoughts in order. First I do a basic outline, but I keep it really flexible. To keep myself sane, I write down character bios and plot twists and details about how the 'world' works. It helps to know what you've already said about a character or the setting so you don't contradict yourself later.

I've done the contradiction thing before. It wasn't anything important, just the color of one character's eyes. It's nice to have their basic physical description down on paper, though, that way you don't have to search through the entire novel to find where you stuck in their description. :D

I just avoid physical description altogether. It just doesn't fit in anywhere.

Oh, and have you guys heard of the mirror cliché? Where the character looks at his/herself in the mirror and describes their features? Well, I want to do that, but have it be a dream. so it's relevant. Like "la di da, getting up, combing my ha--WHAT THE HECK!!! WHEN WAS IT CUT THREE INCHES AND DYED PUKE GREEN?!?!"

Haha that reminds me of an example of how NOT to do character description. It went something like this:

"She had beautiful golden hair that reminded me of corn. A tiny sprig of spinach was caught in her silver braces. Her luminous green eyes flashed behind a pair of thick ochre glasses. Her cheeks were flushed as pink as cotton candy. But all I noticed was her smile"

Basically it had some disgusting metaphors/similes and overloaded descriptions that were totally unnecessary anyway.

The way I describe characters in my novels is by sneaking description in. Instead of writing, "My hair is a silky brown color, and my cheeks were flushed red" I would write something like, "I brushed back a strand of silky brown hair, and tilted my head down, my cheeks burning in embarrassment." That way your reader's receive some notion of the character's looks, but aren't bored when they're reading about it.

But even that's a bit annoying, because it's like, why is the character thinking of his/her hair color at the moment? I'm more like Roni … I try to avoid physical descriptions because they always feel awkward to me no matter where I put them. It just seems strange for the main character to describe what he/she looks like …

Well, I think you have to give your reader some sort of description when it comes to your characters. That's the way I put them in there. It feels less awkward to me then when I have a character check themself out in the mirror or something. Usually though, the only time I throw in descriptions is when I have two characters first meet.

I always write in third person, so physical description never seems out of place to me. I especially like describing characters in contrast to things, like slender white fingers in a rough leather hawking glove, or a miniscule, angelic girl next to a bouncer.
By the way, is anyone who is doing NaNo this year planning it out?

Aahh well I write in first person, so it's a bit trickier. I don't have a problem describing people through the main character's eyes, usually, but even then I try to keep it down to a couple of sentences. And I never know how to make the main character describe him/herself. :P Yessss I am doing NaNo and I am sort of planning. I have a lot of character notes and some plot notes, although I'm kind of stuck right now.

hello.. brigid, how's the walking shadow going? **just curious**

Hi there. Ummmm … It's not really going anywhere, honestly. I've temporarily (or permanently) given up on it. :/

I write in 3rd person about half of the time, maybe more, and physical description still feels awkward. Then again, most any description is out of place in my stories. At this point, I'm not overly-aware of my style, but I know it doesn't involve much description, usually.

There was a sort of mirror trick used in a book that I just read. It was Matched, the one you gave me, McKenzie. She was looking at the outside of a compact mirror to try to be conspicuous. It was at a fairly appropriate moment, I think. She was going to a fancy ceremony so it was reasonable to make sure none of her features were out of place--sort of.

That's an interesting way to do it.

The problem I have, when describing a character in first person, is that your character's tend to sound narcisistic. Now, that's fine if your character IS a narcisist, but when you've characterized your MC as a loveable, do-good, all-around teddy bear (like Jane, in Pride and Prejudice) there would be no reason for your character to be talking about how "hot" he or she is, how they wish they didn't weigh as much, etc.

Personally, I think one of the best ways to do it is to just start off by telling what he/she looks like. I'd rather read a book where the main character says "I'm aproximately (insert height), with brown hair, blue eyes, wear contacts, and am scraggly for my age..." then spend the first few chapters wondering their gender and basic physical description. This happened to me when I first began reading Maximum Ride, I spent the first ten or so chapters thinking she was a guy.

The only way I've found, though, that you can describe a character in first person without he/she sounding narcisistic or ridiculous, is when he/she gets a makeover, and describes the changes taking place. Then again, it's not very often that you begin a book by having your MC cut their hair and dye it puke green. :D

Yeah, that is a difficult part. I get annoyed with books where on the first page, the character is getting ready for the day or something, and they look in the mirror and they're like "I look like this, this, and this!"

Honestly, I don't care too much about what the main character looks like. Like you said Kenzie, it's important to know whether the character is male or female, and how hold he/she is, etc. But other than that, the author doesn't need to go into too much detail. Personally, I keep my character descriptions short and I try to find creative ways to do them. Like, I don't know, if your main character is talking about his/her sibling, he/she could make comparisons like, "We have the same brown eyes" or something … if that makes sense. Other than that, usually my characters just happen to look at their reflection at some point, and they briefly mention something about their appearance.

deleted user wrote: "Do you guys plan your writing before you write it? like if you get an idea do you immediatly start writing or do you grab a paper and start planning it out? for me, i get an idea, maybe write a par..."

I plan out in my head and write down the idea in my notebook and then write.