How do you plot your book your way

I always wondered how people write there own books, personally i jot down ideas about what will happens as a rough starter: i have no idea how the book will end or how many characters will be in my books until i start to write them in, I like to just go with the flow. i know some authors have a start , middle and end already wrote down and then fill in the gaps or even just an end then work backwards. so......

HOW do you do yours

P.S .. Anybody replying "I copy and Paste somebody else's work will be told off"

For me, it starts with a holistic thing - hard to describe, a right brain image, I suppose. Maybe it's a little like that whole-life-flashing-at-the-moment-of death flashback experience. I have a sense of the story before I start to write. It's a very general thing, and applies to narrative poems as well as short stories and longer works. It's like getting a feel for the forest before looking at specific trees.

That's not to say that the story can't change once the writing takes over. Sometimes it will take twists and turns that surprise me, but it is rare that it all doesn't come back to the place that was intended, by one path or another.

I've found, now that I am writing longer works, that outlining and chapter set-ups are a huge help in keeping the projects on track. It helps to do a left brain switch and set up some kind or order and system. When I was writing my first novel (still unpublished) I started with a summary, decided on divisions into three parts - beginning, middle, end - and how many chapters should go into each part, then wrote chapter synopses. When I started writing text, I didn't always go in chronological order. For instance, I started with the first chapter for each part. I had a large binder with three main sections, and ten sub-sections for each of those. I would then write chronologically, but would still sometimes skip from section to section. I find my creative ideas doing similar things with this current series, including jumps into different times and possibly different universes.

Shortly after I joined this group, several years ago, someone, I don't remember who, told about a freeware program called yWriter. It's easy find with a simple google search. I first started using it in earnest when I started Redstone's Valley, which is now available as ebook or paperback, through most online sellers. The yWriter has been an invaluable help. I don't know if I would have been able to finish the first book without it. I am only a couple of chapters into the second book, as far as writing text is concerned, but I have a flexible plan for getting to the end, and have the project set up within the program. I'm still pretty fuzzy about the middle, but I'm not locked in by the software. I can drag, drop, delete any scene or portion of a scene, within a chapter or between chapters, and I can shift the position of a chapter as well. That's especially useful when you have three story lines going in three different time warps.

It seems to me that my work is character-driven, even though I am a historian at heart. I've learned the hard way that my work comes together better when I put fictional characters into historical settings. The history provides a framework, but the way the different characters react is purely creative. I also choose characters and get to know each of them as well as possible, writing character sketches - in pencil - before I start working on the details of the story. Once I have those constraints in place, the writing comes easy.

I'm not necessarily recommending this approach. I've have one self-published novel - just out, a more-or-less traditionally published non-fiction historical study that was pretty successful for a limited audience, a few poems and articles over the years, but it has only been since I retired that I have focused on my own writing. Before that, I taught high-school students how to write. So there are many better and more experienced folks here and around who have their own processes and experiences.

This is just me.

Ann

Thanks Ann (nice plug for your book by the way ) ........ I am fascinated by the way other people do this, for example the way you have just explained how you do yours for me is far too complicated, but then i am no English teacher, i spent most of my school days not listening, although i did manage to get a diploma from the chartered institute of bankers years after i had left school.
I'm sure your way of doing things would make life easier but i love the way i just sit down and start writing, my imagination takes over and for me personally this is the way i will always write my books although i am in no way saying this is the right way as im 100% certain most authors who will read this would be mortified at my lack of "how to write a book"

Definitely not me. I don't think my process is all that different, especially while I am writing, and I agree completely with Mark David Gerson (The Voice of the Muse), when he says "There are no rules. There are no right ways or wrong ways. There is only your way."

I'm just an old lady who needs a little help staying on course.

Ann

They say your only as old as you feel so go grab a young man and hold his hand

9/4/2012

Paul..

I usually know the beginning, then I know the ending,

it's usually the middle I have a hard time with ! I sit at the

computer think about the story but it's almost like I'm

watching a movie in my head.

Cheers..Joe..

Quote :

I sit at the

computer think about the story but it's almost like I'm

watching a movie in my head.

I totally get that, Joe.

Ann

WOW, you guys made me ponder- how I write- over my first cup of coffee...

The ideas come pretty much where ever I go. It can be something that I see on TV, a grumby check out person at the grocery store, one of my silly friends, a bit that I remember from a crazy dream, etc.

When that happens, I open my Word program and write down a quick, one page summary that has a beginning, a middle and an end. Then I stash it on the external harddrive where it will sit for a while (if I am already writing on something else)... and I have loads stashed there.

My actual writing is free writing, and I try to keep it almost conversational. Usually, I write from start to finish which seems easy to me since the movie is playing in my head while I am putting the words into my processor. The imaginary "pause button" rocks.

Once I am done, the first edit is just in the program. Then I print it all out and give it another edit. During this part of the editing process I pencil in and scratch loads. I am looking for timelines, characters who do stuff that should not be in their nature, things that should be in their nature, refine settings, add or remove explanations, check for rihgt/ wrong usage, etc.

Then it goes back into the processor for another edit and read over.

I do struggle with gramma (especially commas) because (at times) I try to set them the way that I would set them in the German language... loads of room for improvement in that arena.

Well, and once the work is completed, my friends and family get to read it and it stays on my external- that is until I came to this forum.
Now my big one has made its way to a publisher (I am expecting a friendly "no" and maybe even a giggle, since I have shot very high) and my little one I have decided to epublish on Amazon. So, you fine folks have inspired me.

Last night I was actually considering popping one of my chapters into this forum, but I am not quiet ready to surrender my virginity just... yet...lol.

Huggles,
Katja

Quote :

The ideas come pretty much where ever I go. It can be something that I see on TV, a grumby check out person at the grocery store, one of my silly friends, a bit that I remember from a crazy dream, etc.

When that happens, I open my Word program and write down a quick, one page summary that has a beginning, a middle and an end. Then I stash it on the external harddrive where it will sit for a while (if I am already writing on something else)... and I have loads stashed there.

This is such a great idea. It could be done in a journal, as well, for those who still think best that way. There were times in my life that I kept a little one in my handbag - just for jotting down ideas - sometimes about writing, sometimes about what groceries I would need by my next shopping trip - all intermingled. But with todays technology, Katja's system is perfect.

Quote :

I do struggle with gramma (especially commas) because (at times) I try to set them the way that I would set them in the German language... loads of room for improvement in that arena.

When I was taking classes in English grammar, and again, later, attending workshops for English teachers, I was often taught this concept: Grammatical and mechanical rules are guidelines - designed to help the writer make h/er thoughts clearer to a potential reader.

It's a little like the Christ's admonition: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."

I know the rules, but when I am writing, my primary concern is, "How do I make this idea understandable to the most readers," and sometimes, that means making my own rules. (based, of course, on the purposes behind the rules that are in place at the time). My teachers almost always taught me that the evaluation of a student's work had to come down to the clarity of the message, and not strict adherence to formal rules.

Quote :

Last night I was actually considering popping one of my chapters into this forum, but I am not quiet ready to surrender my virginity just... yet...lol.

It's a scary step, isn't it. Just remember, All of your readers' feedback is based on their personal perspective. It is your own pont of view that ultimately counts.

Annie

Before I even put down the first word on the first page, I sit down and develop my characters, from top to bottom. After that I think about the inciting indecent, and if the characters are good enough, the story tends to write itself from there. Though I often decide what the major plot points are ahead of time, and then fill in the blanks as I go.

Hiya DM,

I have finished reading your book and sent you a message... not sure if it went out. I have checked the "sent" box and it is not in there... I can see it in the "draft" box, but have not seen how to get it out of there... and did not want to re-send it (in case you did received it).

I keep checking on Amazon to see if anybody wrote a review, but have not seen any, yet.

Huggles,
Katja