Plotting vs. Freewriting [POLL]
Submitted by Christopher on March 29, 2010 – 9:11 pm7 scribbles posted
Part of the reason why I started this site was because I found that most of my writer’s block experiences were rooted from plotting and analyzing what I wanted to write, so I’m wondering how many out there are actually practicing the latter — freewriting.
Freewriting — or scribbling — is the method of writing what ever comes to your mind, without the restrictions of your inner editor balking.
How many writers out there are plotting and how many are freewriting?
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CHRISTOPHER
I never start out on a long journey without having a map, some idea of where I’m going. That’s just foolish.
But I have to have the freedom to take side trips, to discover new aspects, to take the scenic route when I feel like it. You never know where that might lead.
But if I have my map, I can get back on the main road without a problem.
A loose outline is my map. I know how the story starts, I have a pretty good idea of where it will end up, but I deliberately don’t tighten down the plot and characters to the point where I can’t let it/them come out and dance. There’s no fun of discovery that way, and it’s that fun that keeps me interested enough and enjoying myself enough to finish the damn thing.
I stick with plotting to keep my momentum intact and to keep sense of direction upfront
@Chris Dickerson // Totally agree with you there — I, too, enjoy the freedom to explore, but can only do so when I have an idea of where I’m going.
@Amre // Keeping up the momentum is a great point.
I usually have a story idea in linear fashion first. Something that resembles a logline. Then I’ll try to create an outline. Then I begin to freewrite feelings and develop a persona(s). If I like the characters I might figure some type of plot. As long as it is dreamlike then I’ll go with it. Of course, it keep changing though and I’m still re-thinking my recently finished feature script…
Nice — do you tend to stick with a strict set of story points, or do you go with the flow?
I had a vague idea of my plot but mostly i just let my imagaination take over and i just let the characters grow as i wrote, it was a really cool proccess and you learn so much more about your self as a writer and about your character, and to me it makes the story feel so much more real, because when your writing a scene,
and your character is in trouble you make that character react as you would to a gut instinct reaction, you arnt thinking about it months in advance, it’s all instinct and in my opion if you can write a entire novel on your imagination as you go along then you have a real chance at making this a career for yourself.
I originally started writing by the “seat of my pants” with only a vague idea of where the story wa going. However I soon discovered that my natural style was to write not contiguously; so I write the first half of chapter 1 and then the second half of chapter 5 etc.But that left me with big chunks of story that I then had to fit together. And of course I had written all the “juicy bits” first so I was very reluctant to delete or rewrite anything I’d written which is a sure fired recipe for disaster.