Do you plan a plot or just wing it?

[b1ah]

I've been writing for just about a month now, completely winging the story. Apart from outlining the world the MC is in, everything else is completely made up on the spot. I'm not struggling with the content but I am concerned with the pace of the whole story. How do you approach your story and its plot?

For reference, the story is in the signature below.

 

[SailusGebel]

The current story is absolutely spontaneous. I didn't even think of making it my first story, and I don't plan a single thing when I'm writing it. The next story will be planned and have a strict outline and character designs. That way, I will be able to understand which type of writing is better for me.

 

[Saileri]

Pretty much all of writing is a mix of both. No matter how much you plan, during the writing part, you will get ideas and concepts that you will instantly add to the whole thing just because they feel perfect for that moment you are at. It's great to have an outline in mind and know about major points between which you want to travel among, but the space in between can be very fluid. But, you could argue how wide planning definition is, like I personally come up with little details and events daily and note them down, and I don't consider it planning as these are just pieces I'm going to develop further at some point in the story and are just rough ideas.

 

[AliceShiki]

I usually just wing most things, I don't like planning too much~

That said, I do plan out the ending of the story in advance, I think it is important to have a goal that guides your story, otherwise you can kinda flop around aimlessly without a clue of what to do.

 

[Lloyd]

I only plan a few major story moments and wing the rest. Kinda like connecting the dots.

 

[Jemini]

 

[EternalSunset0]

I keep an outline and plan a lot. I also write "personal checkpoints" for characters, such as key moments of developments or planned "impactful" moments.

I just struggle with winging stuff because in my experience, they lead to plot holes or stuff that I had to go back to patch up. On the other hand, having to plan everything makes the writing pace slow because I had to be meticulous or something, and more of my time gets consumed imagining those key moments rather than putting the words down to finish the in-betweens.

In reference to the video shared by @Jemini , I'm a methodological planner.

 

[Kitsura]

I have a general outline in my head on the direction of the plot but I fill in the blanks as I write

 

[LUCKbUBBLE]

I have a general idea of my story but it's while in the process of writing that I get a glimpse of the minute and such. I plot but I don't always have to stick to it. I say, I being dynamic works for me.

 

[gaylolis]

i'm not even sure how i do it.

i just write i guess.

 

[The_Everdistant_Utopia]

I mean, a bit of both.

When I start a story, I generally get a basic 'goal' and a list of story beats I'd like to include along the way, but what happens between the start and the goal is entirely up to my ability to wing it.

 

[GreenHexagon]

I've been writing for just about a month now, completely winging the story. Apart from outlining the world the MC is in, everything else is completely made up on the spot. I'm not struggling with the content but I am concerned with the pace of the whole story. How do you approach your story and its plot?

For reference, the story is in the signature below.

70% wing it, 30% plan. I use a very general outline (that probably would change a lot) but mostly wing it.

 

[DubstheDuke]

I think that planning is one of the funnest parts of writing, but I think the details need to be winged - with very major quotes and statements and events aside. Like, I almost always run scenes in my head if they're like major scenes that shift the entire plot, but the majority of other stuff I go with the flow. But I always like planning a ton of stuff out beforehand either way.

 

[Deleted member 45782]

I winged a story once, then it became problematic with plotholes and bc of action that happened in story, trying to figure out the next action that can move the character to the next plot, when the previous action would have caused them to avoid it. Now, I'm just kinda building up characters names, background, myth influences, mental influences, etc. and dilly dallying before I write cause I don't want it to end up like Shrouded in Darkness.

The best is to plan a bit like a faint rough outline of how plot goes and then off from there to write. Plan so your story has a development that makes relatively sense or believable, but at some point, just gotta pick up the pen and go. So best is mixture of both. Really depends on the individual writer and their preferences - some are better winging it completely, some plotting it, and some doing chaotic both.

 

[Suou]

I used to just wing it, now I pretty much write an outline xD

 

[Sairren]

I open a Google Doc, type the chapter number and a title, then make a numbered list with sub-points that cover all the major points I need to cover. After that, if I have enough time, I do it again on a separate document to refine and see if it's all the points I want to cover, if there's something that should be changed, or if there's something I want to take out. Then after all that, I write the chapter.

This is all so I keep somewhat on track.

 

[ThatOne]

I just plan out the end. Thinking is too hard...

 

[Emi_the_Fairy]

I keep an outline and plan a lot. I also write "personal checkpoints" for characters, such as key moments of developments or planned "impactful" moments.

I just struggle with winging stuff because in my experience, they lead to plot holes or stuff that I had to go back to patch up. On the other hand, having to plan everything makes the writing pace slow because I had to be meticulous or something, and more of my time gets consumed imagining those key moments rather than putting the words down to finish the in-betweens.

In reference to the video shared by @Jemini , I'm a methodological planner.

This is basically where I'm at. The story I've been posting started with the beginning, and a smattering of powerful moments towards the end, then I worked to connect them.

It can get obnoxious at times, because I can wind up writing something that doesn't gel well with those big moments, but then I just adjusted things and changed a few plot points to accommodate. It can be a nuisance, but I think I've written some really strong things as a result of it.

 

[MajorKerina]

Depends on the type of story. Like right now I’m writing some thing just to kick back and recuperate creatively and physically so it’s basically light on plot and focused on normal character interactions. I haven’t posted it yet but it’s very internal to the character so there’s a lot of self reflection.

So far as planning all I decided was deceased members of their family would suddenly be alive again and there would be some changes to the community which have plausible deniability in that they might’ve just made a mistake. But the key to what’s happening in the story is basically that the character, who was a normal male before, wakes up as a cute dickgirl who several characters may have a crush on.

The character is perfectly fine with all this but the problem is their self-esteem with all the changes and attention as well as feeling like it could all vanish in a second like all the other weird stuff happening around them.

I don’t know what counts for a plot in that scenario it tends to be more like I set up a situation and the characters and just let it sort of happen.

 

[blanksphere]

I get an idea, and if it seems workable to me, I try to see a clip of the ending in my mind.
From there, I wing it until I see the bigger picture.
I do plan but no plan survives the battlefield!