Fiction Writing: Should You Plot Your Plot?
I once ran a very successful PhP gaming board. I made the story up for players as I went along.
There was no plan at all, and I winged it every step of the way. I had a beginning and a premise, and the players knew they had to go from point A to point B to achieve objectives, but everything in between relied solely on the actions and reactions of the player characters involved.
The characters truly ruled the story.
I’ve heard that the best of plans never survive the first meeting with the enemy. In the world of role-playing games (or RPG), this is very true.
The moment I planned anything, someone else would blow my carefully though-out plans apart. In most cases, that person was James and his characters.
I remember setting up a particular scene that twisted so much that it blew us all away. We’d planned carefully and set our trap for James’ character, but none of us expected the scene to go as “wrong” as it did.
The next thing we all knew, our main characters were fugitives on the run.
Now what? If I had stuck to a specific plot, I would have been leading everyone by the nose. The scene wouldn’t have been spectacular or memorable. It turned out to be both and it set the stage for many fantastic scenes to come.
Planning out every detail of your novel causes issues, too. You become so focused on the direction you want to take your novel that you forget your characters have a life, too. Instead of realistic responses, you end up with stiff reactions that don’t really fit.
The Elements of Plot
Traditionally, six elements make a plot:
- Introduction: Introduce the setting and scene of the story to your audience. You also have introductions for each chapter. When I find I’m struggling a chapter, I wrap it up and use that as my introduction to the next chapter.
- Rising Action: Add a little more tension, a little more anticipation and compel the reader to turn that page. Build slowly and steadily – too much at once is jarring.
- Climax/Reversal: At this point, the story reaches its peak, becoming a turning point for the character(s).
- Falling Action: Now it’s time to breath and let the plot unravel while you reveal all to the reader.
- Confrontation: This is the final crisis. The lead character have a showdown with the antagonist – even if the antagonist is himself.
- Denouement: This element is the resolution and tying up of loose ends. If it’s a series, you might not want to tie everything up very tightly.
I believe that writing freeform rather than planning each of these elements out works better. Start with a general description of a beginning and the potential outcome of the end. Everything else happens naturally – that is, if you can let go and allow your characters the freedom to act as they will.
Consider that each chapter contains some of the six elements as you write. Each new chapter is a chance for you to introduce a new scene. You’ll have some rising action, maybe a small climax and a bit of falling action that flows into the next chapter. Or, you might have small cliff-hangers at the end of each chapter.
What If?
A very popular method for creating plot is using the “What If?” method. James and I choose this technique often. We’re always wondering “What if Cass did this? What if Sunny decided this instead of that?”
After we wonder, we don’t think or plan, we just write. Most of the time, we end up with a chapter or scene that’s a real keeper. Sometimes we read back and wonder, “What the hell were we thinking?”
That’s okay. We toss that scene or edit it to fit.
My Confession
I confess that I’ve never written a plot in my life – ever.
I tried, once, and my plot didn’t work out very well. Somehow, I had the notion that to have a good story I needed a detailed plot. I sat down and wrote a complex outline with all the textbook elements of a plot.
Before I knew it, I had a monster of a mess. The whole project felt contrived and scripted, and my story lost its spark. There was no room for spontaneity. The characters were mechanical, going through the motions of getting from one event to the next. The story was boxed in and welded shut.
I became so bogged down in what I should do that I lost sight of what I could do. That was the last time I ever wrote a plot.
This free-form method may not work for you. Having some idea where your plot is going is important – but don’t limit yourself. Don’t be afraid to break away from your plans when something better comes along. So what if your ending changes? Maybe it wasn’t the right ending to begin with.
When the Muse speaks, listen. She knows what she’s talking about.
43 Responses to “Fiction Writing: Should You Plot Your Plot?”
Comments
Read below or add a comment...
Go ahead. Leave a Comment!
-
Affiliate Program
-
James Is Reading…
-
Social Hookups
As Seen In…
Overheard on the Web
MwP is Powered by…
Harry,
Judging by your writing it looks like you have published novels galore. You even make it sound so easy that I feel tempted to try it one day.
Monika Mundell’s last blog post..The Process of a Business Nip Tuck
I still remember that moment. Man. That scene blew me apart… and the 60 or so scenes that followed did too. That was the best ride I’ve ever had. Good post, bro.
Harry – good post. When I read this, it sounded to me a bit like “life”. You can try to put together a framework, but I think it is more important to get the key players aligned and then they can react to whatever is thrown at them. Sometimes living life by the seat of the pants is a bit more fun.
So if you write in the same fashion, your work is more believable and a lot more fun.
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the privilege of choice.
Brett wrote:
“So if you write in the same fashion, your work is more believable and a lot more fun.”
When you’re reading a novel, how can you tell which ones got plotted in advance and which ones didn’t?
I don’t think it affects the final product one bit whether someone plots in advance or not. It’s simply a matter of personal preference. Anyone who’s ever written a novel — whether plotted or pantsed — knows that they’re big and cumbersome with lots of spikes, frayed ends, and leftover parts after the first pass through the story. It’s a lot like putting together a kids bike the night before Christmas. Do you use the instructions or do just put it together? As long as you end up with a bike, does it matter which method you choose?
My preference — whether I’m putting bikes together or writing a novel — is to use a hybrid. I usually know where the story’s going… in other words, I have an end in mind. Then I develop and get to know my characters, because they’re really the ones who drive the story.
After that, I plot ten to fifteen scenes in advance and I write until I get through those. Even then, I’m often surprised by what emerges. Once those scenes are done, I start all over again… lather, rinse, repeat. When I’ve come to the end, I stop.
I do it this way because it works for me. Everyone else’s mileage WILL vary.
Rob in Denver’s last blog post..On being prolific
I like to have an idea where the story is going, but am open to its changing on the way. But I LIKE plot. I like to read books that have good ones, and I like to put stories together with lots of intertwining bits that all work. I don’t begrudge the work if the characters and story determine that we need to detour off where I thought the plot was going, but thinking through all the permutations is FUN. “If this character does this, then this will happen, and she’ll go there and meet him, which will mean that….”
Um, or is that just me?
–Deb’s last blog post..Match it for Pratchett
Just wanted to say thanks for this post. This has been something that I’ve been counter-productively using as a speedbump. I keep thinking I just need to start writing, but then part of me goes, “But where is it all going?” I think this is what I needed to see to just get me moving and just start writing.
Thanks!
Adam
Adam’s last blog post..Start-ups, work-life balance and success
@ Rob – I can’t tell, and I’m not sure anyone could. I guess I might have been looking at it from the writer’s perspective, not the reader’s perspective, in some ways. My spin on this was that you can plan life all you want, but it will throw you curves, and sometimes it seems like more fun to go with it. And you could try writing that way as well, to mimic life.
I agree with you too – when writing, either way, or a hybrid, will work – and as you say, you do what works for you. I always say, “right tool for the job”.
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the privilege of choice.
Ahhh…I’ve been waiting for this post ever since James’ teaser comment on my D&D post.
I had never really thought of writing fiction this way, but it sounds great.
Do you go so far as to determine a character’s attribute, so that you know how he or she would react, say, based on low intelligence, or high charisma?
I wonder how many fantasy novels might have already been written this way, or really as a translation of an actual D&D campaign.
And of course, this method looks applicable with any fiction genre.
Nez’s last blog post..Blog Haiku #1
@Everyone: Excellent questions going on here. I’m a little crunched today, but I will give answers to everyone a little later on.
@ Monika – Your chance to dabble might come sooner than you think…
@ Brett – I agree. No one can see the future that clearly, not even authors.
@ Rob – You can’t tell the difference. But as an author, you feel the enjoyment much better when you have just a very vague idea and you adapt to changes with flexibility. Writing a novel should be a pleasure, not a chore – and too much plotting in advance creates a cage.
@ Deb – Well, it’s certainly not me
I don’t have the inclination or the mental energy to try to work out plots. It was one of my huge downfalls as a gamer. But I excelled at action-reaction and created some fantastic scenes for all because of that.
@ Adam – It’s going where your characters lead you. Let them go, and follow their adventures.
@ Nez – Oh, we’re not quite done with you and your D&D yet. As for character attributes, I would say yes. They each have distinct personality – but those create some of the framework for where they lead you and the possible outcome of a situation.
Another great post with the potential to actually inspire me to write about something other than the latest food poisoning outbreak. Nice work, Harry.
I’m no great writer. I’ve had nothing published to speak of. I really have no great opinion on whether one way works better than the other in general. My theory on most things is do whatever works.
For me, I’m not a planner. I hate to-do lists, despise formal outlines. When clients send me charts and spreadsheets, it makes me want to pull my hair out. I pack the night before a trip and usually forget my toothbrush. So I can’t imagine plotting out a novel bit by bit and sticking to it. I’d quit before the writing started.
When I write stories, the opening and the ending usually come to me first (in that order). Only once have I completely changed the final paragraph of anything I’ve written to adapt it to a major change of course that happened in the middle. From opening paragraph to ending paragraph (or page, whatever), that’s where the fun happens for me. Getting the characters from birth to death (so to speak) isn’t something I do so much as watch. I like your analogy of them having their own lives, because that’s very true for me.
Amy – Write From Home’s last blog post..Corporate Mentality: How Understanding It Can Help You
Like Rob, I use a hybrid method, though mine is a bit different from his. I start writing the story with only a general idea of where it is going, and as I write more of the story I add some subpoints to hit on the way to the conclusion.
Once I get to about the halfway point, I’ve got a fairly decent outline for the rest of the novel, but it doesn’t feel contrived because it has grown organically from the writing process.
At least that’s what I’ve done so far, and I don’t anticipate that changing in my current book.
Joshua Clanton – Design for the WEB’s last blog post..Debugging CSS the Fast Way
@ Amy,
That is the way one of my books is coming together. I wrote the beginning, and then I decided where the cutoff was time-wise (as it is a biography). Those parts were really easy, and helped me to pin it down.
The bulk of my work is writing the “in between”, making that part fun *and* hard hitting. When ideas come to me for the different parts of the story, I write them. As I organized it roughly in 1 year blocks it is pretty easy to link it all together.
PS – love your latest post… still laughing at how it totally mimics this place.
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the privilege of choice.
(this place, meaning where I am sitting right now – not the MwP blog…)
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the privilege of choice.
James wrote:
“But as an author, you feel the enjoyment much better when you have just a very vague idea and you adapt to changes with flexibility. Writing a novel should be a pleasure, not a chore – and too much plotting in advance creates a cage”
That’s a lot to presume, no? You can’t possibly be speaking for anyone other than yourself.
Rob in Denver’s last blog post..On being prolific
@ Rob – Not at all. What presumption is there in saying that over-plotting creates rigid lines and restriction that doesn’t have to be?
If you’re going on vacation, do you plan every minute? Or do you have a general guideline of where you’re going, how long you can stay and some sights that interest you? Most people choose B. Why? Because it’s impossible to feel comfortable with compulsive planning that removes all free will or sense of fun.
Then it becomes a chore. A bore. You know everything down to the last detail before it even happens. There’s no room for flexibility, change, adaptation… what if you think of a better scene – and that scene affects the outcome? What if it’s a better outcome?
Too bad, bonzo. You plotted. You’re stuck. It MUST be like this. Ditch the great scene, follow the plan…
No, I don’t think I presume at all. And I’m certainly not making crazy statements when I say writing should be a pleasure, not a chore.
But maybe you’re seeing something I don’t, and I’ve been known to change my mind, so what’s on yours? What don’t you agree with?
@James: You mean to tell me that you know how JA Konrath, Lynn Viehl, and Holly Lisle — three working, published full time writers who prepare extensive outlines — feel when they write? Are you saying that each of these writers thinks that what they do is a chore?
If you are, then you’re being presumptuous.
No, the only person you speak for when you claim that plotting is a chore and doing so strips away the fun for a writer is you. Others may agree. But it’s by no means the writing truth.
We agree when you say, “writing should be a pleasure.” But I don’t believe that one way over the other necessarily leads to it. After all, it’s the individual — not you — who defines pleasure for themselves.
As for the stuff about being stuck because “you plotted it”… well that’s just silly. It assumes a writer must stick to the plot at all costs. There’s nothing at all preventing a writer — any writer — from changing his or her mind at any point. Again, what you claim isn’t for you to decide.
Rob in Denver’s last blog post..On being prolific
@ Rob – With an attitude like that, I can say that you’ll have great pleasure picking out all sorts of things all over the Internet to crap all over. Have fun with that. Elsewhere.
We appreciate debate, but heckling is just annoying for everyone. You’re walking a fine line, so dip onto the good side and ease the nastiness.
I don’t know those three writers and I don’t know their work habits or how they feel and honestly, I don’t care. Perhaps I worded my phrasing badly – I THINK that plot is constrictive and restricting. I THINK that writers who write freely write better and have more fun.
Everyone’s pleasure is personal, I agree. Slicing one’s skin open is considered pleasurable by many. Nothing wrong with saying it isn’t the norm for all. Likewise, meticulous plotting may be fun for some. It’s not the norm for all.
And that, I have a right to claim.
@Rob: What we’re saying is based on observations we’ve seen over the years and from comments we’ve had here in the various topics in this series. Some people have the tendency to box themselves in with how they believe their story should go. They don’t want to deviate from the course they’ve set and therefore sacrifice something better for something stale.
James is not being presumptuous at all. A detailed plot may be fine and enjoyable for one writer, it might not for another. My point is, if it’s not working for you, try something else and see if that works. Personally, I don’t enjoy extensive outlines or the restrictions they place on my creativity. While an outline might evolve from the story as I go, it’s very rarely the other way around. It’s never written in stone and always subject to change.
What’s a PhP board? I’ve always wanted to try RPGs but I’ve never bumped into the opportunity. I think it would be good for my fiction writing. I’d love to do a superhero one. Does that exist?
Since I’m a huge planner, the idea of working through plot without any kind of plan makes me want to twitch and squirm. However, it is something I want to try and I’m hoping to give it a go in November for NaNoWriMo.
My geek side is rearing its head so I’ll be on my way. Thanks for the link
Melissa Donovan’s last blog post..Jeff Buckley: Grace (Album)
@ Melissa Donovan – NaNoWriMo is cool, I did it last year and didn’t hit 50k words and I don’t even care, I did a lot of writing and am proud of myself. I’ll be doing it again this year too…
RPG’s are cool, I think you’d have fun. You’d be good at playing a superhero, you are already one in real life as far as I’m concerned
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the privilege of choice.
@ Melissa – *whistles innocently* Good things come to those who wait about a week or less…
@ Brett – Stop flirtin’ with the girls. They’re mine.
@Melissa – They’re super addicting. You’ve been warned.
@James – Looky looky. *flashes around shiny razor blade and makes Groucho eyebrows*
@Brett – Interesting that you write that way too. I once knew a girl who wrote that way also, but other than her I’ve never met another soul who writes the end first. It does make sense in your case, with the biography, so I can totally see that. Maybe you’re not as weird as I am… yet? I was told I was wrong an awful lot in school. My eighth grade English/Lit teacher grew particularly irate over the way I wrote. She was an outline stickler, and I jotted down notes on napkins. I did end up getting an A in the class, but she traumatized me quite a bit. I still have nightmares about her occasionally.
Amy – Write From Home’s last blog post..Corporate Mentality: How Understanding It Can Help You
@ Amy – As long as you don’t carve JC or MwP into your butt and you don’t offer me a shave, we’re good. And shhh, stop scaring Melissa with your warnings.
As for nightmares, I have ones in technicolour. I don’t need more.
(YES, spellcheck, colour DOES take a U! Dammit!)
@James – I have dreams in technicolor (sc says it’s wrong without the u, too), and they’re made worse by taking Chantix (stop smoking drug). None of them area appropriate to share here, but I do have an ON TOPIC tie-in. *grins at Harry, snatches away the whip*
Several times I have incorporated dreams about my characters into the story. Since I’m an insomniac and a night owl, I’m often writing before bed, so I guess it makes sense that I’d be working out my characters’ problems in my dreams as well as my own.
I seriously hate to think what my writing would look like if I had a strict outline. Would I feel obligated to ditch such inspiration, or would I sit down and rework the entire outline every time my muse struck against the plan.
I’d love to hear from a published author (of fiction) who works that way — with an outline — and learn how the other half lives.
Amy – Write From Home’s last blog post..Corporate Mentality: How Understanding It Can Help You
(@ James – you figured me out! Damn!
)
@ Amy – I figure it’s like Steven Covey says, “begin with the end in mind”, perhaps.
Oh, I’m definitely weird, I’ll send you a picture of my running shoes… unique doesn’t begin to describe them…
Yeah, school. I swear, it’s designed to crush out all individuality, all creativity, and turn us into good little corporate slaves. Well, having read your writing, I’m so glad that you persevered and continued to be “wrong”…
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the privilege of choice.
@James: Hmmm. I’m honestly puzzled by your last response because I don’t know what attitude you perceive I’ve taken. Nor did I think I was heckling or being nasty… and I certainly didn’t intend to come across that way.
You made a bold statement about how one feels — or is supposed to feel — about his or her creative process. (See more about that below in my response to Harry.) I disagreed with it… because I know there are writers who feel lost if they don’t have a plan going in. Those people don’t fit the “you” parts of your assertion. At this point I asked whether you meant to speak for yourself.
Your response — the one with the vacation example and snarky “bonzo” remark — didn’t add any clarity. Seems my follow up questions to this undermined my desire to reach understanding. As I said, I thought they were — and I was — reasonable.
Turns out they weren’t and I wasn’t. As the kids used to say, “My bad.”
@Harry: I understood your post… because you wrote “I” and “me.” It’s clear who you meant.
In defending James, you wrote:
“James is not being presumptuous at all. A detailed plot may be fine and enjoyable for one writer, it might not for another.”
The second sentence — and most of everything else in your response — echoes what you wrote in the post and is something that I agree with one hundred percent.
But that isn’t what James said to me. He wrote “… *you* feel the enjoyment much better when *you* have just a very vague idea and *you* adapt to changes with flexibility ….” And he implied *you* later by writing, “… and too much plotting in advance creates a cage.” The aforementioned vacation follow up example was also projected on his audience.
Given that, I hope you both can understand why someone might disagree, or not get that “you” actually meant something else.
Rob in Denver’s last blog post..On being prolific
@Rob: Ahhhh…yes, the frequently misunderstood Generic You. We’re always careful not to make sweeping assumptions, but sometimes that sneaky GY slips in there and confuses everyone. I’m sure James will clarify further, but I took his words to mean “some writers”, not anyone specifically.
Okay, with that explanation I see you’re not heckling (and believe me, today was *not* the day for anyone to heckle) I understand what you’re saying.
If James asks me to explain, I’ll be damned if I’ll be able to. Just try not to read between the lines too much, nine times out of ten, it’s just white space.
@ Rob – Well, when my instant reaction is a straighter spine and a frown, and that’s followed by a few emails from readers, I’d say that the tone came across poorly in text.
That’s okay. It happens. In fact, it happens with me, frequently. So since you’ve made peace and said you didn’t mean insult, I say peace and retract my borderline snark (yes, I get worse than that). The “bonzo” wasn’t directed at you, either – you might’ve missed that my comment went from speaking directly to you to mimicking being some general unnamed jerk. Not personal in the least. My apologies if it was taken that way.
The “you” used is a general “you”. As bloggers and web content writers, we’re basically steeped in “talk directly to your readers”, and the habit of “you” is one you’ll see rampant on the Internet. That is why my perception wasn’t of assumption and perhaps why yours was. Unfamiliar ‘net territory?
My experience with writers who feel stuck in a rut, lost, unable to progress and who generally struggle with fiction are those who do set too high expectations and a rigid work method. That is not the “all” but rather the “most”. Some do brilliantly with strict guidelines and plots. But not most.
When writers who feel stuck liberate themselves by removing these restrictions they set for themselves to begin with, they suddenly think, “Holy crap, why didn’t I do that sooner?” And they start enjoying themselves.
It’s much like many horse riders I see. Perfectionists and extremely strict in routine and learning methods – and they’re so tightly wound to excel that it must hurt, honestly.
Disagreement is fine and so is debate. I think bloggers may be hypersensitive to flaming, upset and chaos on their blog and hence, it’s good to debate or disagree in a way that conveys you’re not about to set our blog on fire with gasoline.
So, I hope that clears stuff up. Thanks for coming back, and honestly, if you want to keep up the discussion, I’d be happy to.
@James: Your response is scary. Get out of my head or I’ll have to go back to wearing my foil-lined helmet.
@ Harry – You might need that foil-lined helmet to help your tired brain, bro.
You’re right. It’s been a hell of a day.
But hey!! I didn’t burn the blog down!
Hi Harry – I can see how those role playing games would help with your writing. I totally agree on not plotting tightly. I’ve tried to do it, but the characters wound up doing too many other things. To make it work, the original plot would have needed to go.
Cath Lawson’s last blog post..Quit The Internet Copyright Paranoia
@All, Geez, I go to work for a few hours and it’s kind of a madhouse up in here again. James is hogging all the girls, Brett called me a superhero *blushing* and there’s even a little spat — er — misunderstanding.
Like Amy, I’m feeling very inspired by all these posts on fiction writing, and creative writing in general, so I hope you guys continue on this path. I haven’t mastered plot but I can make some cool characters. I love writing character sketches.
I still don’t understand what a PhP board is. Does that just means it uses PhP code like blogs?
Addiction to the RPG could be a problem. Years ago when I had the Sims, I played until I pretty much couldn’t differentiate between the game and reality. I would walk around and swear there was a little diamond icon floating around above my head. Ever heard of Time Crisis? Don’t even let me near that game!
Melissa Donovan’s last blog post..Improve Your Writing: Proofread, Edit, Repeat
@James & Harry: Thanks, guys.
Rob in Denver’s last blog post..On being prolific
Even when I plot my stories,
the stories and the characters
take on a life of their own.
I really agree with you about letting the characters determine plot. Anytime a writer has an agenda, it shows, and I confess, I stop reading.
Wow! Great post. I’m more of a planner than a ‘seat of my pants’ writer, however, I have been known to veer. I actually started my current novel with no plans. I woke up at 4 in the morning one day and decided to start writing. I’ve put the novel aside a few times in the past 3 years, but I keep coming back to it. Each time it becomes something entirely new. I’ve planned it down to the ‘T’ this time and still it is nothing like the outline at all. Maybe I’m more of a ‘seat of my pants’ writer than I thought.
I write because I enjoy it, so I never truly feel confined to follow an outline. There’s no one pinning my to it.
And as a sidenote for RPG’s. I used to be addicted to RPing on the Harry Potter message boards. It actually did wonders for my writing. My dialogue is far better, and it helped me in creating deeper, more complex characters. It also made me over indulge in useless description for word count, but I’m trying to fix that. lol
Anyway, keep up the good work. You’ve made a new fan for life. Your posts on writing are invaluable, and are helping me in areas I didn’t even know to look. Thanks.
@ Mandy – Good, you can come be an addict on our RPG game when we launch it in a couple of week
I’ll definitely check it out, but i can’t make any promises. I don’t have a reliable internet connection at the moment, so posts would be sporadic and that’s not fair to the frequent writers.