Does the story change as you write it?

[BelleCanzuto]

We've already had some interesting discussions about ways to develop stories, and the general idea of plotting it out, versus creating some characters and a drama and seeing what happens. (Discussion threads here: Plotters vs Pantsers, 1 and
here: Plotters vs Pantsers, 2).

But that's not what I mean by my question. I'm thinking more of this kind of dilemma: I started a long story over a year ago, I wrote a lot of it, and it's about two thirds done. But I've left it alone for long stretches while I worked on other things. Either those other things flowed more easily, or kept my attention more consistently, or were spurred by deadlines related to contests.

So, now I have this story that I believe I will finish some time (hopefully this year). And while I've had the same general plot in my head all along, and while I've revisited it in my head numerous times, I wonder if it'll turn out to be the same story it would have been, if I'd been able to complete it without stopping. If I'd sat down and worked just on that story until it was done, would the dialog be the same? Would the actions be the same? Would I have added (or left out) various scenes? I keep thinking about snippets of scenes that were very vivid to me a year ago, that I know I included notes about in the draft. But will those scenes be the same? Will those notes even make sense to me?

I haven't even looked at the draft since the spring. The last time I did, I was happy with it, and added some words (a thousand-ish, maybe). But is it the same story it was when I started?

I don't know.

What say you? Do you think setting a story aside mid writing changes it? Does it matter?

 

[NotWise]

What say you? Do you think setting a story aside mid writing changes it? Does it matter?

I say that the story doesn't exist until you write it. Everything before that is planning.

That said, I think I know what you mean. When I let readers convince me to extend "A Valentine's Day Mess" I took ten months to envision the whole story arc -- especially the end.

Now, four years after the original story, I'm finally getting near that end, and I can see that it won't go off as planned. Some things will be similar, but some of my original plans no longer work, and to really finish the story a lot of things have to be different.

What I thought would be a dramatic climax will be a confirmation. The characters have matured, and they're exhausted. They want a normal life, and I'm going to give it to them.

 

[vanmyers86]

What say you? Do you think setting a story aside mid writing changes it? Does it matter?

Sometimes a story needs to change. Sometimes I need to grow as a writer before I can finish it. The Minister Takes a Break took me two or three years to write, off and on. At the beginning, I wasn't the writer that I needed to be to do it justice.

At the time, I didn't think of it in those terms, of course. I just kept shelving it until I knew inside that the time had come to finish it. Don't ask me to explain how I knew - it was pure instinct. I knew.

 

[KeithD]

Many of my stories have a significant change as they are being written. That doesn't happen often if I write them at one sitting. If I take a few days to get it written, there is apt to be a change in something that I think makes the story stronger. I don't put any aside midpoint to hope that happens, though.

 

[SamScribble]

Change? From what? That’s my question.

As I think we have established in previous discussions, I tend to start with an interesting character (or two), set them free, and then follow them around with my pencil and notebook at the ready.

Because I tend to recycle the same settings, I often think that I can see where they are going. Character A walks in an easterly direction along Blandford Street, heading towards Marylebone High Street, and I think: Ah, yes, they’re going to turn left and head up to Waitrose. Or maybe they’re going up to Daunt Books. But, no. They turn right. Caldesi perhaps? But, no. Character A heads down to the Bond Street Tube station. So much for buying a nice piece of wagyu beef and some salad ingredients for a candle-lit supper à deux.

And so it continues. No wonder I’m in need of a cup of tea and a lie down when I finally get to the end.

 

[mfan2112]

My stories absolutely change. Often in the editing process. I have taken a section and expanded it to a whole chapter. And sometimes it is just little things, a better way of describing something, or moving a section around to let the story flow better. Sometimes I find I add to the story by subtracting from it. Each case is different.

The one thing I am finding most helpful is to have the whole thing written out before publishing a chapter. I might be publishing the first chapter before the late chapters are edited but the whole story is drafted out. Even late in a story I am finding it can be helpful to have the whole thing be editable as opposed to having early parts published and locked.

Just my two cents, YMMV.

 

[NotWise]

Sometimes a story needs to change. Sometimes I need to grow as a writer before I can finish it. The Minister Takes a Break took me two or three years to write, off and on. At the beginning, I wasn't the writer that I needed to be to do it justice.

This makes me ask the question, "Do you change as your story rewrites you?"

I'd have to say yes.

 

[TxRad]

Your story can't change until you write it. It's your story after all.

 

[PennameWombat]

Define ‘change.’ My Mel’s Universe stories have and are tending in the long-term direction that I’ve always intended.

Within that proviso individual stories have certainly morphed. Almost all of them get tweaked, either as characters become clearer or more interesting or compelling situations arise in my brain.

But some have ended up radically far away from where I first reckoned they’d go.

With Adrift in Space, the beginning stayed. Human couple kidnapped by aliens and end up on secret satellite orbiting Earth. Ending stayed. The satellite crashes near Denio, Nevada and that kicks off the series beginning with Mel’s Phone Call. While cleaning out my home office over the Christmas break I found some written notes of this and other stories. My original plot was the male MC (Peter) would crash the satellite due to the aliens interfering with his and Carole’s (his human girlfriend) relationship. But then, it changed to a love triangle. He fell in love with the alien Queen, as well as Carole. A mutiny of aliens forced him to pick a side and he helped the Queen. In the fighting, the fusion reactor was damaged and... well, fireball time.

In You Promised Me Geeks Asha was supposed to be a much more vicious and amoral vampire-like predator who preyed on geek girls and boys. Instead, she became a much more reluctant predator, her mother became the amoral predator who left dead and insensate bodies behind as she blithely went along and their strained relationship coloured things. Instead of prey, the math geek Tracy became Asha’s sometime lover and friend. Jed Miller, a local gang leader, became the primary antagonist to the two.

A few other stories outside of this universe I started without quite knowing the exact ending I wanted. So saying those changed all that much would be hard. I have a few more such stories in my ‘good start but what to do next’ folders which unlike published stories I haven’t yet figured out what to do with them.

 

[gunhilltrain]

This makes me ask the question, "Do you change as your story rewrites you?"

I'd have to say yes.

Sure, usually I start with a basic premise and then go from there. So the story does change while it's being created.

There are some older stories that I was dissatisfied with and I rewrote them with a new title. Some are on Literotica, some are elsewhere. But one rewrite is probably my limit. After that, it's definitely time to move on.

 

[Sextified]

. . . I wonder if it'll turn out to be the same story it would have been, if I'd been able to complete it without stopping. If I'd sat down and worked just on that story until it was done, would the dialog be the same? Would the actions be the same? Would I have added (or left out) various scenes? I keep thinking about snippets of scenes that were very vivid to me a year ago, that I know I included notes about in the draft. But will those scenes be the same? Will those notes even make sense to me? . . .

. . . What say you? Do you think setting a story aside mid writing changes it? Does it matter?. . .

As someone who frequently puts material on hold and revisits it, I can say delays do matter. The original version of any story I write usually seems more emotionally raw, the needed details stay sharper, and the action much more urgent.

There is often a slight softening of the rush to get thru things, whenever I come back to the characters after a long layoff.

However, plot-wise the work is almost always better and more satisfying for the audience. There are more details to hook individual readers. Where one facet captures certain kinds of fans, adding more light to the story creates dozens of additional opportunities to get followers.

If you are writing a story that is self contained, not part of a larger work, or will be set in the same universe as your other tales? Starting and stopping as your own Muse dictates is usually a good thing. If it is part of series, or might become one, don't be afraid to embellish a little, as you go thru your revisit.

At the risk of sounding a bit preachy, think of the old line about 'is it the same river as the last time we were here?'

To me, the answer is always YES and NO.

Whether or not your story is going to be substantially different is up to you. From the readers viewpoint, who have not be on the creative journey with you? It simply won't matter, unless the delay yields either a better or worse story for them.

You are different. Your delayed story will be different. That can't be helped all that much.

I'd suggest that when you revise your draft, you try to make an initial decision about it, before you even read it again.

Usually, having a clear creative goal helps much more than it hurts.

Do you want to just 'get it over with' to finally remove it from your plate? Do you want to explore the journey from the concrete beginning to your imagined end, but keep the path to that original goal fluid? Or do you want to take a totally hands off approach and do whatever you feel, in the moment your before the screen, and see where things go?

It is very easy to get sidetracked by a few loose 'Plot Bunnies' and accidentally wander off into some tricky to get out of thickets.

 

[HeyAll]

Yes.

When I start writing a story, I have the intro in mind, the general plot, and what the vibe of the story is (serious tone, fun, how hardcore, etc...)

It's fun exploring and seeing where it leads. I only write when I have ideas for what comes next, then when that happens, something reveals itself and leads to the next thing.

 

[MColton84]

I think that anything you do outside of your initial plan alters the outcome. You are a different person, thinking differently Picking up a story than you were setting it down. At least that's my opinion.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I can't imagine a scenario where a story didn't deviate from its original concept or plot while it was being written.

Character development alone will frequently drive changes, and depending upon the period in which the story takes place, even current events could influence changes.

Imagine someone starting a story last January that developed over several months. How would the pandemic have affected the plot or the characters?

Change is natural. This is one reason that I have always encouraged other writers to not post incomplete stories.

 

[Exquisition]

I think it does as part of the creative process; well, does for me anyway.

I prefer the stream of erotic consciousness approach followed by bursts of revisionism/editing - as opposed to methodical plotting. I like to get off when I write. IF that happens them I'm pretty confident the story's going somewhere.

 

[JamesMiehoff]

I am a stream of consciousness writer. So story tend to wander and then get pruned during editing.

I found that I felt better writing stories for the 750 word contest because they tended to help me rein in my OCD tendency to paint the scene with a 1000 words when 220 would have done just fine. Some readers like that, at least one didn't. His comment, "get to the fucking point". Since he didn't supply punctuation I am still not sure if he meant "get to the fucking, point" or the original statement. If the first, I am not sure who 'point' is.

The other problem with stream of consciousness writing is you tend to wander. A lot.

Now what was the question, again?

James

 

[AlexBailey]

I think that anything you do outside of your initial plan alters the outcome. You are a different person, thinking differently Picking up a story than you were setting it down. At least that's my opinion.

So, the story changes you as you write it?

Lol. Okay, I'll have to agree with that.

 

[KeithD]

I can't imagine a scenario where a story didn't deviate from its original concept or plot while it was being written.

If the story is written quickly and/or it's written to an outline, I think it can maintain its original conception.

 

[yukonnights]

I am a stream of consciousness writer. So story tend to wander and then get pruned during editing.

I found that I felt better writing stories for the 750 word contest because they tended to help me rein in my OCD tendency to paint the scene with a 1000 words when 220 would have done just fine. Some readers like that, at least one didn't. His comment, "get to the fucking point". Since he didn't supply punctuation I am still not sure if he meant "get to the fucking, point" or the original statement. If the first, I am not sure who 'point' is.

The other problem with stream of consciousness writing is you tend to wander. A lot.

Now what was the question, again?

James

"Stream of consciousness writer" — now that sounds a lot loftier than what I've been saying about myself; "too wordy".

But steam of consciousness sounds cool and mystical. I could buy some new robes too … some new age music to listen too when I write. Look at it in italics — wavy and so lofty — Stream of Consciousness WRITER — Thank you James for restoring my hope and giving me the excuse I need to use three times as many words as required ~ yukonnights, a warrior-monk of the Conscious Stream ~

 

[PennameWombat]

I can't imagine a scenario where a story didn't deviate from its original concept or plot while it was being written.

Character development alone will frequently drive changes, and depending upon the period in which the story takes place, even current events could influence changes.

Imagine someone starting a story last January that developed over several months. How would the pandemic have affected the plot or the characters?

Change is natural. This is one reason that I have always encouraged other writers to not post incomplete stories.

I posted in this thread that I have a couple of long-term universes and they're hewing to my overall plan even with plenty of micro-adjustments. Both have the advantage of being unabashed alternate histories so I get to play with past, current and future events as the plots require. Sure, they're, oh dear, incomplete, but they're bones around which I can do plenty of other stuff.

I also admitted that many of my stories have some level of evolution and I highlighted the two that morphed the most.

As to the pandemic, I'd have to set a story in 2020 for it to be there. Have *I* been affected? Yes. But almost to the last of them my characters have not the foggiest notion of what COVID19 is. Brexit was brought up in one of my stories, but that was set in 2018 so it was the 'marching toward Brexit' Brexit. It ended in early December, 2018, so if I ever do the sequel the cliff-hanger ending requests then depending on how it rolled out would depend on how COVID would or wouldn't be involved (the original story covered nine months.) But COVID has had no impact on me doing or not doing that sequel. It's just not something I've gotten around to but I have zero regrets having posted the existing story. I learned a fair amount and readers have largely appreciated it.

If the story is written quickly and/or it's written to an outline, I think it can maintain its original conception.

And I also have a number of stories that are essentially the exact tales I thought of at the time I sat down to start them. I don't generally do formal outlines but when I look back at them, my thought is "yeah, that is what I had in mind."

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

Because of life, all of my series probably qualify as being put aside I haven't noticed any significant changes from my overall plans for each. I will say that the universe I write in is becoming more detailed and thought out. It also leads to new story ideas.

I suspect that things changing depends not only on how long the creative process runs but the universe you write in. As Penname Wombat and some others have mentioned, it you write alt history you probably don't have to think about current events. I not only have stories change because something intriguing pops into my head, but it spins off new story ideas and directions. Which is why I would always encourage writers to let their minds roam and take notes about where you are led

When I first started the Penal Slavery series, it was going to focus on three characters and each part would have shifted POV. I decided to stick with one, partially because I wanted to sharpen using narrative to move the story. As I wrote I wondered about a relationship could develop when the power exchange is completely one sided. So the story went in a different direction.

For example, in my universe, there's essentially no racism. Why? Because my break point is the US 13th amendment to the Constitution sanctioning penal servitude. Post Civil War, whites got enslaved and didn't like it much. In my universe, blacks as a group tend to be very law abiding compared to the population as a whole because of the cultural stigma of enslavement. That's generated a lot of ideas because of encouraging changes from the planned story.

 

[jehoram]

Stories, to me, are like sculptures. But not the ones carved in marble, shaped according to a plan which requires that no changes be made and every chisel mark is irreversible.

Instead, they're like sculpting in clay, where you can modify the shape to suit you as you move along, adding things or taking things away, re-molding where necessary. When you're finally satisfied with the result, that's the time to cast it in bronze or whatever.

 

[Hypoxia]

Sculpting a story is one approach. Start with a framework, no matter how elaborate or basic. Slap clay onto that armature. Slap on some more; carve away some excess; prod it about till it looks right. Paint it if you wish.

How else to write?

1) Begin with a setup, a notion, and let the players improvise.
2) Or visualize an ending and work to get there.
3) Or, to be more deterministic, lay out a complete, detailed outline, and stick to it. Unless you deviate not one whit, your story evolves.

My just-posted story The Expatriates sprouted from a #2 idea, its ending set by a historical disaster. My novella now undergoing beta-reads, Quicksilver, was sort of a #1, but more freestyle, really -- I overheard an office receptionist ask a courier, "College man?" and it all grew from there, with much evolution.

As Grace Slick sang, "Life means change / How we differ from the rocks."

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I tend to follow the ‘you can’t cross the same river twice’ theory. In this case, whatever story an author opens , it will never the the same as when they last looked at it. Perhaps there are some who can lay out a detailed outline and stick strictly to it. I’m not one such and my stories evolve until the moment I hit Submit.

 

[KeithD]

I’m not one such and my stories evolve until the moment I hit Submit.

Agree, and I usually hit "submit" more than once, adding (usually--I rarely delete) before each submit: to my files; to the editor; to the marketplace version; to the free-read version. Any of these can change or add threads.