That Moment: Wait, this is much better ...

[TheWritingGroup]

I'm sure it happens to us all.

I'm 49,000 words into a story. A key part of the story is that my protagonist's whole appearance (and identity) have changed. Part of it is an inquiry into whether one can be the same person when you look different and act different and almost no one from your past would recognize you.

In the draft as of this morning, the protagonist meets someone who is a lot like their previous self. It's meant to draw the contrast, to show that them-now is very different from them-on-page-1. I was driving around shopping today, and thinking about something highly tangential, and it came to me: they could know each other. It makes their interactions more intense and interesting, it makes more sense than their not knowing each other, given they share a hobby in a fairly small area, and it gives both of them reasons to be both happy and apprehensive. I have to rewrite some scenes, but the end result will be improved substantially.

(This is a Literotica story. "Their interactions" involve sex.)

When I first started writing fiction, I was sure that I'd be a plotter. I expected to create highly polished, perfect outlines, and then just turn them into stories without much deviation. I turn out to be mostly a pantser. I know how a few scenes might go, and then I write and discover what the story is as I go. It was surprising.

--Annie

 

[StillStunned]

 

[TheOtherTeacher]

I get you entirely.

I've had stories that stayed almost exactly like they were planned.
I've had stories that ended up looking nothing like the original plot.

I often find when writing that I have a plot hole or two in my original outline and have to add extra (sex) scenes to fix them.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

When I first started writing fiction, I was sure that I'd be a plotter. I expected to create highly polished, perfect outlines, and then just turn them into stories without much deviation. I turn out to be mostly a pantser. I know how a few scenes might go, and then I write and discover what the story is as I go. It was surprising.

No one is ever 100% plotter or 100% pantser. That percentage can even vary from story to story.

 

[nice90sguy]

I'm sure it happens to us all.

Yeah, certainly to me.
It usually leads to inconsistencies all over the place, because I don't think through all the changes that it entails.

 

[lovecraft68]

This is why my thought on writing has always been we don't write the story, it writes us.

A local author I met at book event commented that in her view writing was like raising a child. You created this child, named them, shaped them in their infancy, but as they grow older they take on traits all their own and go their own way. In that sense we can create the character and come up with the plot, but at some point, especially in longer stories, the thing will take on a mind of its own.

I never fight it and have come to where I expect it to happen. I truck along with my original intents, but I know that at some point there will come that moment of "Oh, wait, hey we can..." and it goes where it goes.

Enjoy the ride.

The premise of your story strikes a chord with me. I'm that person. The me of 35 and under and the me of 35 to now are vastly different. Obviously same core personality, but far more stable, mature, much better at dealing with things, more patient, less volatile. Grew up, calmed down thanks to a good person in my life. Over time I've met people that remind me of former me and the line from Kilmer in Tombstone fits perfectly.

"He reminds me of me, yup, I'm sure of it, I hate him."

 

[BobbyBrandt]

This is another example of why it is so crucial that a writer be patient when it comes to publishing parts of a story too soon.

 

[iwatchus]

I am a new-ish writer. I am sitting on the forums right now avoiding going back and rewriting a whole chunk I wrote yesterday. This is the first time I have realized overnight that I needed to do this. My only other section I have rewritten for content/story was one that I was uncomfortable with and I sought feedback from my spouse, rewriting a difficult section based on their feedback.

I am on my twenty-third story in the less than three months I have been writing. (Twentieth published this AM.) Everything just erupts almost uncontrollably, my typing speed being my limiting factor. I do many passes of wordsmithing after that first explosion, but changing the actions is very rare.

Like Annie in the OP, I expected to be a planner and plotter, knowing every detail of what was going to happen. But I discovered that these are the character's stories, I am merely recording their actions. Stepping in like a God, changing their world, feels wrong.

Most of my stories, and all of my submissions thus far, are part of the same series and I am trying to write the finale. This time, I know the exit and I am trying to nudge them in the direction I need them to go. And somewhat, I think I just don't want to let them go.

Sorry for rambling.

 

[iwatchus]

This is another example of why it is so crucial that a writer be patient when it comes to publishing parts of a story too soon.

This came in while I was rambling above. I really should have followed this, but I felt compelled to publish each chapter as soon as it was finished. Oh well.

 

[NivKay]

They say writing is the wages for serving the devil…

* my flesh sizzles and from some further cell, someone screams, ‘Where to begin?’*

 

[BobbyBrandt]

This came in while I was rambling above. I really should have followed this, but I felt compelled to publish each chapter as soon as it was finished. Oh well.

A very common approach to publishing here. Some learn their lesson and some don't.

 

[StillStunned]

A very common approach to publishing here. Some learn their lesson and some don't.

Some might consider it more of a personal preference than a lesson.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

This came in while I was rambling above. I really should have followed this, but I felt compelled to publish each chapter as soon as it was finished. Oh well.

I did that with some early stories, and ... let's say, I've written 115,000 words since my last story was published. I hope to get one story out the door in June. Frustrating, but they'll be better stories.

--Annie

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Some might consider it more of a personal preference than a lesson.

And those who do will remain writers addicted to instant applause and their writing will suffer for it. That's okay. It's hobby writing after all.

 

[MelissaBaby]

And those who do will remain writers addicted to instant applause and their writing will suffer for it. That's okay. It's hobby writing after all.

I don't agree. As a new writer, I spent more than three years writing a series and publishing the chapters (36 of them) as I finished them.

There is no doubt in my mind that I improved as a writer because of the regular feedback I received during that time. Had I sat alone for three years, putting down words which no one was reading, I doubt very much if I would have made the kind of progress I achieved. In fact, it's unlikely I would have finished it at all.

 

[iwatchus]

And those who do will remain writers addicted to instant applause and their writing will suffer for it. That's okay. It's hobby writing after all.

It is as much therapy as hobby for me.

 

[NivKay]

I don't agree. As a new writer, I spent more than three years writing a series and publishing the chapters (36 of them) as I finished them.

There is no doubt in my mind that I improved as a writer because of the regular feedback I received during that time. Had I sat alone for three years, putting down words which no one was reading, I doubt very much if I would have made the kind of progress I achieved. In fact, it's unlikely I would have finished it at all.

writing is not formulaic.. you’re right.. anyone who tells you what you should be doing isn’t telling you anything.. may the force be with you!!

 

[lovecraft68]

A very common approach to publishing here. Some learn their lesson and some don't.

People can write their own way, not everyone is a plotter and some people can write and adjust on the fly. In fact for some, it can be fun or seen as a challenge to work around things as you go.

Here's a lesson for you.

You are no different than anyone else here, and you sure as hell aren't the only person out there in the market.

What I'm saying is you're no better than anyone else and your smug arrogance is off putting.

 

[lovecraft68]

writing is not formulaic.. you’re right.. anyone who tells you what you should be doing isn’t telling you anything.. may the force be with you!!

Its the endless plotter vs Panster debate and of course the real answer is there is room for both, just find what works for you and go for it.

The more I plan the more I get aggravated and the story turns to shit, I'm from the let her rip school, and that works...for me. That's what matters.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I'm sure it happens to us all.

I'm 49,000 words into a story. A key part of the story is that my protagonist's whole appearance (and identity) have changed. Part of it is an inquiry into whether one can be the same person when you look different and act different and almost no one from your past would recognize you.

In the draft as of this morning, the protagonist meets someone who is a lot like their previous self. It's meant to draw the contrast, to show that them-now is very different from them-on-page-1. I was driving around shopping today, and thinking about something highly tangential, and it came to me: they could know each other. It makes their interactions more intense and interesting, it makes more sense than their not knowing each other, given they share a hobby in a fairly small area, and it gives both of them reasons to be both happy and apprehensive. I have to rewrite some scenes, but the end result will be improved substantially.

(This is a Literotica story. "Their interactions" involve sex.)

When I first started writing fiction, I was sure that I'd be a plotter. I expected to create highly polished, perfect outlines, and then just turn them into stories without much deviation. I turn out to be mostly a pantser. I know how a few scenes might go, and then I write and discover what the story is as I go. It was surprising.

--Annie

Too true. But be careful...

I was finishing up a nice little short story about a trans girls issues with her step mother and thought a song reference would be a nice touch. Just a reference to emphasize the conflict, nothing major, no big rewrites. just a reference. That reference turned that nice little short story(~12K words) into a 40K+ word short novel.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

Its the endless plotter vs Panster debate and of course the real answer is there is room for both, just find what works for you and go for it.

I agree with the point upstream: nobody is all one or the other. (I'm sure someone will argue with that, but treat it as hyperbole if it bothers you.)

--Annie

 

[MrHereWriting]

That Moment: Wait, this is much better ...​

There's a lot of people out there who think their first idea is their best idea.

 

[lovecraft68]

I agree with the point upstream: nobody is all one or the other. (I'm sure someone will argue with that, but treat it as hyperbole if it bothers you.)

--Annie

You have to have some 'plan' before you write, but not everyone outlines of follows the 'rules'

I'm sure on the other side, even the most detailed plotter has moments of sliding off the plan and realizing it made the piece better.

But if we blend the two types together, we don't get fun debates.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I don't agree. As a new writer, I spent more than three years writing a series and publishing the chapters (36 of them) as I finished them.

There is no doubt in my mind that I improved as a writer because of the regular feedback I received during that time. Had I sat alone for three years, putting down words which no one was reading, I doubt very much if I would have made the kind of progress I achieved. In fact, it's unlikely I would have finished it at all.

I'd also note that writing (and other creation) often benefits from constraints. It's not hard to find examples just here on AH: themed story events, keyword prompts, chain stories where each author has to maintain continuity with whatever has already been established by previous authors, most of us thrive on some kind of constraint. "Publish as you go" is a constraint that happens to work for me.

No matter how long I spend working on a story, I can always find flaws in it, or things that could be developed further. Up to a point, that drive to improve it is beneficial. But indulged too far, it induces creative paralysis. Ultimately I need to be able to accept than anything I write, anything anybody writes, is going to be flawed, but that doesn't automatically mean it's not good enough.

"Publish as you go" (or rather, "maintain a one-chapter buffer between what's written and what gets published") works for me as a way of avoiding that paralysis. It sets a limit on how much time I spend futzing around with each chapter, and creates constraints that spur creativity.

Yes, sometimes I get to Chapter 5 and find myself wishing I'd set something up back in Chapter 1. But it's better than the story that never gets posted at all.

@MelissaBaby has written some fine stories for Literotica, and you know what, so have I; I'm not ashamed to know my worth as a writer. Folk who want to sneer at others for writing in the way that works for them might do better to get over their insecurities and come to terms with the fact that different people work in different ways.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

You have to have some 'plan' before you write, but not everyone outlines of follows the 'rules'

I'm sure on the other side, even the most detailed plotter has moments of sliding off the plan and realizing it made the piece better.

But if we blend the two types together, we don't get fun debates.

Like so many other concepts, the idea of pantser vs plotter is a spectrum that at its core is a binary. The reality is that well all live somewhere in the middle. Very few of us are 100 percent either.
My personal style is to start with a what if, and then see where it goes. ("What if a young man saw a murder and had to hide as a girl to avoid getting killed?" turned into a short story and a novella)

Sure, I have to decide on a general direction for the story, and give some thought to my MCs back story, so I guess that's planning. But the story itself, I let that unfold as I write. I love the internal discovery as my characters come alive as I write. The downside is I have too many partially written stories sitting on the shelf just waiting for that flash of inspiration necessary to get me out of the corner I've written myself into.