Writers: know thy story or What the hell is that brown thing anyway?

[BigTexan]

Okay, I admit it, I watched too many episodes of Rocky and Bullwinkle as a child.

Anyways, I've had some offline conversations that have made me start thinking.

I NEED to know the story before I start writing. I need to know how it starts, how the middle goes and how it ends. Then I can start writing and if it goes astray it's okay as long as the basic story doesn't really change too drastically.

However I've heard from a couple of writers here that they don't know the story when they start writing. Instead they just start writing and the story flows out.

So I thought it would be interesting to pose this questions to all here.

Do you know your story before you start writing?

Do you know your characters before you start writing?

I have to answer yes to both questions. When I don't the story sucks. How about you?

BigTexan
And even if you are one of the people who have told me how it works for you, please feel free to chime in here

 

[kristydoll]

I am big in writing outlines for serious stories. But even before I write the outline, I have gone over the storie's start, plot, characters, and climax for weeks in my head. I find it better to mull out the entire thing in my mind before it ever hits paper.

If I am just writing to write - or doing an exercise - then I like to just write and see where it leads.

kristy

 

[Justin_Thyme]

I've never had much success trying to outline...anything. I recall starting each term with a neat outline for my notes, an exercise that quickly turned to mush as most lecturers didn't seem to follow an outline - at all.

Sooo I formulate my basic storyline in my head and try to adhere as much as possible to where I thought the story ought to have gone. Probably why the (finished?) product needs so many rewrites and edits in order to whip it into shape for posting.

Even after all that, I sometimes find that reading a story after it has been posted for months leaves me a bit confused as to how the story managed to take some of the turns it did.

I think now, even if I did have an outline, as a story unfolds, sudden flashes of inspiration would make hash of the outline anyway!
JT

 

[ronde]

I always have a story mapped before I start writing. I have a beginning, a scene for each character introduction, a "main" story scene, and an ending. I know who my characters are going to be, but their personalities fleshout during the story. They sometimes go in a different direction than I had planned. The content of each of these scenes tends to develop as I write and get to know my characters. I can't just start writing without knowing where the story's going.

 

[Graymouse]

It used to be that I had no real idea about what a story was or where it was going until I was about ten pages into it. A lot of my writing is inspired by random snipets of my day-to-day life, songs, people I meet, etc. Maybe I'd hear a line from a song and it would make me think of a particular scene or something; I'd start writing and go from there. For a while this worked for me.

Lately, however, doing this results in me getting about fifteen to twenty pages of what might be a promising story, only to suddenly realize I have no idea how the story resolves. I'm stuck, then, with pages and pages of writing that will never see the light of day; right now, in fact, there are about forty (I shit you not) twenty page half-stories festering away on my hard drive.

Thus, I've started to be a bit more structured and organized. With the few I'm actively working on at the moment, I started with an ending, which seemed like the most important part. I didn't necessarily write the ending first; I just knew what it was. I'm still getting a little bogged down in the middle, but at least there's a light at the end of the tunnel--if I keep slogging away I'll eventually get there. These two stories, I think, I will actually finish.

So yeah, I used to jump in blind; now I don't. Writing, for me, is an ever-evolving process.

 

[Star of Penumbra]

Usually I don't know where a story is going to go when I start on it. Once a scene is written, I write the next, which is often something entirely different than what I thought it would be.

My stories tend to develop lives of thier own, and sometimes I feel like I'm writing down something that has already happened, instead of making it up as I go along. It's strange, but not bad.

 

[Madame Manga]

I never have a plan. Sometimes a story springs forth fully formed, but more often I see a couple of characters and a scene. I have no idea what will happen, but in the process of writing that first scene, all sorts of other scenes come to my mind. Usually it falls into context, I write the other scenes and tie it all together, and there's the story. I think of that first bit of writing as a seed that holds all the genetic information for the whole story; looking at the seed before it sprouts tells you nothing about the mature plant. You have to water it and weed it and work patiently for the outcome.

With the longer stories, I often run into a wall at some point. Then I have to step back and make an outline so I can tell where I'm heading. Sometimes I drastically change intention somewhere along the way, but that's very rare. A story like that is probably going to have a visible kink in its growth. Sometimes it dies entirely and I abandon it.

Once a story takes on a life of its own and seems to happen faster than I can type, I know it's going to work out. Often the ending comes to me at the same time that the first scene falls into context. It's a unified concept all of a sudden, which I suppose you could call "knowing the story" before you write it.

For me, the initial process is almost unconscious. I can go back later and analyze the plot structure and the character relationships and so on, but in the act of writing, it's almost impossible to do that, and very possibly counterproductive. (Which is why you finish the first draft before re-reading or letting anyone else see it...)

MM

 

[sirhugs]

a lot of my stories are so short- one scene - that an outline is redundant. i always start with a concept- a picture, but as the mvie plays out in my head, it often surprises me.

 

[Pookie]

I spend quite a bit of time outlining my stories. What I don't include in the outline is the sex scenes.

I may make notes that I need a certain sex scene in certain places for impact, but I typically do not even deal with what will be in the sex scene other than the participants (if even that in many cases).

I like to get the basic plot in outline form. Then I can build around that basic plot with different tangents, twists and scenes. The outline keeps me focused on where I need to take each character though.

 

[deliciously_naughty]

I usually have a general story line, and know my characters, but I generally lose control of my story around page 3. My characters seem to take over...but when they've gone where I didn't want them to, I'm capable of analyzing if it's the right direction or if I need to backspace and rewrite. I've always hated outlining, but I do usually think the story before I write it.

 

[DanielOrme]

Before I start, I have to know the characters, where they're going, and where they'll end up. But an outline would be too constrictive. Some of the best ideas come from the process of writing, so I have to make allowance for that. If the story idea was good to begin with, the new ideas will fit in and improve the story without your having to change the basic ideas you started with.

 

[OT]

An apt analogy is writing software.

There are hackers and there are "software engineers".

For very short programs (stories) hacking is fine and often produces very agreeable results.

If a programmer is going to write a full fledged quality program, he needs to spend some time with the design.

 

[ronde]

OT, you're right. I never thought about it before, but I do tend to write stories like I write code. I'm not quite as detailed with stories, but I still have a start, an ending, and a strategy for how to get from one to the other.

 

[Whispersecret]

An apt analogy is writing software.

There are hackers and there are "software engineers".

For very short programs (stories) hacking is fine and often produces very agreeable results.

If a programmer is going to write a full fledged quality program, he needs to spend some time with the design.

I both agree and disagree.

I start my stories with a vague premise. Sometimes I have an idea of how it's going to end. Most of the time I don't think of the ending until I'm about halfway through. Throughout the writing, though, I'm revising. I'm strengthening particular character traits while downplaying others. I'm changing this person's motivation because it would dovetail better if I did such and such.

So, for me, the design is a constant process. It is not something I do to prepare.

 

[Diane Marie]

I would have to say, I tend to plan out my stories, although neither it’s path nor it’s characters are set in stone. My first story here started with only my heroine, along with a basic idea on what I wanted my story to say. My last, only my heroine, she found her own path, admittedly it was a path I’ve used repeatedly here.

Generally, I am of the opinion the longer the work the more planning the writer has to do. I’m also of the opinion that for a long work, the writer needs to keep notes. Characters change and evolve, plots change course or evolve in ways we never contemplated.

 

[Sabledrake]

I always have to know one or the other (character or story) for sure, and have at least an inkling of the other, or it goes nowhere. If the story's the stronger element, I will spend some time thinking of who should be placed into the situation. If there's a full-blown character alive in my mind, I will come up with ideas for stories to center around him or her.

I hardly ever will sit down and write out an outline beforehand. Always hated that part of a school assignment. I'd write the paper first and then go back and make up an outline.

Sabledrake

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Scenes

I start from the sensuality of an erotic scene.
I did one story based on the erotic charge I felt looking at a street that was all manicured lawns stretching out as far as I could see on a hot and close summer night No one in sight, shadows on the lawns, the sound of lawn sprinklers.
It just seemed very erotic to me, Don't know why. So I put two people in a parked car and away I went.

Had another 'vision' of a girl sitting in a chair under a bright light in a dark room while some unseen stranger offered her more and more money if she'd take her clothes off. I had no idea what was going on, but I had to write it. I had about 50 pages before I discovered what was happening. The characaters and situations finally told me.

I can't outline at all. I have no idea what my characters will do until they tell me, and for me, plot comes out of character usually. And I agree with the others: once they take over the story, writing just becomes an amazing process.

But then you're sorry to see them go.

---dr.M.

 

[deliciously_naughty]

I hardly ever will sit down and write out an outline beforehand. Always hated that part of a school assignment. I'd write the paper first and then go back and make up an outline.

Sabledrake

LOL...I thought I was the only person who did that!

 

[M.A.Thompson]

Do you know your story before you start writing?

Do you know your characters before you start writing?

Good question. I have enjoyed the responses so far.

I guess I am somewhere in between on this one. More often than not I already have the story in my head: plot, characters, introduction and conclusion, however, these devices are always subject to change, and more often than not, do. I usually initiate my writing on a predestined course but regularly find I am detoured along the way. Once born on paper, my characters frequently take me where they want to go which at times differs from what I had in store for them.

On occasion I have started a story with only a simple idea in my mind. This is challenging and time consuming but incredibly satisfying for me upon completion.

This unpredictability is what makes writing so enjoyable for me and I would not want it any other way.

 

[LC Rough Caress]

The process of writing for me is long, twisted, and full of demonic rituals.

......

Alright, alright...but it's still full of demonic rituals.

First, I get my inspiration. For me, almost anything can be turned into a story...maybe not an award winning story, but a story nonetheless.

Example: I'm in a department store looking around when I see this salacious redhead walk in wearing a schoolgirl's uniform that no school would allow. Now everyone has seen a girl like this before and many would say "Oh, come on, that's too easy. Anyone could imagine any number of things with a girl like that." But then she walks to the customer service desk and begins speaking with another girl. Now girl number two isn't quite as stunning as girl number one. First of all, she's at work and so she can't exactly dress like the tart we would like her to be. Second, she simply dosen't have the physical presence of the redhead; she's a little shorter, with dirty blonde hair that's cut in a conservative style, and the way she carries herself says that she's not accustomed to being assertive. In short, she's a carbon copy of many other girls you see walking down the street. Then, just as I'm about to turn my attention to the redhead once more, the blonde punches her time card, gets her purse, and walks hand-in-hand with the redhead out of the store.

Now THAT is interesting...

The first thought, and hope, is "BI-SEXUAL!" (Sorry, but lesbians have this tendency of NOT having sex with men ). Ok, so bi is still too easy. You want more? How's this?

In my little fantasy relationship, the redhead wears the pants. But more than that, the redhead holds the whip, and the blonde wears the collar. And now the blonde is taking her lunchbreak to go off and spend the next hour doing the bidding of her Mistress.

So now you've got your opening for the story...and from there, you can move on into all sorts of little ideas, filling in the details as you go. I won't tell the rest of the story here, though...I'll just let you work out the ending for yourself.

And where do the demonic rituals fit in? Shit, you know how hard it is to get good ratings on your own talents?

 

[NoJo]

I've had erotic fantasies, which have "evolved" over months or even years into stories as I "replayed" them to myself (under the covers). So sometimes an entire narrative has been built around a single erotic episode.

When I write these stories, often the original episode that started it all gets buried in the story, and I may even excise it altogether!

Other times, I have an idea for a (complete) story, and try to "spice it up" with erotica scenes and interaction. This never seems to work very well as erotica.

A third way my stuff gets written is when I write an erotic encounter based on real experience (mine, or someone else's). These tend to work better because at least one protagonist's motivation will be clear to me. These stories tend to be easist for me to write.

 

[Solaris the Elf]

Do you know your story before you start writing?
Do you know your characters before you start writing?

For most of my stories I know just the basic idea for the story like my Halloween story, the costume was already picked out, the elf was picked and how they would end up in bed picked out. But sometimes it doesn't go my way and the story ends up being better.

The characters I know before I even start writing my stories. Most of the time, the characters are figured out right after the story plot is figured out.

 

[wildsweetone]

Do you know your story before you start writing?

Do you know your characters before you start writing?

i have spent months worrying what was wrong with me. for the life i me, i cannot plan a story. it just does not come naturally to me. i've followed ideas, i've hunted information, i've asked questions... still, it is not something that i've felt okay using a specific formula with.

i start a story from a single word, or a sentence, or a picture.

one story i am working on in the background, began with:

'The steaming hot coffee cup stood on the wooden table.'

i simply sat in front of the computer and that's what got typed on the screen in front of me. all i pictured in my mind then, was a whisp of steam coming from the top of the cup. from that i have been pushed to an emotional level i never ever wanted to traverse. i still don't want to write it. i hate it! it deals with things i would prefer to not live through, but my character keeps looming in my mind. not telling me in my head what to write, but just reminding me that the story is there and he needs me to put it on paper for him. damn, where did this guy come from? why is it me that he's chosen to write this story? he has made me write his story, now he wants me to write his wife's story? where does this guy get off??? how dare he force me to get into her head. damn damn damn grrrr *looking at my charcoal sticks with great longing...* i wish sometimes, that the drawing urge would flood back and the writing would take a back seat for a while. the trouble is, i know full well that the darn story will not write itself.

so, in answer to your first question, i have no idea what i'm going to be putting on the screen or paper in front of me and i'm often stunned when i've finished writing by what's ended up on the page.

do i know my characters before i begin writing? hmm mostly i have no idea about my characters. i do have one guy who keeps cropping up in front of me. coincidentally, he 'feels' like the guy in the story i mentioned above. i 'feel' that he's turning up in the odd piece just to remind me he's not done with me yet. i think it's because he's not fully formed... hell, i don't know.

i also have a nun that turned up in one of my 300 or 500 word stories... God knows where she came from, she just arrived on a bus one day. another author's character killed her off. but, she keeps lingering in the back of my mind. maybe she's got something she wants to tell too. i dunno, i'm not sure i want to know either. lol

anyhow, finally, i am at peace with my way of writing. i don't say that S.King and his quote in my profile is 100% correct, but i do say that we are all different and there probably are billions of different ways of writing, and not one of those ways is wrong.

 

[BigTexan]

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread.

WSO, I agree, There isn't any "wrong" way to develop your story.

In fact, I'm glad to see how many different opinions and methods there are. I think that as long as it works for you, it's cool.

Anyways, thanks ya'll. I've enjoyed this thread.

BigTexan

 

[Svenskaflicka]

I have two different ways of writing a story. One of them is that I make up the characters, the plot, the ending, in short, the whole enchilada. I even draw my characters in sketchbooks, to get a better feel of who they are. And then I write the story.

My other way of writing a story, is that I go into some kinda writing trance, where I just grab a pen and a notebook, and fill the pages without thinking that much.

I hardly ever re-write.