So, one failed experiment later, I am in slightly more comfortable territory, and am looking at ways to plan out my novel. One site I have found especially useful (I have pretty much decided to base my plan on the advice there) is Larry Brooks storyfix.com, and especially his ten part story structure series. What I now want to do, is get an outline of each of the four boxes he describes and what happens within them in my story.

Now, to be clear, none of what Larry says here is rocket science. Nor is it even new or unfamiliar. This structure is recognisable in most novels I’ve read and certainly in any good film I’ve seen (they are shorter, and so it’s much easier to see the structure). But having it all written down and elaborated on by someone who knows is really useful, and I’m sure it’s going to save me a good deal of head scratching.

Can you plan too much?

Yes. I really believe you can. And spoil the enjoyment of writing your story in the process. How much is too much? Ah, now there I cannot help. I have a strong feeling this will be down to the individual. My rule of thumb at the moment is to pay attention, and if it feels right to write, or if I know that any more planning is just procrastination, then I’m done.

Another couple of points I’m keeping in mind, just to keep things loose are:

Keep the details sparse

I think I’ll keep a separate document for working things out. This is because I tend to think my way through problems best by writing through them. This tends to create a lot of disorganised detail about various parts of the story, which is great, but not something I want cluttering up my outline, and probably something I don’t want to look at too often once the ideas have solidified.

Instead I will keep my outline clean by giving each major scene or part of the story a title, just to remind me what goes in it. I probably won’t go as far as naming every single scene, but the important ones will certainly get this treatment. Filling in the gaps can be done (to a certain, as yet undetermined extent) later.

Feel free to change it

The problem with writing down a plan (and probably a big reason for so called “organic” writers hating them), is that it makes things feel permanent. This does not have to be the case of course. I will keep my plan open at all times when writing so that I can change it on the fly should I think of another scene that can go in. I will also plan regular reviews if my plan so that I can change it in light of something I have written, and to check that I still like where it’s going.

So that’s the plan for the plan. I will of course, let you know how I get on. In the mean time I’d love to know your thoughts on planning and what methods you use. Please use the comments section below.

I would think of Star Wars, and how Mr. Lucas started with the middle three chapters of the story (and we’ve seen what difficulty he had in trying to start from the very beginning. Born from midichloreans indeed); and I watched Akira, noticing how the vast bulk of the story actually happened in the past. Backstory was everything.

It would follow then, that a large portion of my writing time would be spent on fleshing out the backstory, and making it compelling. It was, after all, the backdrop to the story; the motivation for the characters; the very reason for the events in the story proper to now take place. Complete all this, and my story would take care of itself.

Well, okay. Maybe. But I don’t think that way now, and in truth, I never tried it out this way either. Of course backstory is important, and especially in a film like Akira, where the situation is basically, “what happened before might happen again”. But I would argue that the really important parts of your backstory, the ones that make your premise possible, you already know. The rest is for texture and theming; still important of course, but I’m not keen on spending pages and pages writing complete histories for each of my characters. And I don’t think it’s necessary.

With the story I’m currently writing, I’m taking the same approach to backstory as I’m trying with plot (see this article from Craig). I’m not entirely making it up as I go along, I have a very rough idea, but for the most part, I’m experimenting, having fun just making stuff up, and seeing what feels right. That stuff stays, the rest goes. I’ve got to be careful, of course, when I plant the seed of a potential plot development or character backstory, I’ve got to be aware that’s what I’m doing. I’ve got to remember I’ve done it, and think about where it can go, what other connections can be made. Otherwise I’ll just end up with a birds nest of ideas. I think as long as I keep my wits about me I should be alright, but I’ll keep you posted.

Any tips or discussion around backstory? You know what to do!

But something happened last week, I don’t know what it was really, a strange congruence of idea and inspiration, that magic sense of things just falling into place. Not only did I have the opening of this book all mapped out, but I actually managed to write it all down in one sitting too. Two hours of pure straight up writing. Now I’m not saying all of this to brag, far from it, but it made me think about how daunting it can be to start a new project (especially if you- and by that I mean me- have so many unfinished projects lying around the place). Of course there is the initial excitement of formulating the idea, the skeleton of the story, the origins of your main characters, and letting them set out on their journey, but what is the ultimate destination? Where are they headed?

Some writers I’m sure know exactly where a project is heading. They have the whole thing mapped out, and know what they’re going to write. Personally, I’m more of a seat of your pants writer – when it comes to longer projects anyway – and often I’m not sure exactly how a project is going to end. This has its own dangers of course. Multiple books, the dreaded trilogy (I detest trilogies), books hundreds upon hundreds of pages long. You may also – in the editing – be required to cut huge reams of material that simply don’t fit in once you’ve reached the end and have to go back for your redrafts. However, it can also be exciting, in a way, letting your characters take you through their lives, on the paths that feel natural to them, seeing them succeed or fail, sometimes even die. I used to be really precious about all my characters, never wanting any of them to come to any harm, but this creates a cast of dull superhumans who can conquer any problem. Once I’d readjusted my thinking of that, I am now all too happy to kill off or maim or destroy my characters (perhaps a little too gleefully in some cases)

I guess this all falls under the umbrella of improvisational writing. This new project that I’ve started, I know roughly how the main plot strands start, I’ve some vague idea’s of where they may cross each other, may interweave, but other than that, I’m going to see where it takes me. Provided of course that I can continue to write! Maybe you don’t see it as such a big deal. Hey, maybe all writing is improvisational, at its most base level, but I would like to think that this isn’t always the case. Especially with shorter fiction. Generally (I personally feel) a short story is like a moment, an episode that drops you into a situation, takes you through it, pulls you out. There are other posts here (courtesy of Matt) dealing with shorter fiction (MUCH shorter in some cases!) and that is a challenge in itself. Creating a complete whole in a few thousand words. This is why I find it much more difficult to improvise with shorter fiction. There aren’t that many other paths to go down. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it can be far more fulfilling to create and complete a fiction in an afternoon, in one sitting, than to have a long winding road ahead of you which ultimately leads to a destination you can’t quite see. I personally just enjoy the journey.