Young Writers Society

Hi Everyone! I hope this is a good place to put a question like this.

I've been planning a longer-form story (even longer than some of my recent posted works in chapter length) for some time now, and it made me question how everyone else plans for stories.

Let me ask, how do you like to plan? This can apply to any form of writing!

I do a little bit of both, personally. I have a general idea for how the plot is going to go (sometimes a twist to unveil later ). I'll begin writing and see where things go. I've made some of my favorite works of my own via this method. On the other hand, I may plan almost every detail before I jump into writing, and sometimes I will add additional content if I feel like it is needed. This means I'll have two tabs open at once, one for writing, and another with my plans for scenes and such on another.

I'm curious how everyone approaches this? Do you make character profiles, outlines on how prose will go, or do you just go with your gut?

I actually started this story "Exes and Killers" because I got writer's block on another WIP, I randomly got on my notes and started writing dialogues, then it turned into paragraphs! XD

I have no idea where am going with this story, but I have a premise in my head and am planning it as I go. That's how I go about most of my stories, the downside, however, is that I get writer's block so much easier. XP But it still works a lot better for me!

Super late to this, but here we go!

Ooh! Interesting question! Personally, I start out with an idea, and I start plotting. (How you get that idea is another subject entirely. XD ) I write down everything about the idea that I know so far, and maybe some stuff I don't know. (A lot of times my notes are full of "maybe... but maybe not") If I have any questions or anything that is unclear, I write it down, and brainstorm what I want. However, I often will not write down specifically how every scene is going to go (unless I already know and have an idea) and go with the flow of the story. Often, I'll find more creative ways if I do it that way, but sometimes not.
I don't usually make character profiles, but I'll write down everything I know about them in a messy sort of fashion.

This is such a an interesting question! Thanks for sharing!

I feel like I just make things up as I go bc planning takes a lot of time and patience, but that causes a whole bunch of problems and loopholes I have to jump through, but at the same time I'm too deep in to stop now. Essentially this whole novel is just me putting the main character in a lab and seeing how he reacts to different stimuli (except that stimuli is the universe literally ending)

But I have another novel I'm rebooting which is gonna be planned more

Thank you for all the great responses! I find, nowadays, that fully planning out a story burns me out by the end. I had fully planned out a story which I finished about a year ago, but I felt like I only finished it out of an obligation. At the time, it had everything, a theme that I resonated with, linear character arcs, etc. But the ending was quite undercooked because I only felt the obligation to get it done.
Today I keep planning to a minimalist approach. Write down important plot points that I want to happen and not much more (though I make character profiles for both fun and as a little guide to make sure characters are more or less consistent). I find myself having much more fun writing, it’s also allowed me to make more fleshed out character-based narratives.