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How much planning do you do for a longer writing project?



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Thu Oct 03, 2019 12:28 pm
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AvantCoffee says...



Similar to mellifera's 'What inspired your project?' thread (which I also recommend checking out!), in the spirit of LMS and longer writing projects in general, I'm interested to know how much planning you do for longer projects, and how you go about the process!

This can be novels, novellas, short story or poetry anthologies, or any other type of larger-scale writing project. How did you plan your most recent long writing project, if at all? What do you find works best for you? Do you plan vaguely or outline every plot point and character detail? Do you try to base your longer work or anthology around an overall theme?

Optionally, have you found planning sabotages your writing in any way?
  





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Fri Oct 04, 2019 12:17 pm
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Mageheart says...



I'm actually not much of a planner - I've tried writing out plans for my novels in the past, but they're usually not strictly followed. Most of my planning happens mentally instead. I'm a big daydreamer, and some of my favorite plot points have come out of long showers or staring out of the car window during long car rides.

When I get an idea, I usually daydream about it or decide to throw it into the novel. I used to write out potential scenes that were set later than where I currently was in my stories when I was younger, but LMS made me more prone to daydreaming. I'd really love to get back into that habit - it made writing the scenes in between a lot more fun and exciting, and gave me the excuse to rewrite potential scenes in numerous ways because I wasn't sure what would work best with what I ended up writing.

The only exception to the no written planning rule was my podcast's draft. I wanted to make sure I had enough content for each episode and have at least ten of them, so I had to sit down and figure out where I wanted the story to go ahead of time.
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Sat Oct 05, 2019 4:09 am
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JacyBuschman says...



My stories usually originate from deep dreams. I wake up, and I write down every detail I can before memory loss kicks in. After that, I usually only have a good 1/3 of the story being detailed enough for something like a novel-length. In my current piece I dreamed of only the ending of my novel, and character names.

The beginning chapters are each of the characters "backstories" and introductions of them, when I went to write the first two, I just wrote and went with the natural flow of events. On my third character introduction, I actually made a draft of an outline of how I wanted to progress her chapter and events. I stuck with most of it but while writing I simply moved things in different directions based on how I wanted to develop the character's personalities.


I do however have a strict writing schedule to keep me motivated enough for the story and writing. I try to spend X amount of hours writing per week, which includes outline drafts, and studying techniques.

I think strict planning can sabotage someone who is more open to changing things up, but if you are an overthinker I definitely believe outlines and planning should be more upheld.
  





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Sun Oct 06, 2019 2:38 am
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Horisun says...



I make a long, detailed outline... Then I completely ignore it.
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Sun Oct 06, 2019 2:48 am
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Fishr says...



I don’t. At all. I just write whatever pops from my finger tips.
The sadness drains through me rather than skating over my skin. It travels through every cell to reach the ground. I filter it yet strangely enough, I keep what was pure and it is the dirt that leaves.
  








When she transformed into a butterfly, the caterpillars spoke not of her beauty, but of her weirdness. They wanted her to change back into what she always had been. But she had wings.
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