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Plotting (Plodding) Progress
May. 8th, 2009 04:22 pmI was meandering in thought today and decided to foist said thoughts upon my flist. Why? mwhahahahahah! Torture, my dears! Torture!
So this is my plodding plotting process. I start to think on a story, usually by characters first, but sometimes with a mental image of the setting or situation. Then I try to brainstorm. It usually works for about 3 seconds and then sticks its feet in the sand and refuses to be drawn any further into my shenanigans. Ok, not true. It probably last about 5 minutes or so, taking me fairly into the beginning or first scene. Then when I try to get it any further, the story line either starts going backwards, filling in all kinds of background information, or exploding into at least 15,000 different possibilities for plot lines. I end up confused and really frustrated.
While I thought on this today, it occurred to me that the next step in my process is usually to pick up the laptop and just start writing and let the story happen--or not, as sometimes happens. And that's okay. I think that's just my process. I don't understand it. I wish I could change it, because it seems to me so much easier to write when one has a timeline and a plotline all nicely laid out before them to follow. But it doesn't work for me. And I fight against it all the time, determined that I can teach myself to plot (I'm meaning "OUTLINE" here more than anything, I think) if I just put my mind to it and work hard, that eventually it will come. I'm not sure that's true anymore. And I'm not sure my process is necessarily a bad thing.
What I've done is accept my process for what it is. And that's a huge step. No sense beating myself up for supposed failures, eh?
What's up with the flist today? I'm sure I only missed yesterday to read, and yet I had 4 pages of entries! Yikes, people. Talk about everyone talking at once! ;-)
So this is my plodding plotting process. I start to think on a story, usually by characters first, but sometimes with a mental image of the setting or situation. Then I try to brainstorm. It usually works for about 3 seconds and then sticks its feet in the sand and refuses to be drawn any further into my shenanigans. Ok, not true. It probably last about 5 minutes or so, taking me fairly into the beginning or first scene. Then when I try to get it any further, the story line either starts going backwards, filling in all kinds of background information, or exploding into at least 15,000 different possibilities for plot lines. I end up confused and really frustrated.
While I thought on this today, it occurred to me that the next step in my process is usually to pick up the laptop and just start writing and let the story happen--or not, as sometimes happens. And that's okay. I think that's just my process. I don't understand it. I wish I could change it, because it seems to me so much easier to write when one has a timeline and a plotline all nicely laid out before them to follow. But it doesn't work for me. And I fight against it all the time, determined that I can teach myself to plot (I'm meaning "OUTLINE" here more than anything, I think) if I just put my mind to it and work hard, that eventually it will come. I'm not sure that's true anymore. And I'm not sure my process is necessarily a bad thing.
What I've done is accept my process for what it is. And that's a huge step. No sense beating myself up for supposed failures, eh?
What's up with the flist today? I'm sure I only missed yesterday to read, and yet I had 4 pages of entries! Yikes, people. Talk about everyone talking at once! ;-)
