So, we are half way though October, which means we have 2 weeks and 2 days until the madness which is November. At this point, I hope all your collective creative juices are flowing; not so much that you drown in them before Nov 1, desperate to start, unable to wait... that sort of thing, and not so little that the fertile garden which is your imagination is a dustbowl of forlorn hopes and dreams.
Surprisingly, there is a solution to both of these two extremes, and that solution is Planning!
Now that we’ve established this wonderful fact (what, you already knew? Congrats. Now let the rest of us catch you up, eh?), the next quandary is exactly [i]how[/i] much planning to do.
The obsessive/compulsive amongst us might avoid planning because they will do WAY to much planning ,and take the magic of the unknown out of their creation process. I knew a guy back in Uni who’d write 10K words of notes for a Pol Sci essay he had to write (in the place of a final exam), which was meant to be only 6K words long! He’d spend all his allotted time planning, and in the end never get round to writing the essay because he didn’t know which bits to leave out. So over planning – not such a good move.
Likewise under planning – having a scene or two in your head, a MC, and squat all else – can be quite disheartening. I see a fair few NaNo’s on our forums saying ‘I got nothing’ or similar. That can put you off, especially if you get to day 2 and run out of steam, don’t know where to go from there, and see all the other Nano’s word counts steadily climbing.
What I suggest is a ‘moderate’ level of planning. What might that be, you may be asking? Well if varies for different people, and different novel types, but here are a few suggestions I’ve rounded up on the last 5 years of NaNo (in which I’ve completed all 5 times, so it may count for something after all!).
Firstly, have an idea about what sort of story you want to tell. If you have enough of an idea of your story to write a synopsis, you are doing well. Main protagonist(s), main antagonist(s), locations, and where you want the narrative to go is next. Having an idea of your endpoint is great, but not essential at this point. I often have 2 or 3 endpoints in mind, and as the narrative unfolds, I pick the one that suits best.
Once you’ve got these points sorted, you're doing well. Then, if you can, you can write some character discriptions of those characters that have revealed themselves to you already (a whole ‘nother post in itself to explain fully), and try to come up with ‘plot points’ that you would like to hit. I often use scenes that I’ve got a fairly solid idea of, and then move the narrative along to try to reach them, keeping in mind the very important point of internal consistency.
Now I ‘try’ to write linearly, and keeping the story and consistency intact. It’s how I work, like really slowly watching a TV show in my mind, and writing a description of that. It’s a visual imagination thing. However, there are others out there that have an audio dominant imagination, and others that have a tactile dominant imagination. So this might not work for them. Some people I know write all the bits that they have clear in their mind, then go back and ‘try’ to link them all up. Then in the end they have to fix the internal consistency in edits. I wish them luck – because I’d find that very hard!
Then there are the mystery or murder mystery writers, who usually write the end bit (the revelation) and then go back and build a story to lead up to it. There are also many other ways to write lots of other types of novel.
Which ever way you chose to create, I still feel that ‘joining the dots’ as it were gives you a little more confidence than ‘freehand,’ especially for newer novelists. So consider some planning in the next few weeks. You may be sooo glad you did.
Ray
PS – there is an old military axiom that says ‘no plan survives contact with the enemy.’ How this relates is that what you planned and what you end up writing may only have a minimal amount in common, but don’t despair. Like planning a car touring trip to somewhere you’ve never been before, changing you mind part way though and going in a different direction (as it looks different once you are there) can bring you great joy and satisfaction. So don’t feel you need to slavishly ‘keep to the plan.’ Remember, enjoy your writing, above all else, otherwise, why do we do it?
So do you agree or disagree with this approach? Got a better idea, or some timely hint about planning? Post it!
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NaNoprogress Tracker!
http://members.iinet.net.au/~maxtac/nano-progress09.xls
"May the muse be with you!"
40,262 / 50,000
Oct 14, 2009 - 21 33
Agreed, I'm a fan of the planning myself. In my first year I only found out about Nanowrimo a couple of days before it began, so I didn't really have any time to plan. I took a new random idea from my head and ran with it. I found it very hard going and just got past the finish line with a day to spare. When I did Nano again last year I had a rough plan in advance and finished with more than a week to spare. I guess it also helped that I used an idea that had been swimming around my head for years.
For me, the most important bit of the planning process was setting milestones. A beginning and an end (or as Ray mentioned, several possible endings - I might use this idea this year!) are very useful because you know what you have to write about at the start and you know where the story is eventually leading. Last year I also had a handful of midway plot points that I had planned out, which kept me from straying too far from the main story.
I also like to keep a list of characters so that I don't lose track. You don't necessarily have to have all the characters planned out in advance (you can add to it as you go along), but it's obviously useful to have the main character(s) and a couple of supporting characters in mind for that mental advantage of knowing that you have things you can write about at the beginning. Listing them and giving a short description before writing them into the story gives you a better idea of how do describe them when the writing starts proper.
Lastly, and going on a bit of a tangent, I had an idea last year to take photos in and around Sydney of the locations I wanted to set some scenes in (because my story was set in Sydney). I never got around to it, though. I'm thinking it's something that could help people if they live near the place that their story is set and/or if they want some inspiration for their fictional setting.
60,230 / 50,000
Oct 14, 2009 - 22 06
Some good ideas there Adrian! I particularly like this one.
For another idea, if you can't get to the place in question to take the pictures, google images could be a great help!
Ray
----------NaNoprogress Tracker!
http://members.iinet.net.au/~maxtac/nano-progress09.xls
"May the muse be with you!"
10,188 / 50,000
Oct 15, 2009 - 19 54
Hehe, on the images of locations/settings I've been using Google Maps Street View to find places I like the look of for settings. I'm using areas I have/do live in so I have a basis of knowledge, but I'm sure this could work for more out there places which people haven't visited.
----------This is my first NaNoWriMo and I'm using and idea I've had dangling at the back of my brain for quite some time, so I feel I need to plan it in some way. My main problem is the fact that I know that when I have an idea most of the time I will forget it, and be stuck sitting thinking about it later, so I just jot down anything I think could be relevant in the future. At the moment I have a general idea, a few characters and a loose plot - but I have no idea where it's going or whats happening throughout. In the next few weeks I know I will flesh out these things, because I need to know things so I have something to write. On the other hand, I think for me it's best to keep in mind that it's not set in stone, and changes are allowed. If I have a brainstorm and I find a different path I'll let myself follow it, but planning is a safety net. :]
Credit to gc-stock (http://gc-stock.deviantart.com/) & PCU-Stockage (http://pcu-stockage.deviantart.com/) for the images used in my Novel Cover.
1,520 / 50,000
Oct 16, 2009 - 07 23
Loving the advice guys,
----------I'm currently deciding between thinking of a new original story or expanding one of the short stories I have already written,
problem is I dont really have a new story in mind, and if i choose the story i am thinking of expanding, i will have a lot of universe creating to do to make it believable :S
Tom
O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear;
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!
40,603 / 50,000
Oct 16, 2009 - 22 04
I'm not an expert, but in my own personal opinion, it would be better to have an idea than not, and you still have a little under half a month to work out how to make it work (through planning, need I say?). So I say, if you have an idea, go with it. It may even be easier than coming up with a whole new set of circumstances and characters, and really, a whole world, over tweaking one you already have.
Especially if you've been particularly thinking about expanding it for a while. What better place to try than NaNoWriMo?
----------"Blocked again and again and again until you learn to keep your mouth shut and your mind closed, Potter!" --Severus Snape
"Little else but revenge and candy are cold and sweet." -- Me, just now
848 / 50,000
Oct 18, 2009 - 21 46
I haven't cracked the spine of the Marshall Plan Workbook this time around, but I've been messing with plot twists in my head for years... I think I have it.
When I wrote out the basic arc from my little brain, it fit beautifully into a 3-act structure - so I won't fuss much further.
Still kinda jealous of people with Dramatica or similar - but seeing as though it doesn't actually write, is it that much use?
72,599 / 50,000
Oct 18, 2009 - 22 21
Was going to wing nano entirely this year, then chickened out and now hastily scrabbling a plan together before Nov 1.
Eep.
----------Nanoing with the zombie muse, Daramor!
2005: Musical Scales (53K)
2006: Myra (50K)
2007: Dark of Day (50K)
2008: TKH, SS, FW & CaP (200K total)
2009: Lucidity, ??, DaC & ?? (Going for 200K again! \o/)
1,520 / 50,000
Oct 18, 2009 - 23 22
Yeh this is true, I'll take the advice :) I'll need to do some hectic planning though, the reason I've been holding off on this story is I'm worried about writing it without having a fully realised world and backstory, so i'll need to do that
----------Tom
O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear;
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!
24,926 / 50,000
Oct 30, 2009 - 14 42
Yoiks.
I wasn't going to NaNo this year, as I never got far at all the last time I tried it. However... I have been trying some short story writing and have various elements already half-designed that I can kinda pick-n-choose. So whatever 'planning' I've done is in my head, mostly. Especially at this point. I guess my biggest hurdle is picking enough "things to happen" that a long-enough plot materializes.
Wade.