How do you write? (Plot)

I usually know where it will start and where it will end and that is about all.

i write with my hands lol. but when i write i just let it flow i don't plan ahead because i'll start questioning my own idea

I usually know the general, overarching plot. I outline and think up details as I go, and I try to leave it open to changes. A plan helps the story keep moving, but sometimes it's the stuff you think of as you go that's the best.

Hi guys.

For me it varies. I always have an idea of where I'm going. Sometimes I write out a basic plot. Sometimes just a character sketch (very loose, tho ). Sometimes just an idea. With one script, I "boarded" every scene - I took the important details of the scene and put them on an index card, then could mix and match scene cards to play the timeline effectively. It gave me a great sense of where I was going.

Yet at the same time, I've begun work on an episodic that I only really knew little bits and pieces about before I worked on it. 18 pages in, I found that I had created a totally different story, but one that excited me so much more.

Depends on what I am writing. If it is something on the fly, then I write what comes to me.

The bigger projects, I tend to develop an outline of the plot, research the information for the details, then build the characters and meat of the plot around that. Needless to say, I'm still in the "research" phase for a couple of my projects.

I write as I go. Sometimes I'll have a vague idea where the plot is going, but my characters are all so strong-willed that the story rarely goes where I think it's going to. Over the years, I've concluded that planning is a waste of time, and that writing a rough draft is a much better way to do it.

I tend to start with an idea, write a little to get a feel for the story/characters, then sit back and plot it out, and then go back to writing it.
Sometimes I plan it before I start writing; but I don't do well without a specific plot in mind (and I don't trust myself not to forget key points without writing them down) so I very rarely write without having an outline of some sort to guide me. That being said, I don't know that I've ever left an original outline unchanged for very long--new things pop up as I write, or something that I thought would work ends up not working so I have to change it, etc.

hmmm...sometimes I'll have an extremely vague idea of what the plot will be, but more often than not I'll just put down what comes into my head as I write

I get a picture ~ not usually either the beginning or the end so I write from either end. I write what I *see* so all my books tend to play out as movies in my head. Gets me in a lot of trouble.

My characters seem to enjoy going out of their way to make sure my plot does anything but go as I intended it - I want to kill them.

I am working on a rough draft without a bigger plan. I have a near term idea of where the story is going but I don't have a clear idea of the end yet. I plan to give the story structure and consistency during the editing process. Seems backwards to me but at the same time it makes sense.

hmm...It's just whatevah lol comes to me at the moment.

I always plan the basics, because otherwise the pacing is all messed up. But other than that, it varies a lot - sometimes I have a scene-by-scene outline, sometimes just a catalyst, midpoint and crisis.

That actually depends on what I'm writing. If it's something moderately big, like a novel, a play or screenplay, I plan out the overarching plot, but I usually leave myself some legroom when it comes to the action, or the dialogue, etc. If it's a short-story, I almost never plot: I follow the Isaac Asimov method, knowing what's at the beginning and the end but not really what happens in the middle. I ALWAYS base my stories around a moral or a theme, which is really the only thing that keeps my writing together. If I manage to keep that in mind the whole time, then I think I succeed in the end.

I think whitewings has the right idea, though. I usually plot my characters to the point of knowing where their every freckle happens to be (you never know, that might figure into the plot later), and then put some of those characters into a plot-blender, and let their personalities - complimentary or conflicting - make a story out of that. People to me are always the more interesting aspect, no matter how good the story is.

I just tend to develop a general idea, jot down some notes on some scenes I want to add but then start at the beginning and keep writing. I rarely outline or 'plot' a story. Sometimes I even let the characters go where they want to go and most of the time it works out fine. It's rare that I write myself into a 'hole'.

I have a general idea from start to finish, and as I write it, some things get added and some things deleted.
Jan