On writing: plot

[ladyjanelly]

 So with one 25,000 fic done and posted, and another 35000 word fic with only 500 words of falling  action left to write, I feel like I'm starting to understand plot and conflict a lot better, though I still need to work with foreshadowing and variety. I feel like I can plot out a story and have an idea of what has to happen to keep things moving better than I used to. I wrote two fics back to back and didn't run into any roadblocks that I couldn't get around. 60,000 words done in 2 months, not counting the little Leverage fic. It feels amazing

I've been kind of using Dan Wells' 7 point plot structure (here's someone else's interpretation of it, since it seems silly to type all this up when she's done such a great job:  http://lisabouchard.com/2011/10/22/the-seven-point-system/  ). In a multi-POV story, I kind of need one of those chains for each character; sometimes they share pinches to their story lines, but the other parts are fairly unique to each person in the plot.  

Even if I don't have all 7 points at the beginning, I can see the void, I know I'll need to fill it and when. I'm hoping to have less abandoned WIPs in the future (and I'm sort of resolving to only show fic to one or two cheerleaders and/or beta-readers before they're done, to keep me honest).

And then onto that I weave my Janelly formula for romance, which is that each character has to have a reason to get with the other, and a reason not to, and a reason to respect the other, and it'll all work out in the end.. :)

Anybody else have a system that really works? Tricks to managing conflict and resolution? 

Also, still loving Scrivener, and the way it lets me sketch out a plot with the chapter titles and note-cards.

Comments

[peaceful_sands]

Makes for interesting reading. x

[peaceful_sands]

I'd like to actually to have the time to plot my next fic before I start writing.

[ladyjanelly]

I'm not yet to the point where I plot before I start, but now when I begin to flail around for something for the characters to do, I have a better idea where to start looking and what I need to sift into the story to make it work, like how to build symmetry between the hook and the resolution. Believe me, time spent plotting really cuts down the actual writing time, because there's more time on your way to where you need to go and less wandering. Without this, my were-cougar!Cougar fic would have had Jensen and Cougar getting away with the niece and being confronted in Shanghai by Clay and the Losers. Clunky and wasteful.

[ladyjanelly]

Try laying the formula over the fic you're stuck on and see what checks off, what's repetitive, what's missing?