ToM: An anti-planner's concessions to plot

[jenlyn_b]

When I first started writing, I didn't plan at all. I sat down with a character's name and a supernatural power or situation, and I figured out little things like "conflict" and "action" as I went along. The ending was as much a surprise to me as to readers, but it often ended up foreshadowed by something that happened in the first third of the

Comments

[blackholly]

I really, really like the idea of "what happens next" notes. That seems really helpful and not at all constricting.

[johnlevitt]

I would love to be able to plot more thoroughly. But my problem is this: no matter how much I think about a book, I seldom come up with any plot ideas. At all.

Scenes, yes. Characters, yes. Plot -- not so much.

The way I get ideas for the plot is during the process of writing. It seems to be the only thing that works for me. And seeing as I have written five novels and am working on a sixth and nothing has changed, it's something that I've just had to accept.