I’m a pantser. I just sit down and write. For one of the stories I’m writing I actually did a synopsis before I started because I was sending a proposal. For me that has pretty much sucked the life out of the story. As far as I’m concerned it’s done. It doesn’t really bode well for this book but I’m trying.
The thing is it is now changing from what I proposed. Which means I may not be able to target it where it was going before. That’s ok because I think there may be another place for it but I feel bad. I feel bad for several reasons but I keep on writing as you never know what the piece may become. Maybe it will go back to what it was, maybe it will grow and become something amazingly different.
All I know is that having spent so much time detailing out what the story was has, for me, inhibited it. Put plainly, I’m bored with it. I already know what happens. I hate knowing what happens.
However, I did get inspired on that wip last week and wrote over 5000 words in just a couple of days. Hopefully I can keep that up and get this baby done and that, no matter where it ends up, it is loved by all who read it.
I’m with you! Sit down and write and trust my characters to tell me where they should go next.
by Elle Fredrix January 23rd, 2007 at 12:44 pm ♦I’ve only written an outline once. I then promptly threw it away and sat down to write the book. It was for my NaNo book, and I didn’t want to take the chance I’d get stuck and not know where to go. I did make changes as I went, but the outline was pretty bare bones to begin with.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the finished product being a bit different from your proposal. I think editors expect changes to happen.
by Christine d'Abo January 24th, 2007 at 5:29 am ♦I’m a mixture. I have to know the ending or a key scene, then I can happily pants (that looks so wrong!) til I get there. I cannot pantz (does that look better?) the whole way. I tried it twice and both times the story died on me.
Hugs re. the story though. It sucks to lose interest in what you’re writing. I’m still enjoying it, though, if that helps! ;-)
by immi January 24th, 2007 at 3:44 pm ♦You go, Michelle!
As a wannabe-plotter, I’m quite sure I can’t sell a romance on a syn, because the one syn I’ve started doesn’t hang everything on the romance. I don’t *know* the relationship until after it’s written. But I’ve come to find that I do know what the plot looks like.
by May January 26th, 2007 at 5:09 am ♦