#discovery writer

[georgelthomas]

Discovery Writing #WriterCommunity #WritingCommunity #Writer #Discovery #Writing #DiscoveryWriting #Pantsing #Pantser #Outlining #Outline #FindingThe Story

Discovery Writing

[toseehowthestoryends]

hahahaha I screwed up in Freedom

Yeah, that scene with Colonel creepy ass Rhett? It doesn't belong in chapter 14. That sucker goes into chapter 16. This is what happens when I don't write chronologically.

Yep. Oops.

[toseehowthestoryends]

This is me, changing a small and probably overlooked paragraph in chapter 1 of Freedom because something down the line has changed.

Oh, the joys of being a discovery writer.

[theravenpiper]

Writing By the Seat of My Pants

From their comments, outliners appear to imagine that pantsers (aka discovery writers) flap around aimlessly, blundering and relying on blind luck to make progress in their manuscript.

Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. The process of discovery writers is more often an evolution. Let me give a minor example from my work in progress:

I began with a single antagonist. This choice soon proved a serious problem because the protagonists were fleeing away from the antagonist. To increase the conflict, I gave the antagonist some distant allies. That was better, but still not enough.

So, I put in some magical means of communication so the antagonist and protagonists could face each other remotely. That was another improvement, but I still wasn't satisfied. I gave the antagonist three subordinates, each of whom harries the protagonists. At first, the subordinates were poorly defined. I soon realized I had to develop them. I gave each subordinate a personality and a subplot. One was pure nastiness. Another felt she should stand in place of main character's dead mother and urge him to support the antagonist. The third ended up betraying the protagonist.

With that, I had compensated for the lack of direct contact with the antagonist, developed several sub-plots of varying importance, and had a story whose twists and turns satisfied me. I doubt I would have had any of these things if I had started from an outline. I needed the deficiencies that arose from my original idea to improve the story. Just as species evolve in reaction to changes in their environment, so my story evolved my plot. Perhaps a better term than "pantser" or "discovery writer" would be "evolution writer?" But whatever you call my process, it is not random. Instead, rather than imagining my story from scratch, I develop it as the needs of the plot become clear.

[authorkarajorgensen]

Research & the Discovery Writer

Something I greatly enjoy is learning about other writers’ processes for coming up with ideas and actually writing their books. What fascinates me most are writers who can seemingly research everything they need before starting a book. Every time I think about it, I laugh. That is certainly not my process. The problem is that I am a discovery writer who plans their books out only a little at a…

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[georgelthomas]

Discovery Writing

Discovery Writing #WriterCommunity #WritingCommunity #Writer #Discovery #Writing #DiscoveryWriting #Pantsing #Pantser #Outlining #Outline #FindingThe Story

Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well. Today, I am exploring how to write your story without an outline. I have talked a lot about outlining stories because it has always been the easiest way for me to write; I have to know where my plot is going before I even start to write it. The problem I have discovered with this is that I sometimes get bored with the story if I know everything about it. When…

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[ao3-rex1223]

Thought I could share a bit about my writing process. Pretty much everything I do, I learned from trial and error. When I was writing as a teen, most of my stories were fairly short so they could be on one document. Twelfth Floor Intern has made me restructure my process. I tried a bunch of different writing apps and programs, but, honestly, Google Docs has been the best fit for me. I've had to try a few different things to make it work, but I've figured out a pretty solid method. I have a folder for each story and within that folder, I have each chapter as it's own document (pictured below).

I've had to write up a timeline, too, since most chapters only span a day or two so I have a doc with just bullet points for days and a quick blurb about what happened that day. I was starting to forget when things happened in relation to the present. I also have 3 docs with the characters: one for main characters, one for side characters, and one for extras (briefly mentioned or encountered characters with little to no bearing on the plot). Helps me keep track of names I've used and quick backgrounds on characters that are encountered less frequently.

I also occasionally write scenes out of order, if ideas come to me that I'm just too excited to wait to write or if it's something that will need teasing out. I lable them as "TFI: [Quick description of scene]" in their own documents as well. Then, when I'm ready to add them to the current chapter, I delete the document. I also have a document with what I call "scraps". They are scenes or pieces of scenes that didn't fit with what I was going for. Sometimes they get reworked and added, sometimes they stay stuck in my scrap doc.

That's the skinny of what I do, but if you want to know more, feel free to ask! ❤️

[the-penguin-of-baskervilles]

Dear Alice,

I would like to take some time off your busy day to express to you my love, my appreciation and my admiration for your writing. 

You are a perfectionist and it shows. 

Your writing is nothing short of miraculously perfect and incredible. Your attention to small details is unlike any other writer's. You seem to have everything about your characters figured out. There are no blind spots or holes in your story. Your narration is captivating to the point where one loses track of time as they read your amazing fics (to name Restitution is a given by now but Princess and The Lawyer lately has been an Oof of disproportionate proportions!) 

Thank you for taking the time out of your day and your life to give us these amazing stories.

Thank you for the energy and love you put into them.

I wish we can show you how much they mean to us in more ways than just this 💕💕

Thank you so much! 😊

I am unworthy of such high praise! (But I will accept, and basking in its glow anyways.)

The funny thing about those small details is that I’m kind of a hybrid writer. Part of me is a “discovery writer” and the other half is an “architect writer.” So, if you think I always have everything figured out… nope! I usually don’t know the ending until just before I write it. When I finish this story, I’ll probably discover the ending about a week before all of you.

I have strong theories about where the details are leading me but I can only craft the next logical steps. Typically, I’m thinking in terms of five chapter arcs. That means I still get to be creative while “having a plan.” I’m not always quite sure how the details fit together. But once I get closer to the end, it all clicks into place.

I would totally agree that The Princess is my best work yet! Out of everything I’ve ever written, it’s had the most flow and pace. Like you guys, I’ve gone back and re-read it for entertainment. And because I need time to process the details, so I can figure out how to pull off our midpoint twist. (Yes, there’s going to be a midpoint twist.)

The best compliment a writer could receive is that their stories make time fly. Thank you so much for saying that. I’m going to live off that compliment for… probably the next decade or so? I rely on positive feedback to keep going!

I do have a tiny bit of disappointing news… no chapter will be published this Friday. My discovery writer side threw a fit this week and made a mess of chapter six. It’s in no shape for public viewing at this time. Fortunately, I have realized what needs to change so the story will work.

The segment of the plot we’re into right now is the beginning of my “Break into Two” beat. I’m going to set up the second act and start laying the groundwork for the midpoint twist I mentioned earlier. For some reason, this is always my most challenging transition point of a story for me to write. In order to do it well, we have to wait another week.