For those who write longer fics...

[flybystardancer]

Do you make an outline first? And how do you keep the action from stalling out in the middle of the story?

I want to try to work on a fic for NaNo, though I'm not going to fuss about word counts. I'm working on an outline for it right now, but I've stalled out with what to do. I have the beginning, I know where I want to end it... I just can't figure out how to get from a to b. It's a huge blank. This seems to happen every time I try to plan out a longer fic. I get the beginning, I get the end, but then I have no clue how to bridge the two.

Comments

[beckyh2112.livejournal.com]

I tend to wind up outlining somewhere in the middle, actually. I wind up thinking about the story a lot while I'm at work (to keep myself from losing my gorammed mind), so if I get stuck on something I just let it go for a bit and come back to it later.

And sometimes I just go "Puuuuuuuck, tell me to write this thing."

[antepathy.livejournal.com]

I start a story by throwing balls in the air, basically. I pick some characters and say OKAY what's going on here with you? What happens if I throw YOU in with THIS OTHER GUY? Connections start happening.

But I write character based stories. Often the end I think I want when I start the story...goes somewhere entirely different. I actually like when that happens, because something organic is taking over instead. About halfway through the story, everything snaps into place and I know everything that needs to happen to get to the end.

I find plotting out rigidly to be really restrictive and believe it or not, an inspiration-killer. Because if I know what happens...I don't want to write it--I already know how it ends! I like the surprise and discovery of writing a story.

But plot driven writers would find my way ridiculous and terrifying. SO, YMMV.

(ETA Sorry, becky, not sure why this showed up as a reply to yours. Yay LJ screwup?)

[flybystardancer.livejournal.com]

I tend to be character-driven for shorter fics, but if I want something longer, I need to outline it. Otherwise things end up short and rushed.

And that happens to me every once in a while. SO ANNOYING. Why must you screw up, LJ?

[flybystardancer.livejournal.com]

I try to avoid doing writing-stuffs at work. I'm easily distracted enough as it is!