Exercise 8: Post Here!

[Tamur]

Thanks Tim, and MountainTroll.

I think a lot of people resist structuring the plot, and prefer to simply go with what feels right as the writing progresses.

There are some very good things about that approach - mainly, as a writer you're able to allow the characters freedom to create the plot "on their own". Anyone who hasn't experienced it thinks it's a sign of mental instability, but a well-defined character really does take off and do unexpected things as a story progresses.

That said, the exercise of establishing a plot guideline, even if it's only four or five major story events, brings the benefit MountainTroll wrote of at the end of her comments -- the nebulous cloud of possibilities becomes nailed down in a few spots. Also, the painful work of defining some plot points will make you much more aware of how events flow in and out of each other, how tightly they weave together, and how difficult it can be to weave subplots into the mix successfully.

...Maybe because I myself don’t look very far ahead in life, but often puzzle over the twists and turns of the past...

Very interesting that you found it easier going backwards, and this is an good idea about why -- never thought of that myself.

I tend to build in both directions, going backwards for a bit until I have all the answers to my initial scene, then go forwards until something I don't expect comes up and go backwards again to answer why that happened. I can see the reason I do this -- because I'm very cautious and don't like making decisions without knowing everything about the situation.

Personality and plot creation preference, someone should do a correlation study!