I have always thought I was more of a pantsing person but then you said "if you write a chapter or two only to run fresh out of inspiration..." etc and it made me realise I clearly need a new approach. I have so many fanfic ideas that I start writing and then just stop and I thougth that was me being lazy (as in, "if I force myself to write something *will* come up, right?", if that makes sense) but now I can see that it might need the lack of direction is making me struggle to write. I'll be checking your videos on how to plan and I will let you know if I do become a fellow planner!
I'm glad this video is helping you consuder a new approach! I really hope it works out 💖 You also might find this video by Ellen Brock helpful: th-cam.com/video/sRW87vsC90I/w-d-xo.html
I'm the latter type, but... combined with deep planning, I guess. That is... I literally have all the most basic things written down (goals, motives, the essence of the chapters and scenes in them), but I “listen to the voices of the characters,” so if something happens, I change some details or introduce a new side storyline. In my latest work, I wanted to write a deep positive character arc, I hope that nothing will go against the arc. Your videos motivate me a lot, thank you!
my first longfic i ever worked on was totally pantsed. it was fun.... but then i hit the last 3 chapters of the story and i felt awful. every new chapter i posted i found a new plot hole. i wondered why writing this thing was no longer fun and eventually dropped the fic entirely. i loved writing one shots, they worked out so easily, so i couldnt understand why this longer story was so hard. and then i wrote my next long fic. and then i realised. im a plantser. if i plan a fic it never gets written. if i pants a fic i lose the plot entirely. both is the sweet spot for me for sure and ive never had more fun. love ur videos btw!!
Thanks for watching! 💖 Even though I'm deep into planning, I get what you mean about issues mounting at the end. When I was writing my 212k fic, which had a 60k outline, I noticed that in the later chapters, I had a lot of plot threads that ended up having a bigger presence than expected, and thus needed bigger resolutions. It was a struggle to try and figure it all out, but fortunately, having an outline helped me see the issues before it was too late and do my best with what was left of the story. Are there things I would've done differently in retrospect? Of course, but I'm still proud of what I ended up with.
I'm a plantser but I float between methods depending on what the story needs. For example, I have a premise that I absolutely love but no idea what to do with, so I just opened a document and started typing the first things that came to my mind. From that draft the story started to come together, so I then started plotting it out. I was doing discovery writing without even realizing it. I nearly always have an outline when I start but I give myself plenty of flexibility to watch the story go in different directions while hitting important plot points and moving to the resolution. Sometimes, new plot and story beats pop up and I can work them into the fic. For example, one of my major projects is about a husband and wife assassin team trying to complete a multi-target hit before midnight while having fun times without their boss catching them. At first, it was just a simple story with more of a focus on said fun times, but before I knew it, I was writing an detailed subplot about an evil pharmaceutical company that was creating super-human assassins and mercenaries. Ooops lol. I'm also starting to build the habit of finishing my fics before posting them, because I love the discovery process that pantsing gives us and the ability to go back and edit early chapters to add foreshadowing and keep from writing myself into a corner. That and I feel bad about going months between updates and abandoning fics. Looking forward to the next video! I'm always curious about other writers' methods so I'd love to see it!
Sounds like you've got a process that works for you! And like your having fun with your project 😊 I get what you mean about it changing depending on the project. My 212k fic had a 60k outline, but it was all in a word document, and there wasn't as much worldbuilding to do or as many characters to keep track of. My current WIP, which I estimate will be over 700k words when I'm done, has so many notes that need to be easily found that I pay for an app called Milanote to keep track of it all. I love it because I can use a lot of colour coding and visual shortcuts, so it's much easier to keep this absolute behemoth of a fic on track. See you next video~! 💖
I am a pantser and its fun because I never know where my story will lead me. Some of my drafts still end up neat because I will take the time after every writing session to make it neat. Most these days are get as many of the ideas written down as fast as possible. Even when doing a second and third draft some of those stories I have deviated so far away from the first draft that it needs another draft after that to get it tidy with the major changes that end up getting made.
I at first thought I was a planner but then watching this video has made me realize i might be a plantser because my outlines for every arc are just a few sentences that have room to be changed if I feel like it. All I do is write on doc a general summary of what goes on in the chapter like "character A dies and they found out character b's secret before dying" because if I write a 3 paragraph plan for each chapter I get bored and drop the story. but then i'll have 3 different versions of how that one chapter happens only to then change it to something like "character A runs away from the group after finding out character B's secret" and the next thing I know i'm reviewing every future chapter plan to match up with the changes made to the chapter i'm currently working on
That's an interesting process! To have multiple possible paths in your outline that you pick based on the direction of the chapter you're currently drafting.
thank you so much for all the quality content you put out. i'm currently getting back into writing fanfic and your videos have been very helpful! also this video cemented i'm a plantser haha. i'm looking forward to part 2! 🥰
I love your aesthetic, the colour scheme and the pastels look wonderful and they draw my attention in and hold the central focus of the screen so well. I just wanted to say that first. 😊 I’m writing again after many years - like most people here - and I love long fics, I just feel the need to go so in depth and flesh out a story but I don’t want to make a mess of it and get lost. Especially because it is for a fandom I am being reintroduced to. So I am very happy to find you channel! 😊
I'm not kidding I've bounced from "I've been staring at this google doc waiting to write literally anything." to "I got it!" Then pumping out a full script fic (I write these specfic fanfics as tv scripts, it's a fun time tbh)... but then I have to edit it which is a whole other struggle because why do I keep forgetting words when I'm writing?!
I outline but I also pants sometime. Im currently rewriting my old fic and I'm purely just pantsing rn but thats only because I know what has to happen, what to fix and what to remove.
I think I'm sort of the third one. I write random bits and bobs but none if it is cohesive just things I think would be cool to include. Then I organize them into a sort of plot timeline (I'm using the word timeline very loosely). Then I open a separate doc to start writing and if I think of new cool things I add them to the first doc. Normally about 75% of the ideas get used but meh. Also the steps can flip flop depending on how my brain is feeling idk.
Note that I usually write short fics like I haven't published anything longer than 3k words. My longest fic I've been working on forever is like 20 pages long lol
I tried outlining but it made me feel like the story was finished so I didn't feel like writing it anymore. I prefer to figure out the world and the characters and general ideas of things I want to have happen and go from there. sometimes I drop an idea but if I've already put the start of an idea into one of my chapters I'll follow through with it.
Yeah I know some people's brains just don't vibe with planning, but I suppose I've always struggled to understand the logic behind it because if outlining makes you feel like the story is "already written" and thus not want to write it anymore, then shouldn't that same logic apply to when you finish a draft and have to rewrite/revise it? Because a completed draft doesn't necessarily equal a finished story. Also even with my extensive outlines, my drafts (and edits) still manage to surprise and delight me, because there's still plenty of room to fill in the details and evolve the storyline. I feel like I'll never be able to "get" people who lose all inspiration when they outline because to me, outlines are a fraction of the full creative process. There's still so much left to discover and explore.
@@CoraMaria I don't really vibe with drafts either. I just write a chapter, edit typos and grammar mistakes, then publish it. the story isn't complete until I've written down the steps that'll take me to the end, so if I keep my ideas in my head I can revise the chapters as much as I like until I'm ready to write the final chapter. So in a way I do have an outline but it's just the skeleton of one and I never write it down. It just feels like if I write it down I can't change it anymore, where if I keep it in my head I won't even know that I've changed it. I think it's just something weird my brain does.
I figured out a way of outlining that works for me! I've been writing a Harry Potter fic (the reason that's relevant is because I'm trying to make it very similar to the books and they all follow a similar sort of structure) and I have been finding it easier to write with an outline. so it seems like I just had the wrong idea of what an outline should be. I was writing it as though I was just writing the story but shorter so it felt like I couldn't really add anything in to make it longer. I think that I was thinking about it the way that I do the lineart (or outline) of a drawing, because they have the same name, but really I should've been thinking about it more like a sketch. because once I do the lineart of a drawing all that's left is the colour and shading (if any), and I feel like if there are any mistakes it's too late to fix them (a flaw with my drawing method along with my writing, and partly because most of the time it's that I've drawn something nicely but it's the wrong size and I can't make it bigger/smaller because my drawing program would make it look fuzzy and out of place if I resized it) but in sketching it can look as fuzzy or chaotic as I like as long as it makes sense to me. I have so far only actually outlined one chapter but I am planning to outline more and I have a general outline of the whole story in my head. first, I had an idea in mind of a few things I wanted to have happen, then I wrote them down and figured out the order of events and thought about how I might fit them together. as I wrote the major events, some smaller details came to mind until I had a sort of guideline for the chapter. when I sat down to actually write the chapter I found it much easier, whenever I got lost on what to write next, I just checked my notes and remembered what I had planned. I ended up changing a few things and the order of events a little bit but it worked out better than I had expected. I think that I was trying things in the wrong order the first time I tried outlining. I didn't think about chapters until it felt impossible to, but when I started with the number of chapters I wanted in mind it has been so far working out. I'm almost halfway through it now! I'm not sure how much sense any of that made, how much I may have gotten off track, or whether I succeeded in accurately describing the difference between how I originally thought about outlines vs how I did when I outlined the third chapter of my fic, but I think this works well enough.
I forgot to expand on the Harry Potter book structure thing some things just have to happen specifically because it's a Harry Potter book, like Quidditch matches or how Christmas usually happens around 7-8 chapters after Harry arrives at Hogwarts, so it helps with outlining because the things that need to happen already have an order and a number of chapters that they usually take to be covered. I have to fit the story I want to tell within the timeline of the British school year and remember that the characters should have homework and some amount of stress as the summer nears because the teachers give them more homework in preparation for the exams, so I found a way to put those details into the main plot. I don't know how else to explain it, I just like the sort of schedule it adds to things, and it helps with when I get lost on what should happen between two major plot points. if I can't figure out what should happen next, I can pull from the many daily experiences of a student at Hogwarts, maybe they get in trouble for using magic outside of classes or they get lost down a forbidden corridor or fall down a hidden staircase that leads them to the next obstacle.
I've basically always been a plantser - I outline/plan stuff, but eventually the pantser side of my Writer Brain goes "enough planning, now it's time to write!". I like the discovery aspect of the pantser side, but I also enjoy some degree of planning. (Nowhere near as details as your plans get, lol) I think the closest I got to full on pantsing was a story I did when I was a little kid (the one I've mentioned as being my brief experiment with rotating POV before even knowing that's what it was called), where I had the concept and then ran with it as far as I could. (Don't even remember if I ever finished that story, it's been so long.)
I'm much more of a pantser, or maybe a plantser, since I usually have at least a vague idea of how I want the fic to go or where I want it to end up. But I really want to find a way to do more planning without losing interest in the story. I'm hoping maybe it's just that I've always tried the wrong level of planning and your second video will contain the right level of planning! I do think that planning vs pantsing is more of an issue in longer works. In a one shot or even a fic that's only a couple chapters long, you're probably not going to end up too far into the weeds and the draft you're revising just isn't that long. But even AS a pantser/plantser, I have no idea how people pants epic or even regular long fic. Maybe if they're very fast writers and can get that first draft out pretty quickly? Though there is one potential advantage to planning that I'm hoping to find a way to take advantage of: you can work on the fic even when the words aren't coming. I very frequently find myself with a weird sort of writer's block where I know what I want to have happen, but the words just won't come. If I were more of a planner, I could at least put down what I want to have happen and then go back later and flesh it out. Planning also seems like it would make it easier to write parts of a fic out of order. Not so easy to do as a pantser, or at least not so easier for this pantser. Any time I've tried, I've just ended up with scenes that had to be shelved because they didn't fit once I actually got to where I thought they'd go.
Thanks for your comment and insights! I will say that as a meticulous planner, I do find that writing out-of-order still doesn't work for me, because when I do write a future scene, usually when I write up to that point, the story has changed enough that the scene no longer fits and I just end up writing it again. I do know that some people thrive on writing out-of-order though, so experiment and see what works right for you 😊
I'm trying to plan out my fanfiction and original fiction. But I tend to get stuck on the planning part. The fun part of planning for me is just doing an idea dump brain map of all of what I daydreamed about so far, then adding more with the help of music playlist. Then getting to "the end" its not 100 percent detailed so I try to but get caught up in character sheets and the story making sense. And actual writing feels intimidating. I wanna try using my idea map as the outline then writing. So if any new ideas come its not as jarring. I like your comment at the end. I think I'm so focused on the Quality of how I write instead of actually finishing it and even having fun with it. Worried about what others will think and if I'm giving these fun characters justice. That there too cool to be written badly.
I love brain dumps! And I love outlining and writing to music too. I'm glad this video helped shift your perspective, and I hope it leads to a finish draft! Just know that it's always better to write badly than not at all. Practice makes progress, and your characters are cool enough to deserve the effort you put into them, not just the skill 💖
I'm a plantser, I need the direction of random noted scenes I want and the ending as "point a, point b, point c, etc.", even if the characters change and I have to rewrite the scene again. I need that general idea of where the fic is going to write it, but I also need that freedom or it's just gonna feel pointless. I don't like doing "first draft, second draft", I like going back and editing. I also need that outline to remind me which fic has what plot, because I have so many that I bounce back and forth between, and sometimes I leave a fic alone long enough to forget about it. The outline helps me refresh my memory on it lol
To clarify the reason I need the plot point planning: I don't wanna feel like I'm writing aimlessly and endlessly. Having a vague goal in mind helps my motivation without feeling suffocating, and I write it down because bad memory
i'm a planster, i find myself getting bored and directionless without an outline but i don't have the patience to make a full one, so i just write down big events that happen in my story and figure out the rest as i go
I love having outlines lol :D its the most annoying part of the process a lot of the time, but I know I need to do it to get a good story for my longer fics (which I haven't done too many of yet but I want to do more soon). I mostly do one-shot writing, and especially if they are shorter I don't give them outlines sometimes. but even with those my best work definitely happens when I do outline haha. great vid btw! :33 I did plants my first multichapter I would say, at least partially (perhaps half and half?), but it was a very simple fluff-heavy story, so the outlines for each chapter didn't really need to be any more than a few sentences. lately I've done more in depth outlines to keep myself on track, but it immediately can be a pain sometimes. right now that's not an issue I'm having LOL (need to figure out what my next multichapter fic will be first because despite the fact I write way more one-shots I do very much enjoy writing those, too.) this might be just a me thing, but I do very little revising. I do go back and correct, and at most maybe add in a scene or two, but that's about it. usually my finished product comes write after I correct any spelling mistakes lol. I might just have more to learn however! :] I've seen people say this isn't the right way to go about it, but so far it's worked for me personally. I think I wouldn't be able to get a good result from a bad or even mediocre first draft because once it's done to me it usually feels like it's supposed to be over, and making a bunch of revisions is something I know I wouldn't enjoy, so I do lots of editing as I go. This often puts me on the line of plansting because there are times where thing in the story will change will I'm writing it. I think my current goal is to be able to have shorter outlines that are still able to properly lead me where I need to go in my stories. Can't wait for the next part!
Glad you enjoyed the vid! And thanks for sharing your process. In regards to revisions, you and I are very similar. I rarely rewrite anything, because I don't particularly enjoy it. I'll only do it if I feel like a scene really isn't working and needs to start over or be replaced, which is actually what I did today with the intro and ending of the final chapter of Book 1 of my fanfiction trilogy. Endings are hard to get right because even with all the planning in the world, I don't often GET that far. Anyways, I just find it super interesting how similar we are when it comes to revisions and drafting 😊
Not me laughing so hard about being a zero drafter who used to try (and fail) to pants. I am only a pantser with one shots 😂 my brain can’t hold it all for anything longer than 5k words. But I do discovery write my first outline before going back and revising and adding to the outline more and more until I feel pretty confident about story beats and plot points. Funny that TH-cam recommended this video to me today after the whole conversation on Discord.
Lmaooooooo what is pantsing but an advanced version of outlining anyway? The secret Level 8! The only outlining method more detailed than the zero draft!
I genuinely misread this and thought you said ‘revising and adding to the outline more and more until I feel pretty.’ Thought ‘me too!!’ before I realised the sentence continued 🙈🙈🙈
i consider myself a plantser - i’ll jot down a rough intro paragraph in a notebook or do quick story beats in the notes app but don’t really do drafts, i just kinda write everything once and edit/tweak as i go. maybe this is just because i’m still relatively new to writing fics but it’s so hard and different for me than my primary skill (drawing)
Im a plantser in the way that some of my fics are planned and others not so much. like I wrote one 6 chapter fic that was completely pantsed(it was supposed to be a oneshot lol) but then theres the fic I'm writing now that has at least a basic Sequence of Events written out for each chapter and the major plot points I want to hit. I've moved more in the latter's direction but I'm sure I'll end up writing another spur of the moment fic for my current fixation between the hours of 1 and 4am at some point lol
Thanks for another great video, I’m looking forward to part 2! It’s so interesting hearing from pantsers/plantsers in the comments, since I am SUCH a planner and my experience is so different. I can’t even start writing unless I have a bullet point list of every beat in every scene😂 It’s more like an ugly first draft than an outline sometimes lol. Also, good luck with the launch of your patreon! You can count me in as a supporter. I really feel like you’re building something special here, not just your videos but the community that is growing in the comment sections. ❤️ I’d dreamed of writing fic for a long time but your videos were what inspired me to finally write my very first fic! Now, I’ve caught the bug and can’t stop! 😄 So, thank you so much, Cora❤️
Ahhhh thanks so much! And yes, finally I have found a fellow planner! Sounds like you and I are very similar in how much detail we go into. And ahdghaedf thanks so much for saying you'll support me on Patreon 😭 I won't start it for a while yet because I'm actually working on getting ahead on something else that will free me up to work on the channel more, and I'm still collecting data, but thank-you! You're finally doing something you've always wanted to do! I'm so proud 💖 and I'm honoured to have helped you get there. Now keep going!
yeah uh im definitly a plantser if i outline my story too much I give up only a couple sentences in plus it reminds me way too much of school essays😅 but at the same time I CANNOT write without a direction to go
She's my housemate's cat and usually hates his door in particular. It's pretty unusual for Misty to be like this for me, even though it happened both times I sat down to film for this video 😂 I could tell it was her through the frosted glass door.
This is mostly unrelated, but after watching about five of your videos in a row, the song you use in all of them is driving me insane. Really wish you used anything other than a high-pitched music box.
Do you have any recommendations for note taking apps that work well for writers? TLDR; I haven’t written fanfiction (or anything) since I was 16.. over 20yrs ago!! 😱 As I have ADHD, I am prone to distraction and don’t want a repeat of unfinished stories that go waaay off topic 😅 I like the idea of note taking apps that can be quite visual and wondered if there were any you like? Sorry if you’ve already mentioned it in another vid.
I personally use Evernote for regular note-taking and you can change the text colours and insert images. It transfers really well between phone and desktop for me. For something more visual though, I highly recommend Milanote, which is like a pin-board-type app, which I use for my organised plot, worldbuilding, and character notes. I love using images and colour-coding to keep my eyes stimulated every time I look at it, as well as gather information (such as POV, whether the scene has been written or posted, where it takes place) quickly at a glance. The only downside is that it isn't great on mobile, hence why I like to use Evernote and Milanote together.
@@CoraMaria Thank you so much! 😊 Sounds like your brain works very similarly to mine when it comes to note taking. I’ll try Evernote and look into Milanote too if I need something more ❤️
@@CoraMaria I don't understand what you mean, but I don't need to. I understand what you mean when you teach me about writing fanfiction and that is what is important.😄
I guess im a planster. I have a vauge idea that become more solid as i go but it has the freedom to run off with me or be altered based on my valued commentors.
I have always thought I was more of a pantsing person but then you said "if you write a chapter or two only to run fresh out of inspiration..." etc and it made me realise I clearly need a new approach. I have so many fanfic ideas that I start writing and then just stop and I thougth that was me being lazy (as in, "if I force myself to write something *will* come up, right?", if that makes sense) but now I can see that it might need the lack of direction is making me struggle to write. I'll be checking your videos on how to plan and I will let you know if I do become a fellow planner!
I'm glad this video is helping you consuder a new approach! I really hope it works out 💖
You also might find this video by Ellen Brock helpful: th-cam.com/video/sRW87vsC90I/w-d-xo.html
I'm the latter type, but... combined with deep planning, I guess. That is... I literally have all the most basic things written down (goals, motives, the essence of the chapters and scenes in them), but I “listen to the voices of the characters,” so if something happens, I change some details or introduce a new side storyline. In my latest work, I wanted to write a deep positive character arc, I hope that nothing will go against the arc. Your videos motivate me a lot, thank you!
my first longfic i ever worked on was totally pantsed. it was fun.... but then i hit the last 3 chapters of the story and i felt awful. every new chapter i posted i found a new plot hole. i wondered why writing this thing was no longer fun and eventually dropped the fic entirely. i loved writing one shots, they worked out so easily, so i couldnt understand why this longer story was so hard.
and then i wrote my next long fic. and then i realised. im a plantser. if i plan a fic it never gets written. if i pants a fic i lose the plot entirely. both is the sweet spot for me for sure and ive never had more fun.
love ur videos btw!!
Thanks for watching! 💖
Even though I'm deep into planning, I get what you mean about issues mounting at the end. When I was writing my 212k fic, which had a 60k outline, I noticed that in the later chapters, I had a lot of plot threads that ended up having a bigger presence than expected, and thus needed bigger resolutions. It was a struggle to try and figure it all out, but fortunately, having an outline helped me see the issues before it was too late and do my best with what was left of the story. Are there things I would've done differently in retrospect? Of course, but I'm still proud of what I ended up with.
I'm a plantser but I float between methods depending on what the story needs. For example, I have a premise that I absolutely love but no idea what to do with, so I just opened a document and started typing the first things that came to my mind. From that draft the story started to come together, so I then started plotting it out. I was doing discovery writing without even realizing it.
I nearly always have an outline when I start but I give myself plenty of flexibility to watch the story go in different directions while hitting important plot points and moving to the resolution. Sometimes, new plot and story beats pop up and I can work them into the fic. For example, one of my major projects is about a husband and wife assassin team trying to complete a multi-target hit before midnight while having fun times without their boss catching them. At first, it was just a simple story with more of a focus on said fun times, but before I knew it, I was writing an detailed subplot about an evil pharmaceutical company that was creating super-human assassins and mercenaries. Ooops lol.
I'm also starting to build the habit of finishing my fics before posting them, because I love the discovery process that pantsing gives us and the ability to go back and edit early chapters to add foreshadowing and keep from writing myself into a corner. That and I feel bad about going months between updates and abandoning fics. Looking forward to the next video! I'm always curious about other writers' methods so I'd love to see it!
Sounds like you've got a process that works for you! And like your having fun with your project 😊
I get what you mean about it changing depending on the project. My 212k fic had a 60k outline, but it was all in a word document, and there wasn't as much worldbuilding to do or as many characters to keep track of.
My current WIP, which I estimate will be over 700k words when I'm done, has so many notes that need to be easily found that I pay for an app called Milanote to keep track of it all. I love it because I can use a lot of colour coding and visual shortcuts, so it's much easier to keep this absolute behemoth of a fic on track.
See you next video~! 💖
I am a pantser and its fun because I never know where my story will lead me. Some of my drafts still end up neat because I will take the time after every writing session to make it neat. Most these days are get as many of the ideas written down as fast as possible. Even when doing a second and third draft some of those stories I have deviated so far away from the first draft that it needs another draft after that to get it tidy with the major changes that end up getting made.
I at first thought I was a planner but then watching this video has made me realize i might be a plantser because my outlines for every arc are just a few sentences that have room to be changed if I feel like it. All I do is write on doc a general summary of what goes on in the chapter like "character A dies and they found out character b's secret before dying" because if I write a 3 paragraph plan for each chapter I get bored and drop the story. but then i'll have 3 different versions of how that one chapter happens only to then change it to something like "character A runs away from the group after finding out character B's secret" and the next thing I know i'm reviewing every future chapter plan to match up with the changes made to the chapter i'm currently working on
That's an interesting process! To have multiple possible paths in your outline that you pick based on the direction of the chapter you're currently drafting.
thank you so much for all the quality content you put out. i'm currently getting back into writing fanfic and your videos have been very helpful! also this video cemented i'm a plantser haha. i'm looking forward to part 2! 🥰
So glad you found this video helpful! Plantsing is a valid way to go about things 💖
Can you get better at writing fanfiction even if you are knew to fanfiction
@@daniellemcallister5604 Of course! We all start somewhere. It took me 10 years to write at the level I do now.
I love your aesthetic, the colour scheme and the pastels look wonderful and they draw my attention in and hold the central focus of the screen so well. I just wanted to say that first. 😊 I’m writing again after many years - like most people here - and I love long fics, I just feel the need to go so in depth and flesh out a story but I don’t want to make a mess of it and get lost. Especially because it is for a fandom I am being reintroduced to. So I am very happy to find you channel! 😊
I'm glad you love my fits and my videos! I wish you all the best with your longfic 💖
I'm not kidding I've bounced from "I've been staring at this google doc waiting to write literally anything." to "I got it!" Then pumping out a full script fic (I write these specfic fanfics as tv scripts, it's a fun time tbh)... but then I have to edit it which is a whole other struggle because why do I keep forgetting words when I'm writing?!
I outline but I also pants sometime. Im currently rewriting my old fic and I'm purely just pantsing rn but thats only because I know what has to happen, what to fix and what to remove.
I think I'm sort of the third one. I write random bits and bobs but none if it is cohesive just things I think would be cool to include. Then I organize them into a sort of plot timeline (I'm using the word timeline very loosely). Then I open a separate doc to start writing and if I think of new cool things I add them to the first doc. Normally about 75% of the ideas get used but meh. Also the steps can flip flop depending on how my brain is feeling idk.
Note that I usually write short fics like I haven't published anything longer than 3k words. My longest fic I've been working on forever is like 20 pages long lol
I tried outlining but it made me feel like the story was finished so I didn't feel like writing it anymore. I prefer to figure out the world and the characters and general ideas of things I want to have happen and go from there. sometimes I drop an idea but if I've already put the start of an idea into one of my chapters I'll follow through with it.
Yeah I know some people's brains just don't vibe with planning, but I suppose I've always struggled to understand the logic behind it because if outlining makes you feel like the story is "already written" and thus not want to write it anymore, then shouldn't that same logic apply to when you finish a draft and have to rewrite/revise it? Because a completed draft doesn't necessarily equal a finished story.
Also even with my extensive outlines, my drafts (and edits) still manage to surprise and delight me, because there's still plenty of room to fill in the details and evolve the storyline. I feel like I'll never be able to "get" people who lose all inspiration when they outline because to me, outlines are a fraction of the full creative process. There's still so much left to discover and explore.
@@CoraMaria I don't really vibe with drafts either. I just write a chapter, edit typos and grammar mistakes, then publish it. the story isn't complete until I've written down the steps that'll take me to the end, so if I keep my ideas in my head I can revise the chapters as much as I like until I'm ready to write the final chapter. So in a way I do have an outline but it's just the skeleton of one and I never write it down.
It just feels like if I write it down I can't change it anymore, where if I keep it in my head I won't even know that I've changed it. I think it's just something weird my brain does.
I figured out a way of outlining that works for me!
I've been writing a Harry Potter fic (the reason that's relevant is because I'm trying to make it very similar to the books and they all follow a similar sort of structure) and I have been finding it easier to write with an outline.
so it seems like I just had the wrong idea of what an outline should be. I was writing it as though I was just writing the story but shorter so it felt like I couldn't really add anything in to make it longer. I think that I was thinking about it the way that I do the lineart (or outline) of a drawing, because they have the same name, but really I should've been thinking about it more like a sketch. because once I do the lineart of a drawing all that's left is the colour and shading (if any), and I feel like if there are any mistakes it's too late to fix them (a flaw with my drawing method along with my writing, and partly because most of the time it's that I've drawn something nicely but it's the wrong size and I can't make it bigger/smaller because my drawing program would make it look fuzzy and out of place if I resized it) but in sketching it can look as fuzzy or chaotic as I like as long as it makes sense to me.
I have so far only actually outlined one chapter but I am planning to outline more and I have a general outline of the whole story in my head.
first, I had an idea in mind of a few things I wanted to have happen, then I wrote them down and figured out the order of events and thought about how I might fit them together. as I wrote the major events, some smaller details came to mind until I had a sort of guideline for the chapter. when I sat down to actually write the chapter I found it much easier, whenever I got lost on what to write next, I just checked my notes and remembered what I had planned. I ended up changing a few things and the order of events a little bit but it worked out better than I had expected.
I think that I was trying things in the wrong order the first time I tried outlining. I didn't think about chapters until it felt impossible to, but when I started with the number of chapters I wanted in mind it has been so far working out. I'm almost halfway through it now!
I'm not sure how much sense any of that made, how much I may have gotten off track, or whether I succeeded in accurately describing the difference between how I originally thought about outlines vs how I did when I outlined the third chapter of my fic, but I think this works well enough.
I forgot to expand on the Harry Potter book structure thing
some things just have to happen specifically because it's a Harry Potter book, like Quidditch matches or how Christmas usually happens around 7-8 chapters after Harry arrives at Hogwarts, so it helps with outlining because the things that need to happen already have an order and a number of chapters that they usually take to be covered. I have to fit the story I want to tell within the timeline of the British school year and remember that the characters should have homework and some amount of stress as the summer nears because the teachers give them more homework in preparation for the exams, so I found a way to put those details into the main plot. I don't know how else to explain it, I just like the sort of schedule it adds to things, and it helps with when I get lost on what should happen between two major plot points. if I can't figure out what should happen next, I can pull from the many daily experiences of a student at Hogwarts, maybe they get in trouble for using magic outside of classes or they get lost down a forbidden corridor or fall down a hidden staircase that leads them to the next obstacle.
I've basically always been a plantser - I outline/plan stuff, but eventually the pantser side of my Writer Brain goes "enough planning, now it's time to write!". I like the discovery aspect of the pantser side, but I also enjoy some degree of planning. (Nowhere near as details as your plans get, lol)
I think the closest I got to full on pantsing was a story I did when I was a little kid (the one I've mentioned as being my brief experiment with rotating POV before even knowing that's what it was called), where I had the concept and then ran with it as far as I could. (Don't even remember if I ever finished that story, it's been so long.)
Thanks for commenting again, Nat! Sounds like you've got a process that works for you and your brain, so keep it up!
I'm much more of a pantser, or maybe a plantser, since I usually have at least a vague idea of how I want the fic to go or where I want it to end up. But I really want to find a way to do more planning without losing interest in the story. I'm hoping maybe it's just that I've always tried the wrong level of planning and your second video will contain the right level of planning!
I do think that planning vs pantsing is more of an issue in longer works. In a one shot or even a fic that's only a couple chapters long, you're probably not going to end up too far into the weeds and the draft you're revising just isn't that long. But even AS a pantser/plantser, I have no idea how people pants epic or even regular long fic. Maybe if they're very fast writers and can get that first draft out pretty quickly?
Though there is one potential advantage to planning that I'm hoping to find a way to take advantage of: you can work on the fic even when the words aren't coming. I very frequently find myself with a weird sort of writer's block where I know what I want to have happen, but the words just won't come. If I were more of a planner, I could at least put down what I want to have happen and then go back later and flesh it out. Planning also seems like it would make it easier to write parts of a fic out of order. Not so easy to do as a pantser, or at least not so easier for this pantser. Any time I've tried, I've just ended up with scenes that had to be shelved because they didn't fit once I actually got to where I thought they'd go.
Thanks for your comment and insights!
I will say that as a meticulous planner, I do find that writing out-of-order still doesn't work for me, because when I do write a future scene, usually when I write up to that point, the story has changed enough that the scene no longer fits and I just end up writing it again. I do know that some people thrive on writing out-of-order though, so experiment and see what works right for you 😊
I'm trying to plan out my fanfiction and original fiction. But I tend to get stuck on the planning part. The fun part of planning for me is just doing an idea dump brain map of all of what I daydreamed about so far, then adding more with the help of music playlist. Then getting to "the end" its not 100 percent detailed so I try to but get caught up in character sheets and the story making sense. And actual writing feels intimidating. I wanna try using my idea map as the outline then writing. So if any new ideas come its not as jarring.
I like your comment at the end. I think I'm so focused on the Quality of how I write instead of actually finishing it and even having fun with it. Worried about what others will think and if I'm giving these fun characters justice. That there too cool to be written badly.
I love brain dumps! And I love outlining and writing to music too. I'm glad this video helped shift your perspective, and I hope it leads to a finish draft!
Just know that it's always better to write badly than not at all. Practice makes progress, and your characters are cool enough to deserve the effort you put into them, not just the skill 💖
Awww thank you! I hope the next time you post there a draft to be edited😊
I'm a plantser, I need the direction of random noted scenes I want and the ending as "point a, point b, point c, etc.", even if the characters change and I have to rewrite the scene again. I need that general idea of where the fic is going to write it, but I also need that freedom or it's just gonna feel pointless. I don't like doing "first draft, second draft", I like going back and editing.
I also need that outline to remind me which fic has what plot, because I have so many that I bounce back and forth between, and sometimes I leave a fic alone long enough to forget about it. The outline helps me refresh my memory on it lol
To clarify the reason I need the plot point planning: I don't wanna feel like I'm writing aimlessly and endlessly. Having a vague goal in mind helps my motivation without feeling suffocating, and I write it down because bad memory
i'm a planster, i find myself getting bored and directionless without an outline but i don't have the patience to make a full one, so i just write down big events that happen in my story and figure out the rest as i go
I love having outlines lol :D its the most annoying part of the process a lot of the time, but I know I need to do it to get a good story for my longer fics (which I haven't done too many of yet but I want to do more soon). I mostly do one-shot writing, and especially if they are shorter I don't give them outlines sometimes. but even with those my best work definitely happens when I do outline haha. great vid btw! :33
I did plants my first multichapter I would say, at least partially (perhaps half and half?), but it was a very simple fluff-heavy story, so the outlines for each chapter didn't really need to be any more than a few sentences. lately I've done more in depth outlines to keep myself on track, but it immediately can be a pain sometimes. right now that's not an issue I'm having LOL (need to figure out what my next multichapter fic will be first because despite the fact I write way more one-shots I do very much enjoy writing those, too.)
this might be just a me thing, but I do very little revising. I do go back and correct, and at most maybe add in a scene or two, but that's about it. usually my finished product comes write after I correct any spelling mistakes lol. I might just have more to learn however! :] I've seen people say this isn't the right way to go about it, but so far it's worked for me personally. I think I wouldn't be able to get a good result from a bad or even mediocre first draft because once it's done to me it usually feels like it's supposed to be over, and making a bunch of revisions is something I know I wouldn't enjoy, so I do lots of editing as I go. This often puts me on the line of plansting because there are times where thing in the story will change will I'm writing it.
I think my current goal is to be able to have shorter outlines that are still able to properly lead me where I need to go in my stories. Can't wait for the next part!
Glad you enjoyed the vid! And thanks for sharing your process.
In regards to revisions, you and I are very similar. I rarely rewrite anything, because I don't particularly enjoy it. I'll only do it if I feel like a scene really isn't working and needs to start over or be replaced, which is actually what I did today with the intro and ending of the final chapter of Book 1 of my fanfiction trilogy. Endings are hard to get right because even with all the planning in the world, I don't often GET that far.
Anyways, I just find it super interesting how similar we are when it comes to revisions and drafting 😊
Not me laughing so hard about being a zero drafter who used to try (and fail) to pants. I am only a pantser with one shots 😂 my brain can’t hold it all for anything longer than 5k words.
But I do discovery write my first outline before going back and revising and adding to the outline more and more until I feel pretty confident about story beats and plot points. Funny that TH-cam recommended this video to me today after the whole conversation on Discord.
Lmaooooooo what is pantsing but an advanced version of outlining anyway? The secret Level 8! The only outlining method more detailed than the zero draft!
@@CoraMaria TRUE!! Pansters truly have the longest and most detailed outlines!!!!!!!
I genuinely misread this and thought you said ‘revising and adding to the outline more and more until I feel pretty.’
Thought ‘me too!!’ before I realised the sentence continued 🙈🙈🙈
i consider myself a plantser - i’ll jot down a rough intro paragraph in a notebook or do quick story beats in the notes app but don’t really do drafts, i just kinda write everything once and edit/tweak as i go. maybe this is just because i’m still relatively new to writing fics but it’s so hard and different for me than my primary skill (drawing)
Im a plantser in the way that some of my fics are planned and others not so much. like I wrote one 6 chapter fic that was completely pantsed(it was supposed to be a oneshot lol) but then theres the fic I'm writing now that has at least a basic Sequence of Events written out for each chapter and the major plot points I want to hit. I've moved more in the latter's direction but I'm sure I'll end up writing another spur of the moment fic for my current fixation between the hours of 1 and 4am at some point lol
I am mostly pantser though I have a rough chapter outlines and scenes written for some stories
Thanks for another great video, I’m looking forward to part 2!
It’s so interesting hearing from pantsers/plantsers in the comments, since I am SUCH a planner and my experience is so different. I can’t even start writing unless I have a bullet point list of every beat in every scene😂 It’s more like an ugly first draft than an outline sometimes lol.
Also, good luck with the launch of your patreon! You can count me in as a supporter. I really feel like you’re building something special here, not just your videos but the community that is growing in the comment sections. ❤️
I’d dreamed of writing fic for a long time but your videos were what inspired me to finally write my very first fic! Now, I’ve caught the bug and can’t stop! 😄 So, thank you so much, Cora❤️
Ahhhh thanks so much! And yes, finally I have found a fellow planner! Sounds like you and I are very similar in how much detail we go into. And ahdghaedf thanks so much for saying you'll support me on Patreon 😭 I won't start it for a while yet because I'm actually working on getting ahead on something else that will free me up to work on the channel more, and I'm still collecting data, but thank-you!
You're finally doing something you've always wanted to do! I'm so proud 💖 and I'm honoured to have helped you get there. Now keep going!
yeah uh im definitly a plantser if i outline my story too much I give up only a couple sentences in plus it reminds me way too much of school essays😅 but at the same time I CANNOT write without a direction to go
I'm glad you've found a middle ground that works for you 💖
Rewatching this, does your cat hate doors?
She's my housemate's cat and usually hates his door in particular. It's pretty unusual for Misty to be like this for me, even though it happened both times I sat down to film for this video 😂 I could tell it was her through the frosted glass door.
@@CoraMaria Oh. Misty sounds like a temperamental kitty.
This is mostly unrelated, but after watching about five of your videos in a row, the song you use in all of them is driving me insane. Really wish you used anything other than a high-pitched music box.
Do you have any recommendations for note taking apps that work well for writers?
TLDR; I haven’t written fanfiction (or anything) since I was 16.. over 20yrs ago!! 😱 As I have ADHD, I am prone to distraction and don’t want a repeat of unfinished stories that go waaay off topic 😅 I like the idea of note taking apps that can be quite visual and wondered if there were any you like?
Sorry if you’ve already mentioned it in another vid.
I personally use Evernote for regular note-taking and you can change the text colours and insert images. It transfers really well between phone and desktop for me.
For something more visual though, I highly recommend Milanote, which is like a pin-board-type app, which I use for my organised plot, worldbuilding, and character notes. I love using images and colour-coding to keep my eyes stimulated every time I look at it, as well as gather information (such as POV, whether the scene has been written or posted, where it takes place) quickly at a glance. The only downside is that it isn't great on mobile, hence why I like to use Evernote and Milanote together.
@@CoraMaria Thank you so much! 😊 Sounds like your brain works very similarly to mine when it comes to note taking. I’ll try Evernote and look into Milanote too if I need something more ❤️
Please let Misty in. Lol!
This may sound like a weird explanation but I actually can't film her for internet privacy reasons 😂
@@CoraMaria I don't understand what you mean, but I don't need to. I understand what you mean when you teach me about writing fanfiction and that is what is important.😄
I guess im a planster. I have a vauge idea that become more solid as i go but it has the freedom to run off with me or be altered based on my valued commentors.