A question regarding the planning of stories (outlines and such)?

Question

Usually when you write out a stand alone story you simply write out the outline and then proceed to write the story.
I'm planning to write a series of stories, each that are stand alone books, but have a major plot interweaving throughout them that climaxes to a grand finale.
Some series have 3 books - others have loads (The Guin Saga has something like 130 book in total!) Now, there is no way I plan to write 130 book @.@, but I do have in mind quite a long saga.


Anyway, my question is regarding the planning and the outlines of each individual story, and how people do/would suggest to go about it.

Some people write one outline - write one story - write one outline - write one story...etc
Others would write say 3 outlines - write 3 stories - write 3 outlines...etc
And then there's some that write the entirety of their outlines, and then write their stories (things change of course and the ending may be completely different to when you began).


I am asking this because I have written 4 outlines so far, and I know the general direction that I want my story to go in - I have the full back story of each character - their overall goals, their secrets, their ending (do they live happily ever after, die, live a life unresolved)....etc things like that. However, for the time being I am a little stuck on the 5th outline and what I should reveal when and how (.e.g should book 5 actually be book 6, so that means book 6 is book 5, and maybe I might switch book 7 and 9 round...etc these are just vague examples).


Just opinions and suggestions of how you would go about it would really help - plan it 1 by one, plan it in groups, or plan it all out before even beginning the first page.


It's just opinions on which may be easier. I've also had writer's block for well over a year now and I have been unable to sit down and write, and at this moment the only thing I want to do is write the actual story, but I find myself having to do the outlines first... heehee...


Thanks

Answer 1

Well, clearly you're a thorough outliner who plans ahead. In terms of your sequencing issue, I recommend using index cards. Write down on each index card the general plot of that one standalone story in the series, then shuffle them around until you find a sequence that interests you. You might find out you like the concept of book 4 coming before book 1, etc.



But you also should consider how you intend to write that story. If you want to write a thriller/mystery, then you save prequels for later in the series so as to reveal backstory gradually (rather than writing that series sequentially).



I don't think there's any "right" way or "common" way to plan/outline. It always changes with the author. I've never outlined any books in a series individually, for instance. I always outline the entire series together as one story, then segment it/divide it into the appropriate books. I divide it at the point where it *could* be its own standalone story simply because I hate continuations (to be continued), stamped onto the last page of the book.



It seems pointless to outline at all if you aren't looking at the entire series as one story. Why bother outlining the individual books in that series then? Because as far as outlining goes, those books are just segments of that one, continuing story. You ought to know where you're going with the story, not just that chapter/part/section in that story. But that's my personal opinion.



EDIT: Yes, I know what you meant by standalone novel. Those Harry Potter books are a direct continuation of the last story. They only read as standalone stories up to book 3. After that, Rowling approaches the series as one, long, continuing storyline, written linearly.

A good example of a series with broken up sequencing would be more like Malazan Book of the fallen: where book 3 is a direction continuation of book 1, book 4 a sequel to book 2, (book 2 occurring simultaneously with book 1 but are unrelated events), book 5 a standalone plot line occurring within the scheme of the other books (with books 7 and 9 following this story line), etc.



Anyway, point is, you said you're having a hard time figuring out which stories come next in terms of plot line. To tackle this problem, approach the entire series as one story so that you can figure out which book comes first and the general overall plot of that series...*THEN* go back and look at the books individually.

Answer 2

There's multiple ways to go about planning your story.



My biggest advice:You don't want to think too hard about it, or you'll think your story all the way through in your head, play it like a movie in your mind, then be content and not want to write it. That's what has held me back a lot.



Some suggestions:



1. Create a folder on your computer for the series, then a separate file per book. Within these, have a folder for Characters, Plot Points, Settings, Beginning, Middle, End, Rough Drafts, Final Copies, Ideas, and Scrapped Ideas. This will help organize you, and will make it easy to find everything you'd planned.



2. Asking other people you know and won't feel embarrassed showing to read over your outlines and hear what they think is a good way to figure things out. Having more minds thinking about a project is usually better than one.



3. Just write. Take the first book and just write. If you don't like it, scrap it and try again. I think it's easier to write the first book in a series, rather than try and get the entire series done all at once. Trial and Error is a great way to filter out the bad ideas and be only left with the good ones.



4. Perhaps you could go people-watching, ? That usually helps open your mind if you think about other people and wonder just who they are and what they are doing. It might spark some inspiration for the beginning of a book, or a scene in the book. Simply going for a walk could work as well.



Hope this helps!

Answer 3

some writers are planners. planning outlines and personality profiles keeps them heading in the right direction. Others are pantsters or organic and organic writers. I write my 'outlines and profiles' after the artwork is born. i'm extremely merely conserving track of the recommendations as they fall onto the paper. not some thing extra. study is about the in uncomplicated terms plans i want. Others want a format or formulation which isn't incorrect. That facilitates equivalent to having a canvas with a body. keeps an artist from portray continuously. Genres contain a outfitted in body yet some writers want more effective than that to proceed to exist track. Others want extra freedom. i like paper so I make my plot out as i pass so i visit shop track extra of the position i have been than the position i go yet then faster or later that sneaks in there too. from time to time I follow it different circumstances it truly is there with me as i pass yet in a special way.

Answer 4

My best guess, regarding your writer's block, is that on some level you feel you're missing pieces, or events are not taking the right direction. From a logical, conscious stand point the events may seem to follow the right path, but our subconscious has a habit of telling us things in conspicuously subtle ways, like an aversion to writing what we most want to write. My first thought, therefore, would be to assess where things are going and play around with different possibilities and outcomes, or different ways of getting past book five and into the next leg of the journey. My second thought is for you to step away from the project completely to work on something entirely unrelated. By occupying your mind with something unrelated, you allow it to keep gnawing on the problem in the background without trying to force the resolution. It also allows you to feed that desire to write without the same pressure or expectations you put on your approach to this series.



Anyone who stumbles on my answers will see me say it a lot, but I find that role playing with other writers helps a lot as well. Explore characters and plot ideas without the pressure of turning it into anything specific, get instant feedback on what could use improving and how, and write something unrelated to your main projects to detangle your thoughts and unwind emotionally. The Innovator's Last Stand is where I go for this very purpose. It keeps me in the writing frame of mind, but always offers something new, so I can't suffer from too much exposure to the same plot with its same problems.



If the blockage problem is not enough detail somewhere, then that's really what the focus needs to become. I found a massive aversion to trying to write a recent horror piece when sitting down and "letting it flow" was no longer working. I'd hit a point in the narrative where I really needed to know where I was going in order to get there. The problem was I had no idea where I was going. I spent weeks (I know it's not a year, but blockage is blockage) wanting to write, but hating the thought of trying to write it, and it wasn't until I was relaxing in a bath that I finally let my mind wander without demanding anything from it. Playing with where I left off, I managed to come up with the rest of the story straight through to the end. With an example more like your own problem, a series I have always running in the background discourages me from writing the actual prose because there are such huge connective sections missing from the plot connecting the books. It's like this hazy blotch of "and then . . . happens" between "here are the scenes I know!"



For me it's less like I want to explore those hazy patches and discover things as I reach them (then it's like a surprise!), and more like I want a clear idea of the major points in play before I try describing them to the reader. That said, when you think of a concept as being inflexible, you can plot yourself right into a corner, the kind of corner that sucks all the "want" out of writing. If you look at future events as being a little more flexible to those you establish first, you may find yourself less reluctant to complete the journey.



Also, there's software for the first point Jonathan suggests. I use yWriter and Keynotes NF, personally. Keynotes lets you make your own categories and tabs, which is great for compiling world building information. yWriter actually has sections built into the program for characters (major, minor), locations, items, notes and scenes. Inputting the number of chapters you wants starts your project, and you can write in as many scenes as you like, which are modular and can be moved around between chapters. It also tracks when a character is a POV character, how many scenes they're in, and how many words are involved in those scenes. It even lets you record your goals, conflicts, and outcomes with each scene. Its word processing capabilities are quite limited, though, so I find it best to write my scenes in the word processor I prefer, and port them to yWriter for my records. You can keep track of which draft you're using this way, too. All in all, I find it keeps the clutter down in my writing folders.