Writing and messing up the plot

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Fantastyfan

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I am undertaking a huge challenge for a story that would consist of probably 5 books.

In many places I see the suggestion to just write out your story and then go back and fix it and make it better. What if a certain bit that you write affects the rest of the story? I think this is the biggest problem for me. I am constantly worried that some detail will mess up the story-line somewhere down the road when I find a plot hole during the revision. Should I thoroughly plan out a lot of the first book and even the second and third before I start writing? I have written around 9k words so far and have been working at a really slow pace. I've been working on it for close to 2 years now.
 
Drafts are supposed to be full of plot holes and odd turns. Otherwise you're not doing it right.

Joking ... well, kinda.

Just get the story written and take notes along the way. It's not going to be perfect on the first draft.
 
Hello!

You'll find that, indeed, most people will advocate just writing the book and then going back and re-writing it on the edit. However, I don't think I've ever seen anyone suggest that you write all 5 books before going back and fixing the first one, so don't let that worry you!

Some people like highly detailed road maps for their plots, others have no plans at all and simply start driving and see where the writing-car takes them. Most of us muddle along in the middle, with an idea of where we want to go as a final destination and a few sites we want to see on the way, but nothing detailed. Me, I'd suggest the middle way -- having some kind of loose plan means you keep yourself heading in the right directon, but if, as you're travelling, something new and exciting crops up on the horizon, you can take a detour to check it out.

But yes, almost inevitably at some point you will realise that something you have already written has to be amended because of an event or a character which occurs later, or because you realise it's not feasible. At that point you simply have to grit your teeth, put the car into reverse and go back to where you need to re-write and take another route, with luck ending up in the same place and not a hundred miles away!
 
I can see the problem, though, if the something that needs amending has already been published! How much of a 5-book series is generally already written by the time the first book hits the shelves?

In that case, I guess you just have to modify the later stuff and say to heck with whatever the great secondary idea was.
 
^They all have the right of it. The important thing is to get it written. Working at a snails pace to make sure you get everything done properly rarely works out because no matter what, you will be going over and over and over and over and over your work editing it until you start to despise it.

So get it done, keep notes with you, and at the very least have a general idea of where you are going. Worry less about plot holes and more about getting it written.
 
How bad can it be?

Even if you kill off your main character in book three pen technology has advanced so much, especially since the invention of electronics and the Internet, that you could probably have him resurrected by the end of book four at very little cost.

I mean, I also remember the days when a dead hero was a just another coffin filler, but nowadays you see them walking the streets with limbs missing and heads hanging off and no one seems in the least bit concerned or even bat an eye.
 
Fantastyfan said:
... What if a certain bit that you write affects the rest of the story? I think this is the biggest problem for me. I am constantly worried that some detail will mess up the story-line somewhere down the road when I find a plot hole during the revision ...
Click to expand...

Drives you to drink, doesn't it? :)
 
Tragedy said:
^They all have the right of it. The important thing is to get it written. Working at a snails pace to make sure you get everything done properly rarely works out because no matter what, you will be going over and over and over and over and over your work editing it until you start to despise it.

So get it done, keep notes with you, and at the very least have a general idea of where you are going. Worry less about plot holes and more about getting it written.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's one thing I'm scared of is despising it.

TheDustyZebra said:
I can see the problem, though, if the something that needs amending has already been published! How much of a 5-book series is generally already written by the time the first book hits the shelves?

In that case, I guess you just have to modify the later stuff and say to heck with whatever the great secondary idea was.
Click to expand...

I guess so, but it still drives me a bit crazy. I wonder how much authors plan out series.
 
Is it five stories you're telling, or one story so large you want to split it over 5 volumes? If it's the former, then you'll be making each imperfect draft of each book more perfect with every revision, to the point that that story is complete. If it's the latter, then you're probably going to have to have five distinct stories within your main story to tell, so you can get them to a state where they are finished.

Some authors plan out a lot (James Patterson,JK Rowling etc). Others plan out pretty much nothing (Bernard Cornwell).
 
It is a story that is so long that it will be split into 5 books. The main plot is the characters are trying to find 5 magical swords before the antagonist gets them first. Each book will be about finding a different sword.
 
If you've managed to get 4 out of 5 of your books published, then who cares if there are plot holes?:D

Seriously though, the great thing about your fifth book is that YOU are in control, so you can simply explain away plot holes as though you were placing the final pieces of the jigsaw.
 
Everyone is different, but I cringe when I hear people saying "just write it then correct later".

Ouch.

It's just that changing one bit can change all the others, so with my plots if I didn't plan them out carefully I'd be starting all over again ever few months!

Before beginning my latest project I spent a few months researching, "living with my characters", and carefully planning the plot. I came up with so many plot inconsistencies and problems, and every time I did I was SO GLAD that I'd thought it through before I started writing. Altering a plan or synopsis is much easier than re-writing a 100, 200, or 300K draft.

That said, the reality is never the same as the plan. The novel will gain a life of its own. But a road map is, for me, a life saver.

Coragem.

Fantastyfan said:
I am undertaking a huge challenge for a story that would consist of probably 5 books.

In many places I see the suggestion to just write out your story and then go back and fix it and make it better. What if a certain bit that you write affects the rest of the story? I think this is the biggest problem for me. I am constantly worried that some detail will mess up the story-line somewhere down the road when I find a plot hole during the revision. Should I thoroughly plan out a lot of the first book and even the second and third before I start writing? I have written around 9k words so far and have been working at a really slow pace. I've been working on it for close to 2 years now.
Click to expand...
 
Outlines are all well and good, and I'm certainly not suggesting one march into the jungle without a map, but I think there comes a point when planning becomes procrastination.
 
I agree with Slack here, I think that if you're nto writing you're not that into it. Planning is all well and good, but even with a plan you're going to have ideas you work; many times I have had characters do things that completely change the way events unfold. Staying true to your characters is more important than staying true to your plan. I should also say that I'm on my fourth complete-from-scratch rewrite. If you're in the zone, it's far important to let it flow than stop completely to elbow all your characters 'back on track'.
 
Dubrech said:
I agree with Slack here, I think that if you're nto writing you're not that into it. Planning is all well and good, but even with a plan you're going to have ideas you work; many times I have had characters do things that completely change the way events unfold. Staying true to your characters is more important than staying true to your plan. I should also say that I'm on my fourth complete-from-scratch rewrite. If you're in the zone, it's far important to let it flow than stop completely to elbow all your characters 'back on track'.
Click to expand...

Maybe that's it, I'm not into it very much and can't get in the zone very often. It definitely doesn't help when I'm worn out with school and homework by the end of the day.

I'm thinking of putting the story aside for a while and maybe picking up on another idea.
 
Fantastyfan said:
Maybe that's it, I'm not into it very much and can't get in the zone very often ...
Click to expand...

You'll know it's happening when you're drifting off mentally or scrabbling around for a pencil and a scrap of paper, back of an envelope, anything, no matter where you are: on the bus, in the middle of a conversation, watching TV ...
 
Carry a dictaphone. Write the story in your mind , and the REALLY good bits commit to it.
 
You should start with an important question; Can you turn this into 5 books that have between 100k and 130k words? Can you make it interesting?

Honestly, I've read some stuff that really should have been edited down to half its length. There's always the risk that in an effort to get more words on the pages you'll over-explain, insert odd side notes and generally over-extend scenes that should be neat and tidy.

If you feel like you can, then write yourself out a very broad synopsis for each of the books. Put it aside for a couple days and come back to it for a read. If it still holds water for you, then start writing. Each story should really be a self-contained work though. Nothing annoys me more as a reader than an unfinished story. You can have a cliff-hanger ending while having completed a story.
 
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