As a recovering pantser, I often find myself in the too few ideas camp.
It’s not that I don’t have them, it’s just I get an inkling of an idea or a character or an inciting incident and then I’m not sure what exactly happens next.
The old me used to dive in headfirst and just start writing. Who needs a story goal or to know what the story’s about?
“Let’s see where this goes!”
Spoiler alert: it usually goes nowhere. Fast.
Discovery writing is great. I love it. I do a lot of it.
But without a rough plan or a few guideposts along the way, I’ve learned that what I discover at the end of a rough draft is a hot mess.
While I love revision (and I do), I don’t love revising a hot mess.
As a result, I have amended my own process and become a firm plantser. I plan just enough that I know my characters, their goals/stakes/motivation, the main conflict, and typically a few key scenes: the inciting incident, the midpoint, and an idea or image of what I want that final scene to look like to show how far my protagonist has come.
My process, in other words, is to know just enough to be dangerous.
The challenge? I’m very much a character driven writer, which can make me feel behind the plot 8-ball once I’m in the thick of brainstorming.
Planning, as a result, can feel like an arduous-stare-out-the-window-and-wait-for-some-plot-ideas-to-come-to-me-then-brainstorm-ten-more-to-find-a-good-one task.
I am often jealous of the writers I know who can’t seem to turn off their faucet of ideas.
It seems like such a blessing.
And then I worked with a writer on a story plan and realized that too many ideas can lead to just as many challenges as too few.
This writer is most definitely in the lots of ideas camp.
Every time we chatted, she had new ideas she wanted to include in her story. These were big things like major plot points or structure, as well as small things like character quirks or setting details. She is a voracious story consumer through reading and movie/show viewing and constantly dissecting what she likes about what she reads/watches. Then, she gets excited and wants to include that knowledge in her latest story plan as well.
These aren’t bad habits or problems to have.
Until you start writing and can’t control the flow of ideas. Or start adding things that don’t make sense for your genre.
She needed help.
We worked through the same planning process I do for my too few ideas problem. And it was amazing to watch it work for her, too.
Each week, she attacked the targeted exercises and dumped all the new ideas into the sandbox. We’d get on our weekly calls and she’d already have three more new ones. I loved this!!
Through our work in this planning intensive, we were able to distill what was important about her character, define the character journey, and clarify the story point.
As a result, when new ideas came up in her written work or on the call, I only had to ask if they served the character, journey, or point. If yes, they stay and she does the work of ensuring they logically fit. If not, then maybe those are ideas she can jot down for a future story.
By the end of our time together, she was still generating amazing ideas (seriously wish I could bottle that up and save it all for my own stories), but she was already self-analyzing which were the ones to make it in to her manuscript and which were just fun ideas.
In other words, she now has a process she can take into all future projects to help her better know her stories. Now, she can allow the best ideas to flourish and augment the story rather than try to shoehorn all the ideas into a story that may or may not make fit them.
Don’t waste a great idea by putting it in a story that doesn’t need it.
How do you do this for yourself?
- Know Your Character. What do they want (external goal) and what do they need (internal arc of change)? What is at stake if they don’t get it?
- Know Your Character’s Journey. What is she like at the start of the story versus the end. What lesson does she need to learn? What kinds of events will teach her that lesson?
- Know Your Story Point. What is your story ultimately about? What do you want readers to take away? Summarize this into one sentence (hint: if it’s starting to sound like a cliché, you’re probably close to hitting the nail on the story head).
Now, when you’re stuck in traffic or in the shower and all the “what ifs” start filling your mind and you’re rushing to your desk to get them all in your manuscript…
Pause.
Ask yourself it this new idea serves your character, their journey, or the story point.
If not, save it for the next thing.
If yes? Then hurray! Add it to your story or make a note of where it will feature.
If you’re like me and struggle sometimes with plot ideas or even characters, you can put your ideas to the same test. Just because ideas feel sparse, doesn’t mean we should accept all of them. Make them count.
Either way, a little planning will go a long way to helping you find the right idea for your story.
Need help planning your next novel? Let’s chat about my eight-week Planning Intensives that will walk you through the major elements of your story and get you writing!