To plot, or not ...

[Gerald]

... to plot?

How do you plan your novels? Do you just sit down, clear screen, and just write? Or do you plan each chapter carefully, so you know exactly where you're going with the story? Do you use any software 'aids' to your planning?

I need to plan fairly precisely where I'm going. That's not to say it doesn't change as the story develops. I use a thing called Writers Cafe http://www.writerscafe.co.uk/, which has a Storylines feature - a bit like a software corkboard. With this, I can move scenes around, change characters, and generally mess about with the plot, even as I'm going along.

How do you plan your novels?

[Laura Lond]

I wish I could do detailed plotting, it is SO much easier to write when you know exactly what's happening next. Alas, I can't. I usually have just the basic idea, details come in the process.

[KerylR]

I'm not necessarily so detailed on my plotting.  I need to know where the story ends before I'm willing to invest the time in beginning it. 

Once I know that I work on what I call "plot dumping" where I write as many scenes as I can.  Just letting them pour out of my head and into my computer.  By the time the plot dumping is finished I've got the skeleton of the plot.  Then comes fleshing it out, adding in the bits that bridge the other bits together, making sure everything works together, and then beta reader time. 

I did my first novel with Word and it worked fine, though I used the note function to keep track of each main section.

I'm doing the sequel on scrivener beta, and that's easier for the plot dumping phase.  I think I'll move back to word for the level after that because I like working with word better for sheer writing purposes. 

[sportourer1]

With my first novel it just came out in a steady stream but in my follow up there will have to be some hard thinking before I move into the second half