Plotting

I'm sure I don't speak for everyone on this... but I find weird places to plot.

Plotting is important.  Sure, there's something to be said about being able to write by the seat of your pants.  And I do that as well.  I alternate between doing that, and severely plotting everything out beforehand.

I have a couple different levels of plotting.  One is "let me outline the basic plot points for the entire story."  This changes as I write and things get shifted around more often than not.  Things get cut, things get added.  I move things around to orders that make more sense now that I'm into the story.  Because, honestly, what makes sense when I'm thinking general timeline-wise, doesn't always make sense once I'm in the story.  And, it makes a better story to just change my outline to fit what I've got, then try to keep my story to the outline.

Then I have the level of plotting that is basically just scene-plotting.  Sometimes, I can sit down and start a scene with simply just the ideas as they pop into my head.  I love it when that happens.  It's certainly less stressful.  Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen, or I have a scene that needs a little bit more forethought.

This brings me back to my first sentence about me finding weird places to plot.  You want to know a great place to plot? The shower.  You're standing in there anyway.  And, face it, shampooing your hair probably doesn't require that much concentration, just enough to keep you from getting soap in your eyes.  So, while you're doing your shower routine, plot out your next scene! You can probably even talk and make funny faces and act out expressions and, at the very least, no one can see you to make fun of you.  (They might be able to hear you though, can't fix that.)  Once you're done with that, of course, it's best to write down what you've thought of, lest you forget it two hours later.

I am also known for sitting in front of my computer and filing my nails until I have a scene figured out.  Or at least a little bit of dialogue.  I like it when I do this, because then I'm less likely to bite my nails.  Heheh.

I also plot on the bus, right before bed (not that that's very effective, 'cause I usually forget), during boring classes (shh, don't tell my teachers), and... yeah.  Plotting.

Plotting can be fun.