When is it too much planning?
September 7, 2009
As I sit here in front of my keyboard looking at my novel’s template within Scrivener, I’m gripped with the that fear I haven’t planned the story enough.
I’m using a template someone created in Scrivener based on a program called Power Structure. The template has quite a bit of fields you can fill in with all sorts of information and while I’ve filled in quite a bit, I can’t help but feel there’s too many of these fields left empty. It makes me feel like I haven’t planned out my novel and if I continue forward with it I’ll be doomed to failure.
The rational part of my mind tells me this is just my perfectionism asserting itself and arresting my ability to continue forward. On the other hand my irrational fears are screaming that if I don’t fill the template completely, I’ll be writing myself into a corner I can’t escape. After which I’ll need to perform extensive re-writing and perhaps an outright scrapping of what I’d written so far.
So what’s the solution? As always, the truth lays somewhere in the middle. Some planning is needed to ensure the project is successful, but over-planning can stop it before it starts, miring yourself in too many details. In my case, I’ve decided to fill in only the parts of the template I feel are absolutely necessary and leave rest to either fill in at a later date or to forever stay vacant.
Like someone had once told me, planning is writing, but if planning keeps you from writing then it’s just wasting your time.
September 7, 2009 at 8:29 am
It IS a balance — but perfectionists sometimes (often) use that part of their personalities to mask procrastination. After all, it’s a lot more palatable to think of yourself as a perfectionist than as a procrastinator.
Have you got the skeleton, the framework or outline filled in?
If the answer is yes, then stop planning and start righting. At a certain point, it’s about actually doing the work — if you flesh out the framework with actual words, you’ll have a work-in-progress, and not just a plan.
Write well.
.-= Pat Steer (Gaelen)´s last blog ..My story, all in one place =-.
September 7, 2009 at 8:30 am
okay, it’s really awful to leave a comment for another writer and spell ‘writing’ as ‘righting.’ Need. More. Coffee. Now.
.-= Pat Steer (Gaelen)´s last blog ..My story, all in one place =-.
September 7, 2009 at 8:35 am
It’s OK. I won’t tell.
As far as the procrastination, I think you’re right on that point. I have some of the skeleton done, but I think I was letting too much of the minutiae bog myself down. I think I’ll just finish off the rough outline and plow forward. As I need to hit at least 1,667 words per day to meet my self-imposed deadline I think the rough structure will be enough to go forward, giving me enough to know where I want to go without making me spend more time spelling every single thing. That should work well with my work flow.
Ans yes, get yourself some coffee. It is the fuel that keeps the words coming.