@Syrius I used to pants. Then one day I thought, hey, why not try plotting, and for me it was a game-changer. My particular style of autistic brain loved the structure that plotting created, and I could still have creative bursts. Seeing my story set up in scenes allowed me to move things around, combine scenes that really ought to be together, split one if it was better to put another scene between. I could see it all relatively cleanly. I could also see what came before and after major beats: Exactly where was the inciting incident, etc etc? Sometimes I have been so focused on the A story that I realise I have no sort of B line at all, and that comes out clearly on the cards.
Most important, I can write any scene I want when I want, without having to go from start to finish and without risking going off on some weird tangent that ultimately has no place in the story. Some times I don't want to face a scene that may be heavy in some way because my brain's not there today, so I'll instead go for an easier scene, and because I know the trajectory of the story, I have a fairly decent idea of what would precede the scene, and how to end the scene so what comes next flows naturally.
For the story I'm currently working on, I have it split into months (Its working title is
Seven Months, so that's logical), but then I decided to make it neater and split each month into weeks (so a chapter is now called "Month 2 Week 3" etc). I wasn't completely happy with that, so split the weeks into smaller scenes that could either occur on the same day, or some other day within that week. I only realised that I needed to do this by looking over the initial scene cards.
Don't forget, however, that a scene doesn't need to be "necessary for the plot". It needs to be necessary for the
story, and that's a slightly different creature. Also, you might not think a scene is necessary but when you have written it, you find it works perfectly tying this bit with that. I know there is advice out there that says, "cut any scene that doesn't advance the plot", but that advice, though valuable, can be taken to extreme. It might not advance the plot in itself, but it can set something up, create character depth and reader engagement. Like that other advice "show, don't tell". Sometimes, telling is necessary - it may be quicker, neater, cleaner.
I'd better stop here before I get too didactic!
As far as editing goes, don't do it until you have finished your story. When you can see the story as a written whole, you can see more easily where the flaws are, what you need to get from scene 27 to 28 smoothly, and if you actually need a scene 27B. For me, scene cards are a part of editing. They are the earliest form, and then once I've finished the story, I go back over my scene cards and move them, write others to fit the finished story, remove those that ultimately didn't work - reverse engineer, in a way. That again makes it easier than looking at a couple of hundred pages onscreen.
All that said, remember that this works
for me. It might work for you; it might work for you, somewhat adapted; it might not work for you. But give it a go and find out.
I hope to get that built-in cupboard removed soon, but I'm keeping those doors!
from
Avenger's Tower
*Cue furious scribbling in my notebook* So many ideas right now.
You might come to regret that, though...
from