To Plot or Not

Over on the Odfellow discussion list, the topic is the necessity of plotting in advance of writing. Lots of writers are weighing in on both sides of the issue. Here's my take:

Plotting is an important tool in any writing tool box. Certainly there's no reason not to use any of the other tools--inspirtational writing, visualization, jotting down numerous ideas, character studies, building the world first, etc. But the risk of taking a trip without a road map is that you will get lost and lose your way completely. All that previous work will go for naught.

I agree with Lane that it's a huge waste to write two hundred pages only to toss them into your (already big) writer's trunk. I have a big trunk of those false starts, which leads me to now endorse plotting first.

How detailed your plotting gets is of course up to you. I was astonished at the level of detail that Robert McKee considers necessary to write a really good screenplay or tell a really good story. He asks for a complete summary of each scene, dialogue, and action before writing them. I don't think I would go that far, but I would go a long way towards it, especially if the scene was complicated.

A lot of writers have commented that a detailed plot like that would suck out their creative juices and make it impossible for them to then write out the finished product. McKee's counterpoint, I think, would be that if you're a writing professional you don't depend on inspiration to finish, but on hard work. You assume the work atttitudes of a professional, because that's what you are.

I think I agree with him. Working from a vantage point of inspiration and surprize can be fun, but when you're carving out a career in anything, there are days when you just have to slog through the work. It can't all be fun.

The Romantic notion of writing as self-discovery is only good for a few works. Then you've discovered what your themes are and what kind of person you are and you're writing for the payday.

So consider plotting, you romantics! :-)