I believe you almost always need incredible planning to write a good story. There are some exceptions -- where novels have been born of a frenzy of drugs and alcohol and have turned out incredible -- but, for every Kerouac, there's a million or more stories that are utter rubbish or forever remain unfinished.
Using something like the snowflake method to write your story should make the actual business of prose a real pleasure. With this technique, you already know where you're going, and know enough about your characters, their world, and your plot, to really write something believable. Or at least something not full of silly holes and inconsistencies. You also have a system for developing your chapters. Details: http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php Also, don't underestimate the value of very good software here. A word processor is what you use to prepare your final document to delivery to your agent; it's not good for research, planning, managing, or being expressive/creative. Personally I use StoryMill, which is Mac only but I'm sure there's something for Windows: http://www.marinersoftware.com/sitepage.php?page=127 It's a hybrid timeline, database, research tool, project management system, and writing canvas. It also has a built-in framework for working with a snowflake method. Ian --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
