OK maybe Lie is a bit strong, I said that part 5 would be the last part of, "For Better or Worse" and it was plotted out to be the last part until my Muse grabbed the story and ran with it, adding more to the story than was originally planned. And since I thought the additions were worth keeping, we will have another section or two of the story before it's complete.
So my apologies for extending the story past what I had said. :)
Comments
Something I read...
I read somewhere that whenever a mathematician plots out a treatise, the final length is about three times the initial planned length. So, for example, Jean Dieudonne's treatise on analysis was originally plotted to be four volumes, beginning with his "Foundations of Modern Analysis". I remember seeing mentioned V6 of his "Treatise on Analysis".
So you have notable company, in making a story longer than planned.
-- Daphne Xu
I lost count at the number of
I lost count at the number of times a story ended up with additional part, heck three ended up twice the number and a fourth with triple what was planned...
I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime
True but
Normally I have the complete story already in my mind before I begin writing the prose. And can usually say with some accuracy how long it will be (word count) when complete. When I first began For Better or Worse, I predicted it to be somewhere around 25,000 words long, so far I've posted 38,000 and it will hit over 50,000 by the time its completed.
I'm still set on using the original ending, it is just that the muse decided to add quite a bit more story between the middle and the end...LOL
We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
It's the subplots and
It's the subplots and character development that gets you, little distractions that give relief as you build up to the next major plot point. Those can't be predicted only accommodated and used to great effect.
I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime
Like
We're supposed to be upset for giving us extra chapters to your story? Get real. :-)
When you put it that way
Um no :)
We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
I think the Epic Fairy has found her mark...
I warned you about the dangers off epics, and did you listen?
Looks like a solid no, LOL, Your muse ha started down a dangerous path.
Enjoy it as long as you can and remember plan your steps as hard as you can to protect your muse.
Too much of a good thing, makes it a bad thing.
"Cortana is watching you!"
I heard the warning
But when the muse kicks in so hard that you end up writing around 20,000 words in one day it's really hard to say no :)
We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
The only thing you can really
The only thing you can really do is sit down, drink a cold beverage, and slave away as she talks to you.
20,000? Just what has she been drinking? Red Bull infused coffees?!?!
I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime
Yeah, what was it Friday before last?
Or the Friday before that? Not sure as days and weeks run together in the summer due to the "Summer hours" we work. Yes it gives me Friday's off but normally I'm so tired all I do is sleep or lay around recovering.
That Friday I woke up all refreshed and the muse rearing to go. I made and ate breakfast, then sat down and found myself hammering at the keys as fast as I could go. It was like a damn broke, where before I was lucky to write 500 words before starting to fall asleep. I wrote only breaking for something to eat in the early evening, then was back at it.
We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
Just be careful
Do not wright your self into a corner, or a hole.
Try to have an outline of the key points there to use as a roadmap so your muse makes it to the end without winding up unable to go further because the new idea contradicts what you have already done.
God must be laughing his ass off me suggesting an outline, i have never been able to use them not even a day planner.
Oh he is getting a full ROFLMAO moment here, SMDH.
"Cortana is watching you!"
plot points
Are the first thing I actually do write down, then I write to them. It's a system called Point to Point Discovery writing. Plot out all your major and as many of the minor plot points then write your story always writing toward the next plot point. Until I learned about it and found that it fit my style I did find myself often writing myself into a corner.
We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
I feel your pain...
I've been doing the same on my story... I was sure I could tell the story in less than 50k words, 10 months later of writing and its topping over 100k and I'm not quite half way through the story I want to tell. I thought I'd be clever and turn it into two separate books, and was sure when I started the 20th chapter that would be the 'end' of the first book... Well it wasn't, and I was positive the 21st would be it... Now writing the 22nd, and half way through the chapter it's not looking like I'll be able to get to the 'end' that I've visualized for the last 5 months. It's like my characters are telling me, "Outline, Smoutline..." Trying to get them to the end of the book is what I imagine herding cats would be like.
Nuuan, just keep writing... I truly enjoy the worlds you keep creating.
Becca
I know I’m weird. The fact that I’m trans is probably one of the more normal things about me.
outlines
work for those good at following them. My problem when I try outlining a story is that I get so detailed that I find myself all but writing the story without writing it, so outlines never worked for me.
Sitting down and just writing without anything to guide me works fine for pieces under 25,000 words (most of the time) as that is the story length the magazines I sold my fiction to use to prefer so I got pretty good at keeping myself focused for that length. Especially since it was in the days before computers and writing software when a single mistake meant retyping the entire page.
For lengthier stories I found I must have something to keep myself on track and found that having the major plot points mapped out does this for me. I may discover an unexpected twist or turn in the story but knowing that I must end up at 'Point A' by the end of the section I am writing keeps me going in the right direction :)
We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
I know.
I've had the outlines, and points all laid out before I started writing the first paragraph... I had never done this before so a lot of what I was so sure about (length and stuff), was mostly due to my naivety at writing. As I started, I was aiming the story to the next 'waypoint' and then by the third chapter something else happened... The characters became sort of alive to me, they each became a real living person in my imagination, and THEY started driving the story. While I'm making it to each point I'm aiming at, the girls seem to get distracted and I have to follow them on the little side path and gently steer them back on course.
It could be that I'm simply mental, but being the "She-Dad' of three teenage girls I have a good excuse at least, lol.
I know I’m weird. The fact that I’m trans is probably one of the more normal things about me.