/lit/ - Literature

Before I can answer you, I need to know which of the methods you mentioned you are more comfortable with.

>>19816378
You can write however you want, but if you're just making stuff up as you go you risk writing yourself into a corner.

>>19816378
anything other than the vaguest plot outlines make your work autistic and stuffy

and make sure you NEVER do any so-called 'worldbuilding'

>>19816471
To be honest I'm more comfortable with the latter. I tend to simply imagine scenes and create the plot/story around it.

>>19816666
Not sure if you're being serious about not doing any worldbuilding. If so, why not?
>6666
Nice trips bro.

>>19816833
>To be honest I'm more comfortable with the latter.
Then you are one of the lucky ones who naturally use the right method. Continue your journey, work virtuously, and happiness will necessarily grow in the fields of the sweat of your brow.

>>19816859
Based, thank you very much anon.

It can be very helpful but don't be afraid to go in different directions once you come to actually write it.

>>19816378
Try both and then make a decision that works best for you based on personal experience.
Personally I write better and faster with an outline, I can even improvise more with an outline (I don't know why that works, it just does).
If you actually want to be a "writer" whatever that means to you, then you need to hone your process and find efficiencies.

people say "do whatever works for you, just write :)" because people on the whole are so fucking bad at writing that a lot of them can get away with just writing whatever the fuck way tickles their fancy and make enough of a side income to feel self-satisfied
plotting is a science more than it is an art
some people can do advanced math in their head quicker than you can do it on paper because they've studied it more
it's not that doing math in their head is "what works for them," they've just done it a lot and put a lot of thought into it and can "visualize" it without writing things down that you would have to
or it's like chess, if you prefer that analogy. a grandmaster can hear the moves of a game without seeing a board and then tell you what the correct next move is for either side. an experienced author will know where all the moving pieces of the story are at in any given scene and know the right thing to do next, without consulting a bulleted list of events or anything like that.
outlines are the same way. if you're not deeply experienced with literature in some way and you set out to write a novel and you don't outline, you're going to wind up with a hackjob. you may be able to sell it for pennies to some shitty publisher, but that's beside the point. if you want a good book, know what you're doing.

none of this applies if you're a nonfiction chad, though.

>>19818064
>Not A/B testing to see which process works for you
NGMI

think of an outline not as an outline, but as your first draft. Having a first draft finished is always better than not having one.

>>19816378
>Is it really important to write down and list plot outlines?
yes
>Wouldn't it be better to just remember it and develop the plot as you write the story?
you won't remember you lazy fuck. write that shit down

>>19816833
>trips