Writing.Com General Discussion

Joining this site has been a great motivator and I feel a renewed sense of determination to crack on and complete a full length novel.

Normally I'm not a great one for planning as I've always thought it stifles creativity, but that's not been a successful strategy for me thus far, so I've decided to try a different approach.

As a first step in my planning experiment, today I've completed my short (1 page) novel synopsis. So far, so good. Instead of feeling creatively stifled, my head is buzzing with excitement and ideas, so now I'm about to start on my character outlines.

I'd be interested to know if any other former fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants writers have made better progress when they took the time to do some proper planning? Or did you feel that it did indeed stifle your creativity?