My plot exploded.

[Red_Dahlia]

Last night I sat down to write what I thought would be the last 5000 words or so of my 1st draft. I was really excited about reaching the end, and thought I would have the steampower to do it all in one night.

But then, just as one of my MCs was about to confront the bad guy/meet his goal for the story, a nagging voice in my head told me that he had just skated through this novel, and he needed to suffer more. So what do I do? I have his plans found out and him exiled. That's when my plot exploded. Here I was, thinking I was almost done with the story, but now I have about a million more scenes running through my head. It's crazy, but very exciting.

I'm mostly just curious, but does this happen to y'all? And if so, does it happen often?

[scarletpeaches]

Kinda.

I started WIP#1 for NaNo last year and was convinced I wouldn't hit the 50k requirement.

Aaaaanyhoo...nearly 150,000 words later I finished. Just a couple of weeks ago.

And now for WIP#2 which I imagine will be somewhere around 70k...I hope. As long as it's below 100k I'm cool with that.

[marisaMARTYR]

That just happened to me. The thing is, I thought I had everything worked out, and I was zooming through my WIP. Then I started to realize some plot holes I needed to fill in. And that brought about a plethora of scenes and event I need to add in. This means I have to switch a lot around.

However, I know it makes my story a helluva a lot better.

[Red_Dahlia]

Aaaaanyhoo...nearly 150,000 words later I finished. Just a couple of weeks ago.


150,000? Wow, that's impressive. I don't think mine will end up being that long, though. At least I hope not; editing must have been a beast!


However, I know it makes my story a helluva a lot better.

I really am liking the direction my story is now taking, but I'm not sure that I'm very fond of the new ending I'm envisioning. It's seems very much like a deus ex machina. Of course, given how my plot tends to run away from me, by the time I get to the new ending, it may be completely different.

[scarletpeaches]

Oh, there's a lot I'll edit out. I'm going to lose a few characters and do a major tidy up.

But my point being - sometimes I mention something in passing in an early chapter. A few chapters later that chance remark develops into a major plot point.

So explosions are good. :)

[bettielee]

When this happens to me, it is because they characters start doing what they want, instead of what I want. That is creepy and satisfying, and sort of irritating, all at the same time.

[Aleksandra]

Dahlia,

I can sympathize. Two-thirds of the way through the first book, I realized/was convinced that my point of view had to change and so did the MC. I kept going and at the climax... I killed the wrong character off. Now I'm 'girding my loins' for the rewrite, tense change, POV change and killing the correct character. The MC has to be redefined and tortured throughout the book, but at least the draft is done and I know where I am going now. If in doubt, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite!

[KikiteNeko]

Oo, I love when that happens. It usually happens to me in the middle of the story somewhere, when I have writer's block and then realize I'm blocked because I've been forcing my characters into situations that aren't right for them. I remember one night sitting down intending for one of my MC's to have a nice heart-to-heart with her dad, and she had a psychotic break instead.

[Madison]

My plot just exploded too - except in a mostly bad way. Everything just went BLAaaaa and died. Right there in the middle of the book.

Google Blake Snyder's Beat Sheet - I'm using that right now as CPR for my poor WIP. It's a good way of insuring (at least as much as you can) that nothing will explode the next time around.

[Ken Schneider]

Oo, I love when that happens. It usually happens to me in the middle of the story somewhere, when I have writer's block and then realize I'm blocked because I've been forcing my characters into situations that aren't right for them. I remember one night sitting down intending for one of my MC's to have a nice heart-to-heart with her dad, and she had a psychotic break instead.

The fun part about block, it's never really is there. You know what comes after the block point, because you know the end, or always have an idea what your ending will be, right. Well. I do.

So, write what you know comes next, and that part will create storyline for the bit right after the block point. That's how I handle it.

Then, there is the writer who eats up their plotline in 40 or 50 thousand words and didn't develope the characters and storyline enough to carry a 100 thousand words.

Eh, If all else fails, write badly.

[Red_Dahlia]

Google Blake Snyder's Beat Sheet - I'm using that right now as CPR for my poor WIP. It's a good way of insuring (at least as much as you can) that nothing will explode the next time around.

Eh, I don't know if I'd want to do that. I've been letting my new ideas simmer all day, and they're REALLY starting to grow on me. I'm definitely starting to agree with scarletpeaches that explosions are good for stories. :)

[Tanya Egan Gibson]

I think explosions are good for stories, too. And it makes sense to me that something like that would occur just as you thought you were heading for the finish of a draft -- your characters and/or plot are "defying" your trying to impose on them an end when they are nowhere ready to be tied up yet.

I love being forced to reimagine what I'm writing (probably because I get bored easily otherwise). Your subconscious (or whatever is making you think, "Hey, he's been getting off too easily -- let's introduce some more conflict!) is doing you a huge favor, I think. And hopefully is about to take you on a really fun ride.

[Harold]

Sure, this is how to go about elevating your protagonist to a hero archetype. A lot of writers torture their character to no avail.

The suffering isn't important on its own. Loss and suffering are the stimuli, you need to show the protag's reactions and allow the character to be transformed by a series of events filled with conflict. Conflict is the anvil upon which characters are shaped.

This is how you develop your character as you're going along. Spending hours making character templates and biographies is not only a waste of time, it smothers your writing, locking you into preset ideas about your character before they're tested against the events of the story and you learn who they really are.

I had a similar issue with one of my main protags. I'd planned to have him die tragically. Several other characters died, he lasts to the end, endures hell, and a bittersweet ending.

[backslashbaby]

I love my recent explosion :D It does change the ending, which now I don't know. And the book may be longer, but that's fine in my case.

Even if the explosion happens on a work where you are worried about length, it gives you the ability to pick the best parts from more great ideas. Picking the best of the bunch is always better, I think.

[NatJM]

Same thing normally happens to me, that's what 2nd drafts are for ;)

I was overwhelmed at first but now, I just go with it and remember that you have already managed to write a full 1st draft, which is an achievement in itself and will give you the confidence and energy to tackle your 2nd draft.

I normally write extra scenes, as well as cutting and editing existing ones, for my 2nd drafts, because of "plot explosion". It's exciting because it's a lot easier to see where you're going when you've got words written in front of you!

[caitysdad]

When I wrote my vague outline for my novel many years ago. (Hey, I'm busy) The final product resembled very little of my original outline. Percentage wise I would about 10% of my original outline is apart of the finished product.

Your novel is a journey and you don't always end up where you think you would. Hell, your novel is your life because I'm not where I thought I would end up, and that's a good thing. Never thought I would get married, never thought I would kids, so go where your journey takes you and don't worry about the detours.

[selkn.asrai]

Yeah, I thought I was at the finish line for my WIP, and then kaboom. I realized that something major happened many chapters too early. I felt like my eyes were going to melt away.

I figure it out, though. After a lot of complicated fiddling, I went with my original solution, which really fits the story best, anyway. Divine providence, I salute ye.