Please Help! Anyone Strong In This Technique How Do You Do It?

MakanJuu said:

You have to know it beforehand & work it out methodically from there.

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No you don't. At least I hope not, as I generally don't have a clue about all the intricacies and twists until I start writing (and revising).

I have amazing admiration for people who can get all their ducks in a row before they start writing and get the story fully in place and fleshed out in draft 1, but I don't think all, or even most, writers work this way. Anne McCaffrey famously said something along the lines of not knowing how her stories were going to end, for instance, (and that's why she wrote them).

Lenticular Psaloid said:

You know, I've seriously considered this.
If visualizing it on a sheet of paper is all it takes, relatively speaking, why aren't there more J K Rowlings?

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Because that's not all it takes. There's that whole writing the story in a compelling way thing too.

Lenticular Psaloid said:

If visualizing it on a sheet of paper is all it takes, relatively speaking, why aren't there more J K Rowlings?

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Helix said:

Because that's not all it takes. There's that whole writing the story in a compelling way thing too.

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Considering the number of "self-pub fails" blogs and tumblr pages out there, there's truth to Helix's words.

Roxxsmom said:

I don't know how Rowling does it, but for me (I tend towards the seat of the pants end of the writing spectrum), going back and editing those hints and clues in after the first (or second, or third, or fourth or whatever) draft/revision is written and I know what's going to happen later.

For instance, with my first novel, there was a character I didn't *realize* was a baddie until I'd revised the thing a few times. But it was fairly easy to go back in and subtly change a couple of things re her interactions with my main character in earlier chapters, so it wouldn't seem like it was completely out of the blue.

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That's pretty much how I do it too. I usually write a rough outline for the main plot up to the halfway point, but when I start writing, inevitably I'll come up with new stuff (characters, subplots that add to the main plot etc) and I have to go back and add hints and clues.

I also have a separate document where I'll list things such as "REMEMBER THAT CHARACTER X STILL HAS THE KEY CARD" or "REMEMBER THAT CHARACTER Y IS INTO HACKING" etc. As I add those hints back into the story, I cross them off the separate document.

It takes me several rounds of editing to do this sufficiently, though, and yea, I'm nowhere near as good as Rowling at it. Also, I can't imagine how people who finish their polished work off in one draft do it either. It's purty impressive.

Sage said:

You have to make sure to give each clue equal emphasis to other similar items that aren't clues. Thanks to JKR's world-building skills, she'd mention an item or a character who seemed very minor at the time, and you'd integrate it as part of the rich world she created. It could be books later that that character or item shows its true importance. Authors will less skill drop clues as part of description, but they have giant arrows over them, saying "Look at me, I'll be important later!"

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Well said! I totally agree.

It just happens. I never plan a clue, or a red herring, or foreshadowing. I write, and these things happen as a natural outgrowth of description and character.

There is no right or wrong way to do it. Mystery writers need constant clues, misdirections, red herrings, and foreshadowing, but they go about it in many ways. It can all be planned in minute detail, or it can all happen without any planning at all, one one way is as good as another.

You just have to figure out which way works for you.

I'd go nuts, if I had to plan all these things in advance. I wouldn't do it. I'd give up writing, and start doing something sensible, like collecting bat eyebrows. Others love planning such things, and good for them.

I have some that weren't planned and some that were added later. I think some of them come from being specific in my details. Others are there because I had certain themes in mind when writing. Some were added to strengthen a theme. That they end up being important in other ways is happenstance except where added later according to plan.