From: bobthrollop@gmail.com   
      
   On Tuesday, December 25, 2018 at 12:18:14 PM UTC-8, A. Tina Hall wrote:   
      
   > >> Planning in advance, how do you do that, do you make notes? Draw   
   > >> charts? Just imagine it in your head? Something else?   
   >    
   > > I'm the last person you should ask, since I've never done it   
   > > successfully.  In general, I plan by writing outlines, but I've never   
   > > figured out how to follow them once written.   
   >    
   > So you write outlines, and then start writing and just write what     
   > happens, kind of?   
      
   Often I do, but the results are usually poor until I've rewritten it six or   
   seven times.  Too much irrelevant digression, and I fall into that   
   as-it-happens-to-the-viewpoint-character narrative voice that I mentioned I   
   don't like.   
      
   I'm still working on the sequence I mentioned a few days ago, where B. and E.   
   go to a spot that they think will be a vacation.  I've dreamed up a nearly   
   epic back story for the place, but for them to think about it too much would   
   kill story momentum.     
   Maybe the narrator will give the readers a quick rundown while the two   
   vacationers get ready for the pool party.   
      
   They've been transported back in time to a Bronze Age city just experiencing   
   the dawn of civilization.  Everything these people do is for the very first   
   time.  The air and water are very clean and the forests and wild creatures are   
   ancient and still    
   unspoiled.  E. has talents that are of immense value here:  she can read.   
      
   Should I tell what the hills and farmlands look like, or the color of the   
   sea?  Do the people magically speak English, or is there a language barrier?    
   Are any of the natives connected with the villain's evil plan, and if they're   
   already in contact with    
   each other then what do I need B. for?  (He's in the story as an instigator,   
   remember.)  How much of this does E. get a glimmer of before being interrupted   
   by the characters she was originally intended to meet, who aren't from here at   
   all?   
      
      
      
   >    
   > Even if it doesn't work out as planned, I'm still curious, and would try     
   > it if I can at all. :)   
      
      
      
      
      
   > Hm. For me, with anything I find doubtful, justification comes from     
   > having a reason I can accept in the story. If I can't have that, I must     
   > find some other way to resolve it, tweak things until I'm satisfied.   
   >    
   > Like, why did X not warn Y? That would bug me, unless I find a really     
   > good reason that makes sense for the characters...   
      
   I don't require a well established reason, as long as the logical gap is   
   acknowledged.  For instance, if X says, "I'm sorry, I guess I should have   
   warned you"  or Y reflects that X can't be counted on to speak up, then that's   
   usually enough to keep it    
   from bothering me.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)