I do a lot of planning and plotting. That's my greatest weakness. If I'm not terribly careful, I'll plan to a point where it could come out cut and dried.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
It's amazing how far you can get into a plot before you figure out what you're doing.
I don't plot with huge detail, just big moments and important elements, and then I have a structure but can fly by the seat of my pants when I write.
I jump around in the plotting stage, where I basically just make a bulleted list of every damn thing that happens in the entire book.
I always have a basic plot outline, but I like to leave some things to be decided while I write.
I don't plot the books out ahead of time, I don't plan them. I don't begin at the beginning and end at the end. I don't work with an outline and I don't work in a straight line.
I'm very good at plot.
Plotting is difficult for me, and always has been. I do that before I actually start writing, but I always do characters, and the arc of the story, first... You can't do anything without a story arc. Where is it going to begin, where will it end.
After preliminary research, I zero in on an idea, and then I spend at least four months exploring the topic and in plot-building. I jot down every single detail of the plot as bullet points per chapter, and only when the skeleton is complete do I start writing.
Probably careful plotting reflects my personality. I am meticulous by nature. I can't imagine speed-writing anything that happens to pop into my head.
I find it tricky to make plans.