#and ever since cogr my planning docs have become all the more lengthy and complicated to look at. which is both a blessing and a curse

[ratcandy]

Hi Clam. Question about CoGR. I know you didn't have the fic finished when you first started posting. Did you make an outline for the whole fic or did you just wing it?

I'm struggling to keep my longfic together and could use some pointers.

Oh worm! Coming to me for planning tips is a dangerous game considering I change it up with every fic hdKJH

But in the case of CoGR specifically, yes, the entire fic was outlined before I started writing! Every chapter had a very basic concept attached to it so I understood what was meant to happen + how his Thought Processes had formed. And at the very top of the doc I had the entire Zote History written out so I could keep it in mind as I wrote

I also color-coded chapters based on where they were taking place, unless something important was discussed in that chapter, in which case they were color-coded with red text (hence my author notes referring to certain chapters as "colored red"!)

actually i went digging thru my files and I found the old planning doc, so if u were wondering how the cogr plan looked, well. here u go,

and yes it's in chronological precept order, meaning my plan was backwards. i only figured out that I wanted to go in reverse precept order After I wrote down the initial plan, lmao

But even with an established outline far in advance, stuff was constantly getting tweaked and messed around with as I wrote. Really big plot points stayed relatively the same (such as Chapter 47 - the plan for that stayed pretty cut and dry from start to finish) but some things ended up being added or changed as I went along (for instance, the entire grub arc was a sort of last minute decision; I got the idea a few chapters in advance and went 'hey fuck it that'd be fun to add' so I Did, and I found it made the chapters where the grub was included far more interesting than if they were never there!)

So my advice would be to make an outline but not be too hard on yourself when it comes to sticking to it. I find an outline to be SUPER helpful, as if I don't plan something well in advance I just end up writing myself into a hole (R.I.P Tinnitus), but adding little things as I write can make it all the better. So make a plan, yeas, but give yourself breathing room for changing things/adding stuff!

Hope that helps at all!!