Every plotter knows the temptation. The outline keeps growing—another subplot beat, another note, another contingency—and the actual writing never starts. So how much plotting is too much before you begin to write? In this video I share how I decide when I have enough detail to feel guided without boxing myself in, plus the simple test I use to tell helpful planning from quiet procrastination. I’ll also cover the two things I make sure I know before I draft a single scene, where I place my major twists, and how much I really need to understand about my subplots so everything ties together at the end.
The question is, I plot in detail and subplot in detail too. How much detail is too much before I begin to write? And the answer is, I don’t know, because all writers have to find their own process. What may work for me may not work for you. That said, I’ll be glad to pass along some thoughts and a tip or two.
Make sure that the amount of detail you’re generating isn’t some kind of unconscious excuse or justification for delaying the writing process. Make sure it’s helpful, not inhibiting. In my world, I want to have enough so I’m guided. I know where I’m heading. But I don’t want to put myself in a straitjacket, and if I change one thing, I don’t want to end up having to change five thousand others in the parts that I’ve already written because I was so limited by my self-dictatorial standards.
Another thing to think about is whether you know the beginning and you know the end. Those to me are really the two most important issues, because that defines the story arc, the overarching theme and tale you want to tell. Once you have that arc, then the question becomes, where are you going to put your major plot twists? I like to include four, as you know, if you work with my plotting roadmap. For people who work with a three-act structure, the first and third acts tend to be shorter than the middle act, which would have two twists in it.
It’s also genre specific, what defines a twist, how you implement it, and the like. In other words, if you know your beginning and your end and at least some of your major twists, for many of us that’s enough. Let’s sit down and begin the writing. Now in terms of the subplots, I do need to know a fair amount about those, because they need to interact with, interject themselves into, and interweave into the main plots so that everything’s tied up in a nice little bow at the end.
So I need to be able to envision how the two are going to fit together. It’s a beautiful thing when it works. You want enough detail to guide you and not so much it inhibits you. And for those of you who don’t plot at all, just make sure you’re keeping track of things.
I look forward to hearing how you handle it, what you decide, what works for you. And if this tip had value for you, would you like it? Would you share it? Would you subscribe to the channel?
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