To Plan Or Not To Plan

So I thought this would be an interesting topic:
When plotting with someone, do you just go with the flow, or plan out what will happen in detail?

Personally I do a bit of both. Sometimes plot points, arcs and general milestones in the story will be set up, but for the most part just see what happens.

 

I plan my personal plots but in my collaborative writing, I tend to do a little discussion with my partner to see where our plots might intersect. It helps that the current RP I'm doing has plot missions where everyone in the whole RP participates. It means that there's plenty of opportunity for intersecting plot lines to develop between characters.

 

That IS the question! I think you always need some planning or plotting to ensure that all participants similarly envision the setting. Obviously if there's a site theme part of the setting will be pre-established. I used to write in an open forum where we would develop our own themes and settings and thus discussion was required to develop them. From the perspective of the story itself it's all dependent on the style of writing. Pure collaborative writing is all about planning but most 'writing sites' are obviously more geared toward 'role-playing'. I would consider myself a combination of the two as I would imagine more serious writers would. Fun thing about Roleplaying though, is being surprised. I love it when a another writer throws me for a loop and you don't get that if you're constantly plotting away every stage of the story. Of course I'm also one those guys who creeps into the grey area of 'god-modding'. There I said it. So many speak of it in hushed tones. Administrators wield the term like a vampiric vorpal blade! Makes me laugh. The truth of the matter is that in order for a story to flow and to allow for true 'roleplaying' you need to allow for some character movement of other than one's own. That being said, when writing with people I've gotten to know and have developed a rapport with I prefer to plan as little as possible and let the story unfurl as we go along, allowing other writers to guide my character based on foreshadowing that I've provided or what the story itself dictates at the time.

 

I like planning, but the degree of details is variable from a scene or story to another. I don't like aimless threads, because I am trying to write a story together with the others.

 

Exactly! Having a coherent plot is crucial as a group in my opinion.

 

Glad I'm not alone!

Yeah, a general plot line or goal is definitely needed. As for how we get there, that's a good surprise! :D

 

I, too, like a bit of planning, though the question of how much usually comes down to who I'm playing with. I have one friend in particular who I always seem to plan way ahead with, while other friends are more vague. It doesn't matter either way; surprises will happen in the course of roleplay, no matter how much you plan, and it always pays to have a good attitude about it.

This is, to me, the biggest advantage of planning ahead. It always results in more people getting involved in larger, more site-spanning plots. Or, at the very least, it tends to reduce everyone's Bacon numbers, which is always fun.

 

For the most part, I write using what I call character-driven plot. I work to establish the characters' persona and motivations, and just approach the plot from how the characters themselves would react to it. It makes for a more organic experience, I think, and while it has often led to things I didn't expect, sometimes things I didn't actually want, it always seems to help create a better story and a better flow.

That being said, there's always room for planning, especially if you're leading the experience for others. I have been guilty of over-planning in that sort of 'DM' role. I think one of the biggest hurdles for planning things out is being willing to change. If you're only writing for yourself, you can plan a whole novel out before you write page one, but when you're writing with other people, there's no dependable way to predict everything they might do. Your plans will get interrupted, sometimes ruined entirely -- being able to roll with it and adapt is vital. There's little worse in RP than being told, "You can't do that, because I need this to happen for my story."

I get what you mean here, but I'd have to disagree on how it's stated. 'God-modding' implies you're taking another player's choices or actions away from them. I absolutely agree that sometimes to maintain a good narrative flow, you need to write the actions and reactions of more than just your character -- but the best way to do that is to talk with the other player(s) and agree on how it should go. It shows more trust and respect for the other writers, which you will often see returned.

If the other players were part of the decision then it's not god-modding at all.

 

Will here knows a thing or two about writing metaplots in which actions and reactions of other characters move things forward. He always does it in consultation with his serv...er....the other members of the RP. Yeah, he's my GM.

 

I think a mix of both is probably the most effective, determined by the importance of the thread. Is it a pivotal moment in a canon story, or character development? Or is it simply an in between or quick meet up of characters? Going with the flow has always produced some wicked results for me, or just plain weird.

Planning out the plot; however, can go sideways if you've got some highly independent writers engaging in the plot. I've learned the hard way that often the plot arcs you build prior to the story often get twisted around to the point where you may have to almost force it in there, which ruins the flow.

Personally, I think a hybrid of the two is the best route. A little planned plot, mixed with some spontaneous awesome, always equals something great. I say always loosely.

 

God, I'm a planner. I'll rephrase...I'm a planner about the big things that could affect a lot more than a thread. I like having a general idea of what's going on, so that if there's the possibility of "irreparably breaking a pairing" or "he'd get killed", I can try and alter enough to NOT have that happen. Especially as I am an advocate, too, for IC actions begetting realistic and uncensored IC reactions.

But then there are also times where I literally have no idea how far things will go, or what happens, until I'm in the charrie's head and they're halfway through writing!

 

I tend to go with the flow. The only time I somewhat plan anything is if our characters are going on a quest. Personally, I don't like knowing what the outcome will be before even writing it, and just follow the story as it naturally develops.

 

No, I don't plan the details much. I prefer planning a basic plot on which we can improvise and easily create even side plots. I love seeing where the stories take us, while having pre-set goal in mind of course.

There was once this game event where I wrote Barty Crouch Jr. and a co-player wrote Bellatrix Lestrange - all we knew when we started was that the two ended up running away from the aurors who'd caught them from torturing the Longbottoms. That game event became much more complex and exciting that we'd even hoped for. It was tons of fun and a great, great story.

Anothe good example would be an event where a co-player's character is babysitting my character's kids. (I have a father and son both as main characters there.) Because of the nature of the event the characters naturally discussed what the night should basically include, but that's just what _should_ happen and for the most part probably will - but seeing to that it's about not-too-experienced babysitter looking after a spirited 8-year old boy and his lovely but 5-year old little sister, literally anything can happen.

So, the basic plot and perhaps some vague specific events may be decided but always left tons of room to improvise. :)

I love planning and plotting combined to just the right amount of improvising. I probably couldn't bring myself to post a random starter anymore.

 

After reading over what many others have said, I would agree that a mixture of planning and going with the flow is necessary. The Stargate game I play in, there seems to be this thing... if you plan out a mission too much, everyone gets annoyed that they can't be creative. However when you give a mission that allows for creativity, everyone stumbles around and complains they don't know what to do. An outline of major plot points that we have to work towards, with most all of the details left out. However, if someone comes up with a major plot twist that feels natural, and it just won't work for the current outline, the outline can be changed. It works best when everyone realizes that the outline is a suggestion rather than a list of things that needs to happen.

What really needs to stop happening... is people killing NPCs to make the mission feel dark or more urgent. We once had a team classified "Search and Rescue" where over 50% of the people they went to rescue ended up dying /after/ the team had found them.

 

I like a general plan for threads. I like to know what is ultimately going to occur within a thread, and perhaps the result of whatever is going to happen. I'm not interested in carefully planning every little detail, and taking the excitement or room for creativity/spontaneity out of it. It's often nice to just throw two characters into a thread and as you go along, share ideas with your partner like, "Hey, I think this would be really fun to throw in! .." Although I find that this only works well when you're good friends with the person you're roleplaying with, in contact with them regularly, and both as enthusiastic about the thread as each other. :p

 

I like to outline. A general idea where things are going is nice, but it's important to leave room for spontaneity. And in a game where a relationship between A and B will affect other relationships in the game and be affected by them too, it's good to be able to fold those things into consideration. A ship captain's friendship with her first mate will change slightly when the captain starts dating, for example.

And sometimes, you think you know what you want to do, but your character just doesn't want to go there for some reason. So it's often easier to alter an outline than a specific plan.

 

As someone with a lot of Tabletop experience, particularly at conventions, I know the number one rule is 'players exist to break things'. Therefore the trick is, have a zen-like acceptance of this before you start planning.

I find that outlining key events that need to somehow happen, fleshing out key npcs and making sure the player characters have things to keep them engaged, it's the extent you should plan anything... Because much more than that, and all it takes is one string to be pulled (a player leaving, a character not taking bait, etc) and everything unravels.

The worst experience running a game, and the best learning experience, I had was when I was running a session from a pre-written official module. The person who'd written it had everything scripted out, and the only variable was how much damage the crew could do on the way down. My players revolted against me, and ever since then I've lost all fear of throwing out what's been pre-planned when players push back.

 

I feel like I wasn't always a planner and really liked to see how things panned out naturally, but this has definitely changed over the years. I've had so many random threads that have gone absolutely nowhere, so now I do like to at least do a little bit of planning while leaving plenty of room for flexibility should we need it.

 

I definitely do a bit of both. I create a kind of train track but I always leave room for things to creatively derail - in fact I'm often happier when that happens because it feels so much more organic.

 

I always liked to have major plot points planned out ( at least to some degree), but leaving room for those fun but unexpected side plots that always had a way of cropping up. What always hurt me was when other players would plan out absolutely everything, write long joint posts together, but in turn resented anything and everything I ever wanted to plan out. Their plans were gold, mine served only to 'stifle creativity'. Free form was fun to an extent, but then players would moan that they had no idea what to write about. Finding a happy medium proved elusive in the end.