Novelists who write their story as they go along - how the heck do you do it?

[drcharlotterodricks]

So this is my comic
https://tapas.io/series/You--Me

And I dont think I would count myself as a novelist though since they are just bite sized comics...I pay attention to my conversations with my friend, jot down points, sometimes I modify them to make them a bit more user friendly, but mostly they are in their original state

[SilverLugia456]

if its a story that I really like and have the motivation for the story usually finds me. Most of the time I use outlines as a means to write down ideas in some form but sometimes the ideas just come one after another and I roll with them. The Pirate's Chronicle the one I'm working on Tapas right now is one I actually have no outline for I'm just writing as I get the ideas of what will come next. I have had my fair share of writer block moments when it comes to the novel but at the same time its those challenges that make writing the novel worth it because of the sense of accomplishment I feel when I completed a new chapter after the writer's block.

[ISNEKO]

"Okay, so what happens next."

"No, that's dumb lets try something else."

That's literally my entire process for writing.

[CodeMonkeyArts]

I try to get into a buffer, although I definitely also have long hiatuses when I don't have a buffer of chapters which is...pretty damn bad. I really need to get better!

[Aykay]

I generally have a sense of what I want to do. Like I'll have milestones that I want to hit. And work from there.

[mcarrowolga]

I always have this blurry movie in my head that later becomes a novel/comic. I never know how it will end, it always changes and shifts. My job as a writer is deciphering it, reconstructing missing links between its episodes, and retelling it to my readers.

[WolfUnderTheMoon89]

I did that
I knew my start and my end and just started writing.
I managed a schedule of 2 chapters a week, meaning 4-5k words a week.

I finished the novel in 5 months and at 108k words.

Lessons learned: never do it again.
Now I write in advance and will post later on. After I made a good buffer.

[RyzaCobalion]

i usually make chapters up where the last one left off at and build it off of there. Not all of it was planned out.

[DasIstWunderblyat]

Have you ever been to the grocery store to buy leeks and tomatoes, but you came back with carrots and mushrooms and change your dinner plan entirely?

Impulsiveness it is.
Even if I had a plan, it will be altered.

[ScarletDemon]

The way I do it is that when I get the idea for a book or story, I make two different word documents: one is just the outline of the story and the other is the actual writing, so I can have them side by side on screen. It helps keep details and things in order as well as being quick to make sure everything you say is right and you're not changing anything you said previously.
As for writer's block, the way I avoid it is that I woke on multiple stories at a time, so that if I hit a block on one, I jump into the other, the different head-space of the different story-lines stops me from thinking about things other than what is blocking me so I can just return to the original after some time. Reading others also helps, seeing how other people worked through similar problems.
Check out my stories if you want, I write a lot of fantasy. Same name on Tapas. Sky-Garden, Shrouds and Stilettos, Rain and Deathblooded.

[Random_Guy]

Not a d#mned clue, but I'm making it work so far.

[sarahmassey998]

I la-de-da my way through it like I did with college. Have the most basic plot outline and let you brain vomit out whatever it wants.

[tfairbankssecond]

I just have major points I want to get to and write. It comes in spurts though so sometimes I'll get mild writer's block. I use my brother for some idea bouncing then hop back into it. It reminds me of how my friends and I DM

[Berserker]

Yeah me too. Even when I'm not writing a story down ideas pop into my head and I mentally organize the story. By the time I start writing I have the major plot beats in mind.

But that being said I write an outline next to organize the specifics of the plot threads and dialogue that needs to happen.

[Dark_Faeire]

for me, I just write what comes to mind and be like, 'okay so where do I go from here?'
I was working part-time so sometimes at work these mini scenes go through my head that I end up using or when I'm writing it just flows onto my keyboard so i just write what is going on in that moment of the story. I had an idea of how I would like it to end but i didn't know how i was going to end it haha

[BlunderingAlbatross]

I'm terrible at doing outlines, I just can't stick to them if I try What I do write down is when an idea for a bit of mythology or a creature (or whatever) comes to mind just in case I want to work it in later.

[sii]

I suck at doing outlines, so I don't. I don't even know how I want to end my current project. I just know I wanna write and make it cool and have fun with it. And kill characters without hurting my own feelings too much.

[Amansrose]

Truthfully, I started writing my novel with just the conflict in mind. I know what I wanted to focus on, but I didn't know how to started it or end it. I took me about 3 different openings before I settled with what I have now.

From there, I sat down and really started to plan what I want to happen in each chapter. It seemed to work and right now I'm writing chapter 17 with many more chapters to go.

[Jericho]

I don't think everyone can write like that. Where you just write as you go. For me, I actually write better and more consistently if I have no plan.

[sii]

I feel the same. I've tried to outline before and it got me nowhere. If anything, thinking too much on what I want to write kills my inspiration to write. The most planning I do beforehand is coming up with the possibility of what I want the next chapter to be about. Anything beyond that and I lose interest.