Plotting or no Plotting?

That’s the huge question, right? 

Let’s say we have an amazing idea and we want to make it a novel. We are happy, exciting and we want to know every little detail before we sit down and write it. We want to make it great. 
We think, we plan, we take notes, we do research and we spend countless hours just thinking about it. We are plotting.

Then it’s time to write, but as the story moves on we see that there are more to think about. With every scene we complete, a new question appears  and despair fills our heart. 

Does this sounds familiar? I’m sure in one way or another we all have been caught in the same trap. The trap of plotting. It’s like a mind game, like a huge maze. We know the start, possibly the end, but we have no idea how to get there, how to find the way out of this huge maze. Every time we take a turn a new wall materializes before us and we are back in the beginning. 

If we keep doing this, we won’t be able to make our idea a novel. We’ll get tired, we’ll lose our happiness and our dream will shatter in a million pieces. So we'll say: "one day, I'd like to write a novel."

I’m asking you now … why do we keep doing this to ourselves? Why do we build obstacles in our way? I say we don’t. I say to enjoy it.

I say no plotting.

This is my way at least. In Dazed I plotted and search way more than I did in Divided. And I was tired. I wanted to finish my story, but I was in that maze, running around crazily, fighting my own demons. But I changed that.

The idea for Divided came when I was finishing Dazed. It was like a sparkle in my mind and I didn’t pay attention to it, since I was preoccupied with Dazed. Slowly, more thoughts gathered in my mind and transformed into ideas, and then it was like a huge wildfire. Unrestrained and  dangerous.

I wrote in everyday basis and the ideas kept coming and one day, without even realizing it … I had finished it. But this wasn’t the end. Ideas kept coming and so now I’m writing its sequel.

Now I don’t write every day, even if I try to steal some writing hours, but I do it the same way. I don’t plot. I leave my mind free to create. I just have a small idea, a hint where I want the story to go, and I just follow my instincts. It’s like what I’ve said before. Don’t be afraid to put your character in a very difficult situation, he will find a way to survive it.

Just sit down and write. Let your mind go wild and don’t start thinking. Don’t create a maze. I stop writing every time I feel I push myself. I know that I need some rest and then I will be able to finish that chapter, or that scene. It will come to you.

So, tell me. Do you plot? What is your way? :)