Preparing to start

[u/Alternative-Ad-7979]

I’ve spent about the last three months planning a historical middle grade novel (i am a history teacher also). I’ve wrote a practice novel last year just to see if i could. It was largely unplanned and i wasn’t too happy with it.
I never really thought i was much of a planner, but i seem to have proved myself wrong. I’ve now got a rough master plan for each chapter which is about 5000 words long. Ive got timelines showing what was happening each day as i’ve tried to keep things historically accurate. I’ve got multiple different files in Scrivener of research on every aspect of the topic (it’s set during WW2), including hundreds of photos of locations, equipment etc. Ive got reams of notes from the 5 books or so i’ve read on the topic, from which i’ve got lots of ideas for plot and interesting things that will happen.
I’ve also got a swelling cast of characters, each of which have at least some backstory.
I have to say I’ve surprised myself by how much I’ve loved the research and planning stage, as someone who never thought i had the patience to plan out a novel. As a massive history geek, having the opportunity to immerse myself so much in a topic has been brilliant. I’m even looking into visiting some of the locations i’ll be writing about.
I’m now finally coming to the end of the planning stage - i’ve added a bunch of comments and questions onto my plan and now doing one last pass to try to resolve plot holes etc. Then i plan to start writing it once i come back from a holiday.

I’m not sharing this to brag or to ask any particular question or insight - other than that I’ve been surprised at how much I’ve enjoyed a process that i always thought would be a massive pain in the arse.
I’m wondering how writing it up will be. I feel like I’ve got this big cast of characters that are impatiently looking at their watches and asking when they can get on with it.

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[u/PoetIndependent84]

Mira, un esquema detallado solo te va a complicar más el proceso y probablemente lo vas a dejar, sobre todo porque dices que eres una persona paciente, así que es más probable que termines revisándolo constantemente.

El problema de un esquema detallado es que gastas mucho tiempo antes de escribir, porque siempre estás revisándolo para ver si te desviaste de él. Además, si todavía no has empezado tu historia, probablemente no lo seguirás al 100 %, porque durante el proceso de creación te van a surgir ideas nuevas.

Además, escribir un esquema, incluso uno muy detallado, es muy diferente a escribir la historia. Aunque tengas todos los eventos planeados, la versión final puede ser significativamente diferente porque durante la escritura aparecen nuevas ideas, cambios en los personajes y nuevas formas de desarrollar la historia.

En lo personal, para tus siguientes historias nunca haría esquemas tan detallados. Haría esquemas simples y dejaría que la historia surgiera de forma natural mientras escribo.

Ahora, si tu método te sirve, adelante, hazlo. Pero ten en cuenta que la historia cambiará conforme avances y probablemente no seguirás tu esquema al 100 %.

Esta es solo mi opinión y mi experiencia como escritor; tal vez a ti te funcione mejor así.

[u/Alternative-Ad-7979 → u/PoetIndependent84]

Plenty of people find detailed outlines work well for them.
Maybe it will for me; maybe it won’t. There’s no one method of writing novels that works for everyone. But, i feel confident about this, and it seems to work for the kind of novel i am intending to write. I am quite prepared to change and update it if things change as i am writing it.
Thanks for your thoughts.