I have started many a novel and have tons of outlines, ideas, and notes written over the years. It's the follow-through part that I have a problem with. I get bored easily and lose interest in the subject matter when I come up with a new or improved idea. I have to learn to set aside a block of time daily to write and just do it, no matter what, and to continue writing on that subject until I complete it.
I know that feeling. In my opinion, the best novels are often the best
planned novels, and I tend to use up all my creative drive for the story in my planning stage and can't motivate myself to actually write it, or when I do, because I'm not feeling that creative anymore, the resulting prose is lacklustre. I write better when I'm making it up as I go along, but then the novel as a whole doesn't have structure. It's a tough trade off.
I've had similar problems. I think the best thing to do is make a rough but flexible plan, so that way you don't destroy the intrigue for yourself, but you also have enough of a framework to go by.
Remember, there's no reason you can't go back and clean up plot holes, inconsistencies, and the like once you've finished your first draft. You aren't committed to whatever you put to paper the first time around.
I, personally, think of a story plan as a "backup." You start with that, but if you think of something better along the way,
go for it! There's no sense sticking to a plan through an entire story if you realize halfway through there's a better direction you could go.
The last book I wrote turned out completely different from how I originally planned it. And it was, in fact, the third or fourth attempt at the story in question, and what I did differently was having a willingness to ignore the plan and let the story follow its own course.
However, it wound up being very tightly-plotted, because when I did change the plan, I went back and wrote out a new outline from that point forward. If you deviate from your original plan, you still need to plan the consequences of the deviation. But writing the entire plan up-front is not going to work so well unless you are 100% sure about the entire story from the getgo.
I look at novel writing a lot like software development. You do a design up front, but you know there are going to be bugs and additional features that come into play later. You leave room for those, and let the final product evolve, rather than shove it into a prefab box that allows no change or flexibility.
What are they all about?
