I suspect that the significant thing about both Adrian and Jonathan's answers is that they spent a lot of time writing before they admitted/realised that they had got stuck and then turned to making a plan.
I think that unless one adopts a formula which goes from A through various letters to the one that concludes the story it is very difficult for a first time writer - and many with a lot of practice - to have any idea how to formulate a detailed plan - at least - I believe that this is the case before they have got under way.
It seems that a lot of people, myself included, start with a beginning - and work on from there.
Others have an end. Some have beginning and end.
I find it extremely difficult to have a really clear end in mind - I feel that it taints all the material in the middle - I know where the story is going - and that tends to impact on what precedes it... I feel that if I can see what is going to happen mid-text that my readers will be able to as well - even if the end is a twist-around. I don't like reading books that are predictable so I assume that others don't as well.
Meanwhile - back at to plot or not to plot... (that is the question).
Some idea of direction is certainly useful. Just how detailed does the route need to be though?
Having an end to reach may or may not be helpful. I have read too many books that seem to have started out from a known starting point - wandered away and then - possibly to keep within a word count or a number of pages - they seem to have suddenly though - "Ah! I've got to get to here..." and then they have thrown everything to the winds and headed for that final point... quite often a good story spoilt by a mad dash to a pre-fixed ending.
Therefore - one of the many things to try to achieve - is to at least establish some way-markers that will keep the story on track for where you want it to end up.
Another thing may be to set fence-lines so that you don't wander too far away from where you need to be.
As usual - one thing to do is to step back from the story from time-to-time - give it a rest - and, when you return, check that it is progressing where you want/mean it to...
Be prepared to go back a stage or two, maybe to cut away a false trail (you might use it in another story) but - be ready to do what the story needs to keep it sensible...
Writing to a plan bores the pants off me. I always have an end scene in mind and am always aiming towards that, but everything in the middle is as much a surprise to me as it is to the reader.
To plan or not to plan that is the question. It reminds me of a story.
Maxim Gorky asked his friend Anton Chekhov, whether he should plan for his next novel. Chekhov knew that Gorky was not a good planner.
Chekhov replied, 'This is not a conversation about literature, it is about psychiatry.'
'What do you mean?' asked a perplexed Gorky.
Chekhov answered, 'Anyone who attempts to write a novel without a plan must be mad.'
I suspect that the significant thing about both Adrian and Jonathan's answers is that they spent a lot of time writing before they admitted/realised that they had got stuck and then turned to making a plan.
I think that unless one adopts a formula which goes from A through various letters to the one that concludes the story it is very difficult for a first time writer - and many with a lot of practice - to have any idea how to formulate a detailed plan - at least - I believe that this is the case before they have got under way.
It seems that a lot of people, myself included, start with a beginning - and work on from there.
Others have an end. Some have beginning and end.
I find it extremely difficult to have a really clear end in mind - I feel that it taints all the material in the middle - I know where the story is going - and that tends to impact on what precedes it... I feel that if I can see what is going to happen mid-text that my readers will be able to as well - even if the end is a twist-around. I don't like reading books that are predictable so I assume that others don't as well.
Meanwhile - back at to plot or not to plot... (that is the question).
Some idea of direction is certainly useful. Just how detailed does the route need to be though?
Having an end to reach may or may not be helpful. I have read too many books that seem to have started out from a known starting point - wandered away and then - possibly to keep within a word count or a number of pages - they seem to have suddenly though - "Ah! I've got to get to here..." and then they have thrown everything to the winds and headed for that final point... quite often a good story spoilt by a mad dash to a pre-fixed ending.
Therefore - one of the many things to try to achieve - is to at least establish some way-markers that will keep the story on track for where you want it to end up.
Another thing may be to set fence-lines so that you don't wander too far away from where you need to be.
As usual - one thing to do is to step back from the story from time-to-time - give it a rest - and, when you return, check that it is progressing where you want/mean it to...
Be prepared to go back a stage or two, maybe to cut away a false trail (you might use it in another story) but - be ready to do what the story needs to keep it sensible...
Just like I don't :-)
Writing to a plan bores the pants off me. I always have an end scene in mind and am always aiming towards that, but everything in the middle is as much a surprise to me as it is to the reader.