For long running things, I start with general idea, a few ideal mid or end points, and then pretty much just toss it at people and let them do what they will. Which can be really damn hard because sometimes it swerves from cool ideas I wanted to put into play. But, I dunno, my longest running one is going on six years now (forum rp), but at this point it's evolved to the point that I don't really need to touch it anymore. The people invested in it have taken on characters from all the sides, so it has a life of its own and as such it'll play out how it plays out.
For shorter things I tend to plan things more point by point, though with rp I always believe that there should be plenty of space left for people to bring in their own ideas.
For story things there is idea of point I want to share/write about, then I think of an end point, cool things that happen in the middle, and then how to start it. I'm good at writing things down, terrible horrible awful at revision and making all the little parts flow together in a good way.
I know a guy who is tremendously meticulous about his story planning and putting all the story bits together. I am most jealous of his ability, and also in awe of it. Sometimes when I'm struggling I'll think 'hmm, what kind of twist would he throw in here...'. He just has that ability to think of all the levels and plot points at once, in a comprehensive sort of way. That's something that I need to work on, as I feel it is a weakness in my own writing.
For shorter things I tend to plan things more point by point, though with rp I always believe that there should be plenty of space left for people to bring in their own ideas.
For story things there is idea of point I want to share/write about, then I think of an end point, cool things that happen in the middle, and then how to start it. I'm good at writing things down, terrible horrible awful at revision and making all the little parts flow together in a good way.
I know a guy who is tremendously meticulous about his story planning and putting all the story bits together. I am most jealous of his ability, and also in awe of it. Sometimes when I'm struggling I'll think 'hmm, what kind of twist would he throw in here...'. He just has that ability to think of all the levels and plot points at once, in a comprehensive sort of way. That's something that I need to work on, as I feel it is a weakness in my own writing.
