Untangling a story?

I'm working on two stories right now, not really writing at the moment, more like sketching out ideas and trying to plot out the storyline. One of them I'm trying to piece together what I have left of the first draft's beginning. But it's slow going because the stories keep getting tangled.

I know it's not a problem caused by working on two stories at once; I can manage that and I can't really control what ideas I find when, anyway. But in the first story, there are so many different things going on in history and so many events that need explaining, and they're just getting all tangled up. Some of the characters have the option of being a character from the past or from the present, basically, and it's confusing trying to sort out who is where and who caused what, as well as what actually happened.

In the second story, it's my characters that are getting all mixed up; I have some scenes planned and some plot points planned, but I can't firmly decide who will do what. For example, one of my characters (we'll call her Susie) was going to be very calm and collected on the outside because she's an actress and can do that sort of thing. But inside, she's very distraught and unsure of herself. Then there's another character (Marie) who has the same calmness on the outside and distress on the inside, at least right now, and I can't figure out which should be doing what. For example one of these girls ends up falling for a certain guy, but I can't figure out which and I really don't think it should be both.

So stuff in my stories is all tangled and mixed up. I don't really know what to do anymore; the mess is preventing me from writing more or revising what I have, and I can hardly start planning the revised storylines because there are so many holes that need to be filled and so many things that are interchangeable. Maybe it doesn't help that I have all of my story ideas and plotlines and stuff scattered everywhere in a way that made sense once, but now I've just lost track of it all.

I really, really don't want to give up on any of the ideas or the characters, but I can't see where I'm going and I don't know how to sort through all of my stuff. Help?

It's kind of unclear from your post, but have you actually tried writing outlines for one/both of these stories yet? You mentioned that you have at least part of a draft going on, but what about some kind of meta-writing?

If yes, I would say just plow through with a draft on both of them; you'll make a lot of decisions as you go through, which should limit the possible different courses for you to take and reduce confusion. Also, you'll probably have a better idea of how everything hangs together once you reach the end and better be able to see where there are plot holes and so forth. If no, then doing an outline should at least give you the opportunity to "write out" the whole thing in abbreviated form and get things a little more concrete before you start drafting.

The first story has a draft and tons of outlines; the outlines so far haven't done me an extreme amount of good. I'm still stumbling on problems in the beginning, and as much as I'd like to breeze past them and fill them in later, I've done that before and filling them in later either requires me to make something up or change things drastically. That's kind of what keeps happening; I try to fix the plot holes and in doing that I change things around so much it causes other plot holes, and soon nothing is straight. I do want to start another draft of it, but everything is still so tangled, I don't want to start it because I can't get a ground on where I'm starting. I'd jump farther into the story instead of starting at the beginning, but I don't know how to start that because it depends on the beginning.

For the second story, outlining some things might help... though I fear it'll end up just like the first one.

I can try outlining more, but I don't know how much good it's going to do me; I just keep getting tangled up. Maybe I should try putting plot points on notecards or something and shuffle them around until it makes sense... being able to see things usually helps. Thanks for your suggestions, Negrek, I appreciate your response!

I would suggest just starting fresh on a new draft, then. If you're trying to play whack-a-plot-hole on the old one and it's just causing more problems, it's probably time to start a new draft. Like I said before, writing a new draft will force you to lock yourself into decisions about how things will turn out, and you can go back and look for plot holes later. Also, if you're not sure where to start, start where you started the last one and just let it change as you get to areas you think should have been done differently.

And I would suggest writing the next draft straight from the beginning to the end. If you're having trouble keeping the plot threads straight, writing a later section and then deciding you'll go back and do earlier areas later tends to lead to holes where you try to connect the parts later... if you even end up going back, rather than having a repeat of the problems you're having now and feeling too hesitant to start.

As for the second story, you may want to put it on the side for now while you iron out the issues for the first one. Write down stuff you think of or don't want to forget, but don't worry about it too much. I know you said earlier that writing two stories at once isn't your problem, but perhaps for this particular part it would be better for you to focus on getting the issues with one worked out and your confidence back for working on the second.

"Whack-a-plot-hole" is the perfect description of it. xD Hmm, that does sound like a good idea. I think I will begin writing a new draft then... I'm just worried, though, that I'll write out the entire draft and then decide that something in the beginning is wrong, and have to change the whole thing. Should I just be really careful in the beginning? That's what I'm thinking.

You know, I think that's true; I will put the second one aside for now. Thank you so much for your replies, Negrek. =)

For the character problems in the second story, I'd suggest just thinking about it in a different way. Since it doesn't look like vague outlines are working in that particular case, my advice would be to just follow the characters and see where they take you. If they're developed enough that they can pretty much act on their own (write themselves/you can tell what they would do in a situation without thought), then just think of where they start and what things they go through, and see where they end up. Instead of deciding beforehand who should fall for whom, just let them and their interactions with the other characters and plots determine it.

Of course, if they aren't that developed yet, then I'd suggest either developing them more, or just reworking their characters so you don't have this conflict.

And listen to Negrek, she gave great advice.

Minnow said:

For the character problems in the second story, I'd suggest just thinking about it in a different way. Since it doesn't look like vague outlines are working in that particular case, my advice would be to just follow the characters and see where they take you. If they're developed enough that they can pretty much act on their own (write themselves/you can tell what they would do in a situation without thought), then just think of where they start and what things they go through, and see where they end up. Instead of deciding beforehand who should fall for whom, just let them and their interactions with the other characters and plots determine it.

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Yes, this. Unless there's some plotty reason why a character needs to fall for a specific character (or needs to fall for anyone at all), it's best just to let the characters go where they will.

Regarding the beginning: what kind of problem do you anticipate having that would force you to change everything later?