The end

[oggbashan]

But if you write something, and plot never tells you to stop, you've got to start wondering where the plot is to begin with.
Plot should tell you, okay, I've finished with the initial telling. What you do from there is up to you, editing, rewriting, etc.

But plot will dictate whether or not it is necessary to continue, or whether or not the writer has already gone too far, in the same manner in which "characterization" might say "hold up, buddy. Tania doesn't do this. She's as such, and this way of acting just doesn't fit her character."

The writer can put whatever he/she wants on paper, but whether it flows can be greatly affected by the choice of the writer to go outside the boundaries preset by either plot or characterization. Readers can pick up on these things, especially intelligent ones, or readers who are familiar with the craft of writing themselves.

Your viewpoint is good, that things go one before and after the story, but plot decides what needs to be told, as opposed to what can be told.

I outline the plot, the characters and the development to the denoument but once I start putting flesh on those bare bones anything goes. The overall shape doesn't usually change but the interaction of the characters and their relationship to the plot can alter the story drastically.

Sometimes the interaction trashes the outline plot and I have to recast the whole thing or scrap it. I usually know how the story will end before I start. The characters might decide not to cooperate and demand a different ending, a different plot, or a continuing unending saga with sub-plots, trips down rural branch lines, digressions into totally different stories and so on. The process can be painful. Forcing the characters back into the structure destroys the story. Modifying the outline plot is easier.

Og

 

[Quiet_Cool]

I outline the plot, the characters and the development to the denoument but once I start putting flesh on those bare bones anything goes. The overall shape doesn't usually change but the interaction of the characters and their relationship to the plot can alter the story drastically.

Sometimes the interaction trashes the outline plot and I have to recast the whole thing or scrap it. I usually know how the story will end before I start. The characters might decide not to cooperate and demand a different ending, a different plot, or a continuing unending saga with sub-plots, trips down rural branch lines, digressions into totally different stories and so on. The process can be painful. Forcing the characters back into the structure destroys the story. Modifying the outline plot is easier.

Og

True.

A lot of things can change the "intended plotline," and those changes have to be respected. It's one of those unspoken laws of writing. Truth is, and I should have--might have--pointed this out while Alex and I were sharing information, characterization can change plot entirely, mostly because plot is more often than not, defined by the main character and the changes that he/she is going through.

That's most likely why we have so many of these threads. Too much of writing is unspoken laws, and the reason why they're unspoken is because there's no rational explanation, at least not that can be placed into words. It's as much instinct as it is form, mabe more so.