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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/39556
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

> When one is a plotter of stories, every step of the intrigue is laid out before one starts writing.

Well…, no.

I sometimes think discovery writers imagine that plotters are passionless stone Easter Island heads who tonelessly drone about Destiny and the Immutability of Time. _So it was outlined..., so mote it be!_

Plotter-ing and discovery-ing are not mutually exclusive. I don't think they are actually "techniques", or "disciplines", but more like temperaments or personality types, like _extrovert_ / _introvert_. You don't get to choose but you can work within your strengths.

You will have to plot out a court scene to some degree or it will become nonsense sensationalism and melodramic reactions. Each attorney plans ahead. They do not just show up at court and _wing it_. You will need a somewhat plausible baseline to establish the court situation is serious (not just a segue to "Guilty!" and then a prison fight). Most characters will walk in to court having planned to present certain evidence or fulfill their civic duty. These characters and their plot-crucial testimony will need to be plotted. Their sympathies and emotional reactions are left to discovery

You will also need to plot the course of the trial itself, so it can follow believable procedures and a logical progression of evidence over time. The good thing is your POV character doesn't understand the procedures and her confusion can cover you, but many people have a casual knowledge of court proceedings. Obvious errors will break credibility.

The testimony reveal vs delayed payoff sounds like plotting to me. I really don't see why you'd try to avoid it. Is there no middle ground where you have a **working outline** but are still free to make changes as you discover details along the way?

Original score: 4