[RonnellDPorter]

I mean, does anyone get the urge to write a certain scene without wanting to wait a bunch of chapters to get to it? Are there those on the board who write like this in every book? Has anyone had any success with it?

 

[Keira Lea]

I do. When the initial story idea comes to me, I see characters acting out scenes in my mind. I try to write those down first. I think of those scenes as my clay, which I use to mold the characters and story. It's kind of goofy, I know.

 

[Mainak Dhar]

A couple of times, at a very early stage of the writing process, it became very clear to me how the story would end- down to the last line. On those occasions, I actually wrote the last chapter out and then got on with the rest to lead upto it. But on most other occasions, I do tend to write in a linear way.

cheers

 

[Angela Carlie]

Yes! I usually write a chapter or two and then write around it. For example--Chapter 9 was the first chapter I wrote in the book I'm currently writing. Then I had to write a book around it.

 

[nomesque]

Yes, if I can 'see' a scene, I'll generally write it. I think this works better in the DEAD(ish) series than others - they're very short and they're not particularly linear in nature anyway. In longer books, it sometimes causes headaches (seasons out of order, school year flying by in 6 months, etc) which have to be picked up in the editing stage.

 

[Terrence OBrien]

Sure. if I know where I am going, I'll write that chapter, then work backwards leading up to it. It doesn't have to be the last chapter or episode; it can be anywhere. I find everything is much tighter that way and I don't introduce a bunch of stiff I don't need.

 

[Maria Romana]

Oh heck yeah!  Middle, end, prologue, middle, beginning, end, beginning, middle, and on and on.  It's like a puzzle where I just keep putting little color groups together until the whole thing suddenly turns into a finished picture.

 

[RonnellDPorter]

Oh heck yeah! Middle, end, prologue, middle, beginning, end, beginning, middle, and on and on. It's like a puzzle where I just keep putting little color groups together until the whole thing suddenly turns into a finished picture.

I like your analogy - very encouraging!

 

[Guest]

Definitely. When I get an idea I write it down, regardless of where it is going to fit (or even if it will). Once the scene is written, it might not make it into the final book, but I'd rather have it written than forget it.

 

[soyfrank]

Well, I've only written the one book so far, but it was definitely nonlinear -- both in writing and in the story itself.

 

[SheaMacLeod]

When a story is really ready to be written, I can usually see very clearly the beginning and the end.  So, I write those.  Then I try and fill in everything in between. 

Sometimes I do see a scene out of sequence, so I'll write that and then include it at the right time.  Sometimes it needs to be tweaked to fit any plot twists I've created in the meantime, but usually those out of sequence scenes are some of my best material.  Well, I think so, anyway. 

 

[Ben White]

Only in the outlining stage.  I often have a 'moment' firmly in mind, and then work backwards to figure out how to get to it.  But for the first draft I write straight through from beginning to end.  That way when I get to the big 'pay-off' scenes I'm super-excited to write them.  Also, because I'm thinking about those scenes all through the first draft it often leads to 'oh!' moments where I realise I can slip in some subtle foreshadowing or lines that can be echoed or referred back to later, those tiny details that I love so much

 

[Philip Chen]

apparently that is what my critics say: his writing is all over the place. 

 

[swolf]

Yeah, I write out of order all the time.  Some scenes just demand to get written right away.  And sometimes if you're not sure how to get from A to B, writing B will clarify the plot in your mind and give you some ideas.

When it comes to erotica, most sex scenes begin as "Insert sex scene here" and I move on with the plot.  I have to be in a certain mind frame to write those, and it's a different place than normal writing.  Sometimes they're a bit of a struggle to write.

 

[SheaMacLeod]

When it comes to erotica, most sex scenes begin as "Insert sex scene here" and I move on with the plot. I have to be in a certain mind frame to write those, and it's a different place than normal writing. Sometimes they're a bit of a struggle to write.

Glad I'm not the only one. lol Usually takes copious amounts of wine for me. I blame it on my puritanical upbringing.

 

[Ilyria Moon]

I mean, does anyone get the urge to write a certain scene without wanting to wait a bunch of chapters to get to it? Are there those on the board who write like this in every book? Has anyone had any success with it?

Yes, me. The downside is like now, when I have a weak scene early on in my WIP that took ages to write, because it was just a necessary filler scene to set up something that comes later in the MS. For some reason, I found it really difficult to write; I think because it needed to switch between two characters' viewpoints and I couldn't decide when each switch needed to occur, because they were both heavily invested in the outcome. It was so frustrating, because I couldn't start stringing the later scenes together without finishing this scene and the more I thought about it, the less able I was to write. I have a weak - but done! - scene now, and can revisit other parts of the book.

I also write in a linear fashion...kind of. My books have several interweaving stories, so sometimes I will focus on one character's journey for a while, and then revisit an earlier portion to bisect his story with another character's journey (who has nothing to do with said character at that point in the book).

 

[Hans Cummings]

Most of the time I write linearly. But every novel-length book I've written, I've had a scene or two I know will come later in the book that I had to get down while it was fresh in my head. So, I'll write out that scene with notes indicating where I want it to fit in the story. I then go back to writing where I left off and will insert the other scene when I get to it.

 

[JRainey]

I do every once in a while, especially if it's a scene that I don't want to "lose". If I get the scene clearly in my head, I'd rather deviate from my usual linear path and write it instead of waiting and maybe forgetting some of the details.

It's always nice when you get to a point in the first draft when you realize, "Oh! I've already written this next scene!" And then you can just copy and paste it in and ta da! You've added ten pages to your draft in two seconds!

 

[Ilyria Moon]

I do every once in a while, especially if it's a scene that I don't want to "lose". If I get the scene clearly in my head, I'd rather deviate from my usual linear path and write it instead of waiting and maybe forgetting some of the details.

It's always nice when you get to a point in the first draft when you realize, "Oh! I've already written this next scene!" And then you can just copy and paste it in and ta da! You've added ten pages to your draft in two seconds!

Haha I love that

 

[julie sellers]

I start a book by writing several scenes in a notebook.  Once I happen upon the opening scene, I start typing into the computer.  My roughest draft is in a composition book and is just a bunch of scenes all out of order.

It is TERRIBLY frustrating, but I cannot seem to write well creatively while typing.  I hand write all the big scenes and edit and add transitional scenes when I type them into the computer. 

I have fought against this malady for years...but I just struggle to be creative when I'm typing.  It's a little better on my alphasmart, because there aren't all of the squigly lines to distract me.  I also sometimes turn off all of the editing stuff in word.  But my read problem is that when I type my brain is "spelling" each word and that drowns out the "voice" in my head that is telling me what's happening to the characters. 

When I write long hand the "word" comes from my hand instead of each letter. I especially struggle with pacing, because I don't really know where I am in the novel without word count...and I don't know how "long" it will take to get from scene A to scene B.

I know that doesn't make sense...but it's like my own little personal learning disability.