Beginning, Middle or End?

Before I start my draft, I know the inciting incident and I know the climax. I fill everything else in as I go. I don't skip ahead to write the climax because then I'm afraid I'll never build to that point if I get it out of the way.

Not much in the way of advice, but you just have to do it. Being accountable to something usually helps me. Even if you're not working on a NaNo novel you're more than welcome to join us in the subforum and knock out a couple of word wars.

I am a dedicated outliner, but like Katie, I start in chapter one and don't let myself skip ahead. First of all, I tend to fall in love with my endings, and the treat of getting to write those scenes is something I make myself earn by writing the rest of the book. Second, I feel like the final scenes are best written after I have worked out the full emotional/plot arc of the book and therefore have the full context. Even as an outliner, who knows what's going to happen, I find that there's always a difference in tone/flavor/something between what is imagined and the final product.

I write scenes in whatever order I like. Sometimes I change the order later. I don't see a problem with writing the ending now. It might even help you work out the part you're stuck on. And if, once you write everything else, you get to the ending that you wrote out of order and it just doesn't work anymore, then you change it. No big deal. I can't even count how many times the ending to my novel that's on sub has changed.

If I'm really excited about a scene, I write it as soon as possible, even if it's just a quick, rough version to get it out of my system. For example, I often think of a conversation my characters are going to have, though I'm not sure where or when. I write down the dialogue and wait for the scene that calls for that dialogue to come along and claim it (as I write other parts, of course.) Writing out of order almost always inspires me to write another scene and another, and before I know it, I just have a little gap here and there to fill, and I'm done.

Even if the difficult or just less exciting stuff is all left for the end, if I'm nearly finished, it's pretty easy to be motivated to write those parts because I'm almost there. And usually, I'm inspired to write those parts I was formerly stuck on before it gets to that stage.

Personally I think if you're stumped on the chapter you're working on, it might be because you're preoccupied with this final chapter that you want to write. If I was in that situation I would just write the last chapter now so that I could move on with the rest of it. However, I wouldn't consider that final chapter to be canon until I got through writing the rest of it.

If the ending no longer works, then you can write a replacement or make adjustments later. But there's no point dwelling on it when putting it on paper now would help you focus on the rest of the novel.

I always have done things in order. I outline, too.

Basically my idea is that I'll reach a hard bit, and just force myself to do it as soon as possible, especially if I'm writing to a quota. By only writing in order, it forces me to focus on the chapter in question and just get it out, even though it'll probably be edited quite a bit later on.

I think if I wrote out of order, I'd find myself with sections missing that I just couldn't be arsed doing, and what would result when I eventually "filled in the blanks" would be that the pacing/feel/everything would be slightly wrong, and it'd be a real pain to edit.

Personally I think I need something to look forward to when I'm writing the hard parts. I'm always in love with my endings and select points along the way, so these serve as incentive to get the dodgier parts done.

If you're a dedicated outliner and already know what has to be included, there's no reason not to jump around, though writing the fun scene first might get you bogged down since you've got nothing left to look forward to. A lot of writers do this all the time.

If you know where you want to go, then there is no big excuse not to go there. Write what you "have" before you beat yourself up trying to get what you "don't have."

The one thing (not the only thing, for sure!) that I have learned on this board is that there is no "right way". There is your way, my way, his way, her way...etc. Whatever works for you, know what I mean? If I were in your boat (and I have been), what I would do (and did...) is to write the ending scene. It's not carved in stone, and you can edit the bejeezus out of it later, but at least it will be out of your system. It may actually help you along the way.

I find that it doesn't hurt me at all to write out of order, and gosh darn it, if I knew what the climax to my current WIP was, I might go ahead and write it.

In the Learning Writing with Uncle Jim (part two), I asked a very similar question.

The results of those who answered stated that if that scene is itching to get written, then write it. You can fill in the rest later.

My current WiP is being written like this. I'm trying to write in order but then I get an idea of a scene that won't leave me alone, so I write it. Then go back to where I left off and keep going. Having something a little more concrete to head for helps.

I still outline and I am trying to keep it all straight so I know what scenes were intended to go where, but always with the realization that it may change. I may use it where I meant it to be in the chronological order. I may put it somewhere else, it may get cannabalized for something else. But at least I didn't bog down and stop writing because I was stuck.

You can write backwards and no one cares, as long as the final draft makes sense.

FWIW, I already wrote my ending while now slogging through the middle. So do what is right for you.

No rules!! Just write it. You never know... That last chapter may end up somewhere else before all is said and done anyway. That said, moving in a given order during the editing process helps me a great deal with the story's flow. Everybody's different though, so just do what works best for you.

Personally, I'm an outline fanatic. The only problem with it is my MCs tend to hate the outline, burn it to ash, and take over. If you know for sure what your last chapter will be, I see no harm in just writing it. Personally, I force myself to write the entire book before I do the ending. The only problem with that is I rush through the middle.

All in all, it doesn't hurt to try it. Try it this one time and see if it works for you!

I never outlined before I 'met' tt42 but I tried to write a novel her way just to see if I could and it was my quickest one ever (80 days, with 15 off, so 65 really).

It enabled me to jump around and write whatever chapter I felt like. That's the only reason to outline I can see; well, the main one anyway. I don't see the point in outlining and writing straight through. If I were going to do that I'd just start at the beginning and pants it to the end.

But yeah, nothing wrong with jumping elsewhere in the book and writing what you want if that's the way the mood takes you.

I'd say go ahead but be prepared to re-write it later when your novel has been fully developed. You may find that writing later scenes can influence the way you write those previous to it and vice-versa.

To each their own, I say. Writing is a learning experience and we all do it our own ways.

As for me, it's too early to speak of a style.

I write scenes in whatever order I like to see how far I could go with the idea before I commit myself to writing it in full

I outline and I'm a pretty linear writer. It's just easier for me to do it that way and keep my fairly complex plots straight in my mind. It's a road map of sorts. But I always give myself permission to stray from my original route if I think I need to (and I almost always do) and that often means going back and adding/deleting/moving/editing a prior scene to make sure my trail of bread crumbs is there. So in that regard, I'm not strictly linear though I make those changes as soon as I stray from the original trail and once the bread crumbs are in place, I go back and pick up where I left off.

I never write the ending scene until I get there. For me it's the carrot on the stick. It's also a celebratory ritual. I know when the end is ready to be written and I plan a celebration to go with it. It's my favorite thing to write and leaving it out there waiting for me is motivation.

Beth (aka Annelise Ryan)

I've been jumping all over the place in my NaNo WIP, and a completely different ending has presented itself, and it is much, much cooler than what I was going with. If I had been writing in order I would probably have gone with the blah ending and hated the finished product. There's nothing wrong with writing out of sequence.