Do you write lineally?

legendary bum · Apr 1, 2010

I wrote my last WIP in bits and pieces, and then sort of strung it all together at the end. Not efficient, I guess, but way easier than trying to write it straight from beginning to end, which I'm trying to do with my new WIP. Is this a legitimate idiosyncrasy, or maybe just an amateur writer thing? I think the problem is that I want to write all the pretty scenes first.

scarletpeaches · Apr 1, 2010

As long as you can't see the joins and it reads 'smooth', I see no problem with it and neither would a publisher!

If the end product is good, then who cares how you got there?

chocowrites · Apr 1, 2010

Snippet writing!

It's sort of crazy and a bit frustrating writing nonlinear snippets of about 100 words each, but it works for me. And it really helps me focus on the details.

Since you can string the story together when you need to, I'd go with it. It's just your writing process

Phaeal · Apr 1, 2010

Good examples of lineal writing are:

Anthony and James and Joanna Trollope
Anne and Christopher Rice
Stephen King and Joe Hill

Lydia Sharp · Apr 1, 2010

First novel: 80% lineal, jumped around a few times
Second novel: 100% lineal
Third novel (currently in progress): so far, 80% lineal; I've jumped forward a few times, then filled in the gap later

Similar figures with my short fiction as well. Some of it I write straight through from beginning to end, and some of it I write in sections then piece them together. It depends on the individual project, and there's no right or wrong. Do whatever works.

Claudia Gray · Apr 1, 2010

I track straight through, first bit of my outline to last bit, no matter what. Whatever works for others, they should do, but for me, that's the best way to keep the story flow going and to ensure that I pay enough attention to the scenes that aren't the "big set pieces." Besides, I tend to really love my endings, which means that my eagerness to write them helps propel me forward in the manuscript.

Chasing the Horizon · Apr 1, 2010

I write like a jumping spider. Tis OK. I edit like a goliath birdeater, though. Slowly and menacingly . . .

Delectability · Apr 1, 2010

Chasing the Horizon said:
I write like a jumping spider. Tis OK. I edit like a goliath birdeater, though. Slowly and menacingly . . .

I second that. Current WIP: I wrote the beginning then the end, then the 3/5, then the 2/5, then the 4/5 of the book now I'm in between the 90-95% mark and then I'm done.

I think it depends on the novel.. because others I don't write like that and some I do. I've already got bits and pieces for the rest of the series of the WIP.

Editing.. I go over and then over again... repeatedly...

DeleyanLee · Apr 1, 2010

Oh look at the pretties! Thanks, CtH!

I write from start to finish. I have occasionally written scenes out of order, but generally find that the story's totally changed so that scene doesn't fit anymore, so I don't encourage myself to do that.

OTOH, I have an award-winning pro friend who can't write in sequence to save her life, or even her kid's life, and it seems to work just fine for her.

However story comes, that's pretty much how it is.

Phaeal · Apr 1, 2010

Ooh, I love jumping spiders. I have a pet one that lives in the cart that houses my garden hose. The one above is SOOOOO snuggly. Come here, wittle snookems.

bglashbrooks · Apr 1, 2010

I have no direction when I start writing a new piece, least of all a lineal one! (I also don't outline...) If I try lineal I don't get to where I want to go. At least, this is true for novels. Short stories usually just start with one line that pops into my head and then ends up wherever it ends up.

I usually write a chunk (usually around 1000 words or so) and title it "chapter whatever the event is" and tack it on to whatever else I've written. But...during the second drafting process I will seriously move those chunks I wrote around until it is a cohesive story. My current WIP...several chapters in the Chapter 19-20 range ended up taking huge jumps backwards to around chapters 5-6. I think that these were important chapters that had to be in the book, I just wasn't certain in the first draft just where they needed to be.

I'd say, don't worry about it being 'amature' and just think of it as your way of getting where you need to go.

Happy writing!

Delectability · Apr 1, 2010

bglashbrooks said:
I have no direction when I start writing a new piece, least of all a lineal one! (I also don't outline...) If I try lineal I don't get to where I want to go. At least, this is true for novels. Short stories usually just start with one line that pops into my head and then ends up wherever it ends up.

I usually write a chunk (usually around 1000 words or so) and title it "chapter whatever the event is" and tack it on to whatever else I've written. But...during the second drafting process I will seriously move those chunks I wrote around until it is a cohesive story. My current WIP...several chapters in the Chapter 19-20 range ended up taking huge jumps backwards to around chapters 5-6. I think that these were important chapters that had to be in the book, I just wasn't certain in the first draft just where they needed to be.

I'd say, don't worry about it being 'amature' and just think of it as your way of getting where you need to go.

Happy writing!

Exactly, but I don't think being a new writer as anything to do with it. If it's the style that you use and it brings out the best story possible, then use it and revel in the fact that it works for you. Forming an outline is good for some and not good for others. I think it's also a left brained/right brained thing... I can use an outline to make sure everything is covered kind of like a very detailed table of contents in a fashion but I do just like bglashbrooks and I write what I see if I know I have to have it. Then I move things where they need to be and go back and correct the details as necessary.

If I force a scene, then it feels less natural. Whereas if I write what I see in my head, it helps direct the course of the story more so than if I didn't.

To each is his or her own, I think. Writing is personal. You do things your way, the way that's best for you, not someone else. It doesn't matter how you get to the goal as long as you get there, completely intact.

RJK · Apr 1, 2010

I figure out how to solve the crime as I write. My criminals are sneaky devils. There's no way I could jump ahead, they'd throw a monkey wrench in the works and undo the whole case.

Linda Adams · Apr 1, 2010

First draft: Linear.

Revisions: All over the map and off into space occasionally.

shaldna · Apr 1, 2010

If it works for you then go with it.

Personally I wite from start to finish, I just confuse myself If I write bits and pieces.

proxy · Apr 1, 2010

I've been outlining and it works better for me. I tried doing the Stephen King approach and there was just too many loose ends and wandering story. And I can't write well if something in the story isn't making sense, no matter how small. Once I was writing then hit a brick wall. I didn't know why. Then I realized the MC said something that contradicted what he said earlier (I wrote the first part the night prior and it was something minor). So after I deleted that, everything 'felt right' and I was back to writing again.

Caitlin Black · Apr 1, 2010

Linear yo! *gang sign*

Albannach · Apr 1, 2010

I'm afraid that if I write the "good bits" that I won't give the attention I should to the rest of it. And I hope that it all ends up "good bits" so I write straight through. I can't bring myself to write anything out of order and I'm afraid if I do I something I write before it will make it not make sense anyway. I'm very good at keeping a grasp on all the threads of my plot. I'm a bit obsessive about if I decide that something has to change I do have to go back and fix it earlier though. I like my story to be a coherent whole as I go forward and I can't stand to have it "messed up".

But I don't outline. I just tell the story to myself as I go along (or visualise it to myself as I go along) and write it down.

OCD anyone?

JRainey · Apr 2, 2010

Linda Adams said:
First draft: Linear.

Revisions: All over the map and off into space occasionally.

This. I really get off if I try to go out of order in the first draft but after that, I'm all over the place.

shadowwalker · Apr 2, 2010

I guess I write lineally with a lot of notes taped to the wall. I've only outlined one story, but that was because there were a lot of details that had to happen at a certain point. Otherwise, I rarely even know how it will end. I know how I want the end to "feel", but the details depend on what the characters do before they get there.

So maybe I'm more a follower than a linear...

scarletpeaches · Apr 2, 2010

Hey, now there's the thing.

When I write out of order, it's all over the place but I always, always, always edit from page one through to the last in order. To see if the story flows, o' course.

I wonder if anyone edits all over the shop?

DrZoidberg · Apr 2, 2010

Not at all. I write it in layers. Start with frame. The climaxes and key scenes, and lastly fill in the gaps. Works for me.

kaitie · Apr 2, 2010

I generally write and edit from beginning to end. The parts I usually most want to write are near the end. I think if I actually did those first I'd lose all motivation. That's just me though. Honestly, whatever works for you.

Summonere · Apr 2, 2010

Do you write lineally?

Mostly. As far as I can tell.

Is this a legitimate idiosyncrasy [writing bits and pieces, and possible out of sequence]

Yes.

or maybe just an amateur writer thing?

Lots of non-amateurs write this way. Neil Gaiman springs instantly to mind (at least for one of his stories).

I think the problem is that I want to write all the pretty scenes first.

This reminds me of what Elmore Leonard once said about writing, in response to a reporter's question: How do you write so well?

EL: “I leave all the boring parts out.”

If all of your scenes are pretty (as in entertaining), and they add up to a sensible story, it doesn't matter how you produce them, and your method is therefore not a problem.

Treyfan · Apr 2, 2010

I outline first. For me, it's the outline that takes the most time to write. My outlines are extensive. Sometimes, I have pages and pages and pages of notes and details to add into the book/story. Once I have my outline finished, I can string along every scene without much difficulty. I usually write lineally at that point, but sometimes I focus on a part I have the most inspiration to write about first.

Having an outline helps me so if I choose to write "out of order" I can, and still remember what I was going to do with the previous chapters.

Do you write lineally?

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