Does Writing Backward/Out of Order Work?

For me, yes. I seldom work in a truly linear fashion, start-to-finish, even in short stories. Part of the reason for that is I suck at beginnings, and generally fart around a lot with those after much of the story is done. Second is, I learned if I got stuck on a certain passage or scene, it helped to leave that alone and go forward to later material I knew what to do with. Once that later material was in place, it made going back to the problem are more productive.

But not everyone works this way.

caw

I write each chapter as a separate MS Word document, pasting into the 'master' document as I finish them.

So yes, for me, writing non-sequentially does work. My last couple of projects were non-outlined and linear and written to a deadline, so I'm looking forward to writing non-sequentially again, and at my own pace.

Strangely, I'm pretty sure taking the pressure off myself will mean I write more in a shorter period of time. I expect the words to flow.

Well. I hope they do.

Caveat: Not everything works for everybody, and that's fine.

But yes, for me it does. I work much more effectively if I give myself permission to write out of order- my brain gives me a scene, I write it, it informs the next scene I write. Then, when I've got all the major scenes, the important exciting ones, I can fill the gaps in, and the other scenes seem to be easier to write, because I know what I need them to do.

The only problem is it means I can sometimes have scenes with drastically different levels of character development, or scenes that don't address a plot point that they really should, but I can fix that in editing.

I think it depends. I'm a big picture thinker, so it's natural for me to bounce around. I don't outline -- mostly, the scenes are connected in some way in my head that makes sense only to me until everything is filled in.

And if so, how would I go about putting everything in order when I'm done. I mean would I just have a bunch of separate documents (each containing a portion) and then copy/paste in to order in another document? (If I do it this way, I'll have a folder with all of the documents in it, including the "total version"). This seems like the only way to do it, because I don't want to a huge document and copy/paste in that. I think that will be too hard for me to do.

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I'd suggest using Scrivener for Windows (or the original version for Mac). It's a great program if for anyone who hops around a lot. Each scene can be created in its own text file, which is displayed in a menu on the left. Want to move a scene? Just use drag it or Ctrl + arrow key to move it down. The individual scenes can also be color coded for a quick scan down of differing plot threads or subplots.

Yes, for me and many other people, writing out of order works.

I wrote the bare bones of one particular short story and then jumped around fleshing it out as I saw opportunities. The ending was in place long before I wrote the paragraph that turned out to be the beginning and I consider it one of my best works so far.

There are a lot of software products like Scrivener that allow you to write scenes separately and order them (and reorder them) as the story develops. Such software might help you to keep organized while trying out non-sequential writing.

In the first draft, I occasionally write a couple key scenes out of order (ones I get stuck in my head, and prevent me from sleeping), but usually I write beginning to end. I don't think I could write out of order, even though I outline.

I'm trying to revise out of order for the first time right now, and liking it so far. But it's different when you've got something down on the page already.


Certainly something worth trying though.

I too am a chapter hopper. Some days I have a better feel for action sequences, others for character development.

Silver-Midnight said:

Some people suggested to me that I write my scenes out of order.

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The very idea makes my eyeballs spin in their sockets. But diffrent strokes for diffrent fokes.

I've done it when I hit a block. For one book, I wrote the beginning, then the end, and then figured out how to get the characters from Point A to Point Z. It took a while, and in the end took a little tweaking, but it worked.

Silver-Midnight said:

I went to what I think is the main Scrivener website, and it looks like I have to pay for it. Do I have to? If it's free then I don't mind trying it, but I don't want to have to pay for something. No offense.

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You can try it free for 30 days. I believe the Windows version is still in beta so there's no charge for a license (yet).

It works for a lot of people. It doesn't work for me. The only way you can tell if it's right for you is trying it.

On the occasions where I have tried to write out of order, fitting everything together wasn't really the problem. I would end up with isolated scenes, and would then fill in the blanks later. The only trouble for me is that it's just not how I like to work. Writing linearly is more natural for me.

I've tried it both ways (that sounds unintentionally durty, apologies), and have found that writing in order works best for me. I'd say do whatever it takes to get the story down on paper - write it upside down and backward if you need to.

Just make sure you set aside dedicated time to review your manuscript for continuity. I find that if I write scenes or chapters out of order, it's easier to end up with repetition or continuity errors. I just re-read (for the 900th time) a scene in my current project to discover one of the characters managed to zoom from an armchair to a couch in a nanosecond - all while holding a baby.

CJ

thorjansen said:

You can try it free for 30 days.

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Yes. You download the trial and try it out for a month for free.

However...

thorjansen said:

I believe the Windows version is still in beta so there's no charge for a license (yet).

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Nope. It's now available for Windows for $40.00 US.

Silver-Midnight said:

EDIT: Are there any other good word processors/writing documents that work really well doing something like this? Ones that are free. I use Microsoft Word, and occasionally Word Pad but mostly Word.

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Have you looked in yWriter? There's a link around here somewhere that has a list of writing software....

edit: Found it! Clicky here!

Hmm, I don't find continuity to be a real problem, even when writing out of order. I tend to plot rather intricately, though, including detailed character sketches, and when I deviate from the master plan, I make note of it so I can look for places that need changing later.

While I generally write stories (especially shorter work) more or less in a vague order - I'll start with the earliest scenes, than the middle, then the climax and ending - but apart from that I have a pretty random, haphazard way of writing. I have no qualms about jumping around and moving onto something later in the story if I'm stuck with the scene I'm currently on, and giving yourself the freedom to that is a great way to combat writer's block (at least for me).

Working on later scenes can trigger bursts of inspiration of just how to go about connecting that to earlier parts you've written. And much of the time, particularly in the middle portion of a story, I really have no idea of the order its meant to be in: I often find it effective to just write as the ideas come and work out the strict order of events later (I tend to mess with chronology a lot too, so even if I've worked out the entire plot, the actual order that the plot elements are told in will often move around a lot while revising).

When writing in a somewhat random order, I just keep the word document exactly the same as I would if writing in order: when writing something that comes earlier than stuff I've already written, I just start writing it wherever its supposed to go, and when writing something that comes much later I just put a little placeholder thing in brackets like (other stuff happens here) or whatever and then start writing after that.

I can't say I've ever gone so far to write a story backwards, but it would be an interesting experiment to try. Its probably not a particularly intuitive way to write, but it could be a good way of going about something where, say, you have a good idea for how it ends but are very murky on the events leading up to it.

In regards to continuity, I honestly don't think it would be any more of an issue when writing in a completely random order than writing in direct linear order. No matter what, there'll be a lot of work to be done during the editing process to ensure consistency in continuity, plotting, characterization, and the like. Continuity isn't really a big issue when writing the first draft, its when revising that you need to go through with a fine-toothed comb to iron out all the inconsistencies.

Oh, man, I can't do it at all. Of course, I've never been able to work from outline, either, so these two factors pretty much force me to start at the beginning and work my way straight through, gathering up my plot threads as they go.

I wish I could, though, and I envy those people who can.

Each story demands its own way of being written. Sometimes I went from A to Z, at others A to Z with nothing in between (filled it in later). I've even started in the middle and went out from there in concentric circles.

And yes, I too like yWriter a lot.

krow s'lived eht si sdrawkcab gnitirw. Writing backwards is the devil's work. Or so my nan used to say... backwards.

If I jump around whilst writing I always feel I'm eating all the best bits at once. This would leave an ocean of bland connection to reach my chocolate nugget islands. So kudos to those that can, but I remain in thrall to the linear.

Writing out of order can work really well for a writer who hits a block or is becoming disillusioned with their story - they can move to a more exciting part that can interest them again.

If it works for you then there is no right or wrong way to work.

If you don't want to write a scene, it's probably not worth writing

Silver-Midnight said:

how do you do put everything together once you're done?

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Technical bit first: Do it either: in a single Word or OO file or you'll end up in a mess; or using a tool like Scrivener.

Silver-Midnight said:

I have a problem with wanting to get to the exciting part first. So, I tend to rush a lot of things, which doesn't set up for the 'exciting' part well most of the time.)

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Literary bit:
Your instincts are correct! Why write the boring scenes at all? Nobody wants to read 5-10K words of pure set up.

Add more conflicts, and let the conflicts interfere with each other. Make the resolution of one a precondition for the resolution of the next.

For example, big exciting scene is hero duelling bad guy. Fine. But have hero's mum be unkeen on her son being in harm's way. Have her get in the way at every step towards setting up the duel. Have her lock hero in the basement, or hide his swords.

Each and every scene needs to be able to be summarised as: "Hero does X, but Antagonist does Y. Now..."

If you don't want to write a scene, it's probably not worth writing!

It works for me.

It all depends on my mood or if the scene I'm avoiding needs a little more time to stew. Not only that, but writing a later scene can help form unwritten scenes that are pegged for earlier in the MS by giving you answers to questions you haven't asked. Almost reverse engineering.