Interwoven Storylines

TheIT · Jun 19, 2007

My fantasy WIP has two POV characters. They start out together, get separated throughout the middle of the story, and will meet up again toward the end. I've been interweaving scenes from each of their POVs so both storylines progress at a similar pace.

When you write an interwoven storyline, do you prefer writing each storyline separately then weaving them together later, or do you prefer writing the scenes from each POV as they switch?

I've been doing both methods, but I think I'll have to make the final decision on when to switch storylines after the first draft is done.

NicoleMD · Jun 19, 2007

Interesting. I'd never even considered writing the storylines separately then weaving them together later. I think this approach would work well for an outliner, perhaps, since you'd have to have a good plan in place for the stories to intersect appropriately. I can see some benefits of doing it this way, maybe the storylines would "stand better" separately, like the stories wouldn't bleed into each other as much, if that makes sense.

My POV characters interact too often for me to try this in my current novel, but I'll keep it in mind for future works.

Nicole

Writer2011 · Jun 19, 2007

Sounds like a really interesting concept.

Claudia Gray · Jun 19, 2007

I'm a pretty devoted outliner, but I still wouldn't write the two storylines separately. Although it would help maintain continuity of emotion, tone, voice, etc. in each POV, I'd worry about confusing details or losing that sense of give-and-take that the book (and relationship) would need.

That's just me, though. It sounds like an interesting experiement, and there probably is someone out there who does precisely this to good effect.

RLB · Jun 19, 2007

My first novel has two main characters who get separated. I mostly wrote it straight through, going back and forth between each story line. Sometimes I'd skip a chapter if I hadn't decided exactly what character X was doing, and I had a firm idea of what was about to happen with character Y.

windyrdg · Jun 19, 2007

All of my books have had parallel chapters. I guess I fell in love with them when I read Day of the Jackal.

I give myself permission to write whatever comes to mind and piece it together later. Some morning I get up intending to work on such and such scene, but someone else butts right in and demands center stage.

I find I always have a few chapters (2-3) that end up being saved for the end because I can't decide exactly how things happen.

JoNightshade · Jun 19, 2007

I have two storylines going on at the moment as well. I am writing them by alternating between POVs, rather than writing just one and then the other and interweaving them later. The main reason I feel it works best this way is because you can use the two storylines to play off of one another, and you have to have both going at the same time to see where this is most effective.

For instance, I just completed a sequence in which a gunfight is going to happen. Two characters take off and escape, while three stay behind and fight. Switching at key moments-- a cliffhanger from the gunfight segues into the escapees wondering about their companions-- creates more tension. If I'd just written each separately, I'd have a lot more rewriting to do in order to make this happen. Also, sometimes something that happens from one POV enlightens the other POV (from the reader's perspective).

RLSMiller · Jun 19, 2007

TheIT said:
My fantasy WIP has two POV characters. They start out together, get separated throughout the middle of the story, and will meet up again toward the end. I've been interweaving scenes from each of their POVs so both storylines progress at a similar pace.

When you write an interwoven storyline, do you prefer writing each storyline separately then weaving them together later, or do you prefer writing the scenes from each POV as they switch?

I've been doing both methods, but I think I'll have to make the final decision on when to switch storylines after the first draft is done.

I'm doing this in my WIP, with three first person protagonists. I introduce them separately in the first three chapters, follow them until their lives coincide in chapter three. They then don't meet again until chapter thirteen. Each has their own storyline to begin with, but they all run into each other as the story progresses, things are revealed to the characters and it becomes clear to the reader that what appeared to be separate, self-contained storylines all contribute to the overriding conflict and plot in the story.

TheIT · Jun 19, 2007

I've also been finding that switching storylines is a great way to skip boring bits. When one of the storylines stalls, switch to the other, then go back to the first storyline at a more interesting point.

I like writing the two storylines together, but I just hit a section where I wanted to plow forward with one of them while the ideas were still fresh.

Dave.C.Robinson · Jun 19, 2007

I did some interweaving when I wrote the first draft of one novel, then rearranged the plotlines into different sections. Whichever works.

Geist · Jun 19, 2007

TheIT said:
I've also been finding that switching storylines is a great way to skip boring bits. When one of the storylines stalls, switch to the other, then go back to the first storyline at a more interesting point.

I like writing the two storylines together, but I just hit a section where I wanted to plow forward with one of them while the ideas were still fresh.

I recently read a book that had only one plot, each chapter segued into the next as the story moved forward (By the way, I hope I used "segued" correctly--it's my first time!). That can become tiring. I like multiple plot lines like John Grisham uses, and I like to see them proceeding seperately and then inevitably crashing together during the main climax of the story. I think it's a great tool for creating suspense throughout a novel.

Ed

Willowmound · Jun 20, 2007

Write both POVs at the same time. It's the only way to control pacing. Because the novel is one whole.

lkp · Jun 20, 2007

TheIT said:
I've also been finding that switching storylines is a great way to skip boring bits. When one of the storylines stalls, switch to the other, then go back to the first storyline at a more interesting point.

Actually, I do just the reverse. When one plot line is getting really exciting and tense, i switch to the other.

Prawn · Jun 20, 2007

I write them together, but usually when I am done with a novel, I go back through and paste all of one story line into one file and read it as one story for the sake of continuity. It helps me polish the sequence of each narrative.

Soccer Mom · Jun 20, 2007

I write them together, because each needs to feed on the other. But if you really want to plow ahead on one, do it and then come back. THe beauty of being a writer is that you choose what you write.

TheIT · Jun 20, 2007

lkp said:
Actually, I do just the reverse. When one plot line is getting really exciting and tense, i switch to the other.

Good point. Always leave them wanting more, right?

Thinking about it, so far I've always left an unanswered question or a hook for the next scene in the storyline before I switch. I use the switch to cover the boring setup for the next interesting bit.

Interwoven Storylines

TheIT

Infuriatingly Theoretical

NicoleMD

Onomatopotamus

Writer2011

Claudia Gray

RLB

bundled

windyrdg

New kid, be gentle!

JoNightshade

has finally arrived

RLSMiller

TheIT

Infuriatingly Theoretical

Dave.C.Robinson

... with the High Command

Geist

Willowmound

Lightly salted

lkp

Prawn

Writing is finite,revising infinite

Soccer Mom

Crypto-fascist

TheIT

Infuriatingly Theoretical