How do you write your novels? I've tried writing my stories linear, but I tend to get stuck, so now I just write as scenes come to me and then try and match them up.
Linear or by scene?
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I've got to do it in the right order, or else I'd only write the good scenes, with little boring bridges between. This way, every scene has to be a good scene.
Or, at least, that's the idea.
Or, at least, that's the idea.
I usually do it linear, but I have written some important scenes when I feel inspire to do it and I don't want to loose the excitment
Linear writing is impossible for me. I tried. I failed. Linear editing, however, is almost a must (for me at least).
Sometimes I have dreams that are so vivid, I have to write the scene as soon as I wake up, order be damned.
Sometimes I have dreams that are so vivid, I have to write the scene as soon as I wake up, order be damned.
Sometimes I just have to skip ahead to a scene that's on my mind (usually I have to have a good idea of what's happening before that scene though). Sometimes I'll continue from that point until the end & go back & add the earlier stuff, and sometimes I'll go back after writing that scene & write until I get there, then continue on.
I like writing in order. But it doesn't always happen, since I do tend to get super-passionate about a novel only after I get enthralled with a specific scene in my head, & when that happens, if I'm not close to it, I will skip ahead to get there before I lose that passion. In fact... so far only my NaNo novels have been written linearly, & that's 'cuz I know that I'll be to those exciting scenes in a matter of days.
I like writing in order. But it doesn't always happen, since I do tend to get super-passionate about a novel only after I get enthralled with a specific scene in my head, & when that happens, if I'm not close to it, I will skip ahead to get there before I lose that passion. In fact... so far only my NaNo novels have been written linearly, & that's 'cuz I know that I'll be to those exciting scenes in a matter of days.
It's interesting how many different styles people can write in!
I envy you, Sage, and anyone who can do NaNo. I have tried three years running and have failed every time, usually within the first week.
I envy you, Sage, and anyone who can do NaNo. I have tried three years running and have failed every time, usually within the first week.
Try it this time with the great AW support group (there will be a subforum for it under Writing Exercises). It's awesome! Everyone is really supportive, & even if you don't make it, it's great fun there (& the subforum is a lot less overwhelming than the million threads on the NaNoWriMo board). And I find that the momentum really helps with the linear writing (& the spontaneous plot twists).
I might! I'll have a full and part time job at that point, and winding down from my job and getting ready for my move, but...by golly (*g*) I might try it again! Last year I didn't even bother trying, so maybe this year I might!
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First of all, hello fellow Canadian. I'm from B.C.
I write scene by scene from the beginning following a general plan I have in my mind but never on paper. Characters have a way of getting out of hand and not doing what I expect so I keep my plans loose. Trying to match up scenes would be too confusing for me. My story would lack cohesion. I know what others mean about having particular scenes in mind and wanting to include them but I keep them only in my mind until I arrive at the place where they will fit. Sometimes that means there is no place for them or that they must be altered to mesh with the new circumstances of the story.
Linnea
I write out of order too. I have an outline, so nothing important is really left to chance. One advantage I've found in writing out of order (other than not getting stuck) is that it's simply natural to write the most interesting scenes first, and more often than not I discover a lot of the less interesting scenes aren't actually necessary at all. I end up with a tighter story that way, with less slow parts.
I try to keep as close to chronological order as I can, but that's not always possible for me. So I outline before I start, or, if the idea has to be on paper right now, after I've gotten through the first scene. After I've got a detailed outline in place I can skip around without losing my place, so to speak: I may not end up using all the scenes 8 chapters away that I write, but it lets me keep my momentum.
I write in the story's sequence, but I have learned (the hard way) not to fall into the linear trap of feeling like I have to account for every moment in the MC's life. On the ms I'm pitching to agents, my first draft was 150,000+ words and the 'final' (eighth? ninth draft?) is just over 92k. Much of the crap I took out were meaningless bridges between scenes.
Just one scene, then the one after it, then repeat as necessary. I can't jump around, because no matter how much planning I do, something always changes, so if I did a scene later on, it might not be relevant by the time I catch up to it.
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I write linear except if a scene in the later part of the book suddenly engulfs my imagination, then I write that to get it out of the way. Then as I continue, strangely enough, that already written scene fits seamlessly when I get to it.
Hello fellow Calgarian.
I write the exciting and important scenes first, then the less exciting but necessary ones, then the rest of the stuff to join everything. Sometimes, when I do research, a scene becomes so vivid that I have to write it there and then while it's still fresh in my mind.
I write the exciting and important scenes first, then the less exciting but necessary ones, then the rest of the stuff to join everything. Sometimes, when I do research, a scene becomes so vivid that I have to write it there and then while it's still fresh in my mind.
It took me a bit of jumping back and forth before I understood my characters. Now that I do, it's much easier to go straight ahead.
There is one scene right in the middle that I can't write just yet. It's beyond my skill. It will probably be the last thing I write in my first draft.
There is one scene right in the middle that I can't write just yet. It's beyond my skill. It will probably be the last thing I write in my first draft.
I find it easier to write scenes. Most of them are usually well-mannered enough to stay in line but there's always a couple of rowdy ones that try to jump the queue. 
I like to think that the way I write is like those 'Join the Dots' picture. Get the 'dots' plotted out first and then draw the lines.
I like to think that the way I write is like those 'Join the Dots' picture. Get the 'dots' plotted out first and then draw the lines.
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Nice! I like the north...except for the snow and cold haha! I have a friend in Prince George, nice town. I was going to move to Dawson Creek, but my dad didn't like it up there.
When I first tried writing my novel, I wrote whatever scene happened to be interesting to me at the time. Like Sage, when I tried NaNoWriMo, I learned to write linearly and have been writing that way ever since.
I'm not an outliner but I set goals to reach in the story, kind of like base camps when climbing a mountain, or like playing leap frog. I write this scene, and what needs to happen in the next scene comes to me. When I write the next scene, the sense of the scene after that shows up, and so on.
And I'd like to echo Sage again in plugging for NaNoWriMo this November. It's been great help to me to get me out of writing ruts. Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to write.
I'm not an outliner but I set goals to reach in the story, kind of like base camps when climbing a mountain, or like playing leap frog. I write this scene, and what needs to happen in the next scene comes to me. When I write the next scene, the sense of the scene after that shows up, and so on.
And I'd like to echo Sage again in plugging for NaNoWriMo this November. It's been great help to me to get me out of writing ruts. Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to write.
One word at a time.
I can't write outlines, so I just sit and write as it comes to me. My characters usually point me in the right direction.
Everything in the linear order. ;-) Sometimes I will give in to the temptation to write ahead. Been there, done that, never used the scene when its time came, anyway, because too much has changed along the way that made it either obsolete, or contradicted everything I *thought* would go into it. Still a good exercise, though, and a way to make the characters shut up.
Though, on the other hand, sometimes shutting them up is not what I want to be doing. Keeping them waiting might be better for the story's sake.
Though, on the other hand, sometimes shutting them up is not what I want to be doing. Keeping them waiting might be better for the story's sake.
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