write chronologically or all over the place?

Write however you wish.

I write in the order I see the book progressing because half the time I don't know where it's headed, and half the time the ending scenes change by the time I get to them.

I write in chronological order, but that's just me. Do whatever works for you.

I generally write in chronological order, but there was one story I did out of order. It was a bit of a pain to piece together later, but I definitely wouldn't have finished it if I'd gone in chronological order.

Echoing what the others said - do what you think will be better for you.

However the story unfolds. Sometimes it's start to finish, sometimes it's here and there and string everything together at some point. Every story is different, so my approach has to adjust with each one.

I'm writing a story in chronological order that will then be read out of order.

I try to write in chronological order

It rarely works -- I always find I started too late and need to add a scene, or I need a scene to do X and insert it in place Y or...

I once wrote a book from the middle outwards (kept finding I needed a scene to show how they got to this scene...that was my fave book to write as it happens)

whatever works

I used to write in order, but found it too restrictive. Writing that way killed many projects. I'm now writing scenes out of order and then writing bridges to connect those scenes together and I'm having a lot more fun and getting more done.

I write out of order. It's nice in that I get to write whatever excites me at the moment. And bonus that it helps prevent excess scenes the majority of the time for me.

I have to write in order, otherwise I get completely confused as to where I am in terms of character arcs and world building. However, I know excellent writers who write all over the place. They say it keeps them fresh and keen because they only ever write what they want.

Writing out of order helps me meet word count goals! When I write chronologically, I get stuck too often and end up wasting time.

I definitely write out of order. Occasionally, I'll get some inspiration and just run right through a story from beginning to end, but that's pretty rare. Like other have said, I just get stuck sometimes. I have to write what excite met a given moment or I risk not getting it written at all.

I write the story starting from the beginning - whether the how the story unfolds is identical to the time-line depends on the story. However, I do find that I often have an insight about something that has happened previously in the story that makes me go back and add some text to what I've already written.

When I first start out with a brand new idea I write out of order until I start to figure out where things are heading and go mostly chronologically after that. If an idea for a scene further into the story demands to be written, well then I write it. It all works itself out somehow in the end. It's the same way when I draw, I draw bits and pieces here and there all over the drawing, but it all comes together in the end.

I write chronologically. Sometimes a random scene will hit me and I'll jot down a few notes about it, but I don't try to flesh it out until I get to that point in the story. I've tried going ahead and writing the whole scene, but I usually find that I end up having to rewrite so much of it by the time I work my way to that point in the story, that it's just not worthwhile.

I generally start in the middle and write every which direction.

More or less chronological, but if I'm writing chapter 2 and suddenly am struck with inspiration for a scene in chapter 15 I'll jump ahead and write it.

I like brackets. So I'll start at the start, but whenever I desperately want to skip a scene because I want to write the cool one after that, I just go (insert x scene here) and move on. Then I go back and fill in the blanks.

I always write chronological order.

I write in the order the book will be read, which isn't necessarily chronological.

If I get a compelling idea for something I have to include later, I'll jot down a few notes so I won't forget it by the time I get to that part. And of course I'll go back and flesh things out in earlier scenes or add them completely, but that's a matter of revision--I don't consider that writing out of order.

99% of the time, I write chronologically. In one novel I had to leave a scene until the end because until I'd written the end, I couldn't write that scene. But that's unusual for me.

I jump back and forth when I'm planning and outlining, but when I write it has to be chronological. I like every sentence to lead to the next, every scene to lead to the next, every chapter to build on every preceding chapter. If I add something after the fact, even as an edit, it throws off my sense of rhythm and forever seems disconnected from the rest of the story, at least in my mind. I can't do it.

Kaitlin Brianna said:

More or less chronological, but if I'm writing chapter 2 and suddenly am struck with inspiration for a scene in chapter 15 I'll jump ahead and write it.

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This is more how I write. The story, to me, needs to be presented chronologically as much as possible. However, I don't just jump forward, but also backwards.

If something coming up is dominant in my mind, I'll write the first draft of the event. It gives me an idea of where to shape 'current' events. Since I'm normally more of a 'seat-of-my-pants' writer, this is pretty uncommon.

If I reach a point where I need a deeper understanding on something going on, however, I will also step back and explore what happened previously, even if it doesn't make it into the book. If I want a character to have an irrational fear of fire, I may have a general idea of why (tragic house fire killed his parents, for example).

When this fear becomes evident and another character is prompted to ask about it, suddenly I wonder how the phobic character would answer. So I go back and write a scene describing the fire, the surrounding events, and this character's place in it. This helps me picture his mindset about the event and his fear and I can have him react accordingly.

I have hundreds of these little mini-stories about characters, cultures, and religions I create for my projects.

I can't even seem to write a paragraph in chronological order. LOL I'm all over the place.

I find that writing out of sequence helps me in two ways:

1. If there's a scene that's bugging me and keeping me awake at night, I can skip ahead and write it without being tempted to rush the preceding scenes.

2. If there's a scene that's a stumbling block, I can skip it, then come back to it later. (It's a lot easier to motivate myself to write the difficult scene when it's the only thing standing between me and a finished book.)

Also, I pretty much can't write chronologically (I've tried) on my solo books, but when I co-write, I can. Go figure.

Any ideas for later scenes go into Evernote as do ideas for the 140 odd WIPs I am not focusing on at that time. For the main WIP I have to write chronologically as I have no idea where the story is going. Each chapter is based on the cumulative effect of all the chapters that have gone before.

I thought that this was going to be a thread about using flashbacks in books. I have one long-fingered WIP that is written in chronological descending order.