Obsessive Rep Point Checkers Club (Volume VI)
- Thread starter Freckles
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Just to make sure we're on the same page Mrf, and i'm not sure you made an error,
if i had this conversation with Sd1 this is what she'd be thinking
( and remeber she thinks differently - it's just the way it is and it is, a very difficult task to change, and also not to be judjemental about it)
I've decided to do you a favour
thats nice
can i have a reward
what?
i'd like some new towels
i've got some old towels you can have
your kidding
no, attempts to change subject
nick off
is that the gist of it?
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Has anyone here written chapters out of order, then came back to it and forgot what order the chapters were supposed to go? That just happened to me. Back to square one.
CP, I write out of order often (in fact, I rarely write in order) and I don't worry about finding where they're supposed to go. I arrange and rearrange chapters all the time. If they don't immediately belong somewhere, I just set them aside until I find a place where I want them to fit. The beautiful thing is, there's no WRONG order, because you are the boss. Sometimes I write a scene and never use it. Happens to us all. Just set them aside and move on, I guess.
*shrugs* I guess you're right *eyes trash bin* hmmmm. Maybe I'll give it a second look. That's like 11k in words I threw out....
DON'T THROW THEM OUT!! Just hang on to them. You never know when you might need them or when inspiration will strike. I've had things sit for five years before I used them, and I used them in a completely different manuscript. Don't throw away your writing!
or your shoes or old clothes, but seriously Lil is super right as always.
I cannot write out of order, so I'm of no use with ideas of what to do with the chapters you don't know where they fit. But I think Lil has good advice. Don't toss them, put them in a folder to maybe use them later.
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Hi, BF! Long time no make out! I mean, see.You know I really mean make out.
Of course I know what you really mean.
ACK! Don't do that! No throwing out words!! Words get put aside, they get re-purposed, they do NOT get trashed!
I constantly write out of order. It's amazing how scenes and chapters will eventually slot themselves where they need to go.
eta: And as Lil says, yes, sometimes even into a different MS.
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Of course I know what you really mean.
ACK! Don't do that! No throwing out words!! Words get put aside, they get re-purposed, they do NOT get trashed!
I constantly write out of order. It's amazing how scenes and chapters will eventually slot themselves where they need to go.
eta: And as Lil says, yes, sometimes even into a different MS.
Don't worry, I pulled them out. I do this alot without thinking about it. My computer trash bin is filled with word doc stories that I've been working on
Don't worry, I pulled them out. I do this alot without thinking about it. My computer trash bin is filled with word doc stories that I've been working on
Just don't accidentally empty your trash bin, eh?
My god, Beanie, when you put it that way, it makes me laugh! The non-judgmental part is pretty important and accepting the kid the way he is. There are limits. I certainly did not buy him new towels. I can only pray that his father won't either.
Grandma set up educational funds for the kids who when they were born, but I'm the one in charge. In the end it's a good lesson for him. Ultimately we all just have to suck it up.
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Don't worry, I pulled them out. I do this alot without thinking about it. My computer trash bin is filled with word doc stories that I've been working on
Oh god. That's just asking for trouble. Make a folder! The trash is only going to end in disaster!
I write and developmental edit non-fiction and it's often like that. Sometimes I'm stuck at the beginning so I start in the middle or the end.
I leave out whole scenes as I'm going, sometimes, with a
[insert heartbreaking backstory here]
or a
[make this scene less crappy later].
[insert heartbreaking backstory here]
or a
[make this scene less crappy later].
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Yep. My latest WIP, I tried writing in order. All that happened is I got stuck on a point in chapter three ... so I got stuck there. And I was gonna stay stuck there. Because I know vaguely where the story's headed, I jumped to a much later scene to write that instead. Chapter 3 will still be there when I go back to it. But in the meantime, at least I've written something.
Yup. I often have a couple of sentences as a stand-in chapter during the first draft. Or a chapter that's nothing but talking heads without any setting or narration. It always gets sorted out in the end.
I kind of envy people who can skip around their story and write where the mood takes them.
My wretched brain requires an orderly progression of the story. It means some of my scenes are absolute craphouse because I'm racing to get to the scene I want to write. So then I have to go and heavily revise the craphouse scenes on the second go through. It's annoying.
My wretched brain requires an orderly progression of the story. It means some of my scenes are absolute craphouse because I'm racing to get to the scene I want to write. So then I have to go and heavily revise the craphouse scenes on the second go through. It's annoying.
I am mostly a linear writer. Though once in a while I get hung up, and will leave a place marker to come back to. But other than that, I am amazed at those who can skip around in their stories writing scenes / chapters all out of order.
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See, at that point, I'd prefer to just go write the damn scene I want to write. Because if I'm enthusiastic to write it, if the passion's there for that part of the story, the words come out better. I'm always scared that if I put it off till I get to it, the quality of what comes out won't be as good as if I'd written it when in that zone.
I've tried doing that before, and it's like my brain gets paralyzed and I can't write anything at all. Orderly brain is too orderly. *g*
I'm working on a short story right now. The main feedback I've gotten about it is that it always reads like it was taken from a bigger work, chopped down a bit, and sent off. So, I've been trying to make it more of a story and less of a segment. The problem is, it all gets jumbled after a while, so I'm not sure. But I'll find out when I submit it off, right?
I'm the same way. The only reason my chapters were out of order was because I used a website that allowed you to upload your writing via files that had titles but then when you save them to the site and export them back to a word doc, its out of order. I had them in order when I started. Tried last night to get them all in order but decided to put them in a file and try starting from scratch again.
I'm normally a linear writer so last night was totally out of my comfort zone.
Edit: Just went through my recylce bin on my desktop and found three stories I trashed that I can still work. Looks like 2016 CP got bored and was a little too reckless
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I write as scenes come to me. I write the stuff I know and wait on the stuff I’m still figuring out. If I had to write in order, I’d never get words down.
One thing I do (that I hate) is write scenes for stories without actually writing the general outline. The story eventually gets shelved and when I return to it a year later (or ten) I can’t rememv my storyline because I DIDNT WRITE IT DOWN. Ugh. I may love the scenes I’ve got, but I have no idea where I was going with them. It’s become a constant source of frustration, so Im trying to write down the basic outline. I find it challenging.
One thing I do (that I hate) is write scenes for stories without actually writing the general outline. The story eventually gets shelved and when I return to it a year later (or ten) I can’t rememv my storyline because I DIDNT WRITE IT DOWN. Ugh. I may love the scenes I’ve got, but I have no idea where I was going with them. It’s become a constant source of frustration, so Im trying to write down the basic outline. I find it challenging.
I know that with nonfiction it is efficient to work from an outline, but I dread making outlines. I have several files in which I have lists of ideas or sketches of articles/essays. That's the closest I can get to an outline.
Yeah, that’s what I do. Now, I’ll Make a document for each of my characters, listing descriptions and important info and I’m careful now to keep notebooks full of my ideas and thoughts, scene and plot ideas, etc. but not an outline in the traditional sense.