Wow. First of all, great comments. This thread is a fascinating read for me, and I've found myself nodding to a number of the examples and approaches you've divulged when it comes to rearranging scenes in revision. It's also led to a revelation or two on my part that I may have inadvertently lied when I said I don't rearrange scenes. I do occasionally, but on a more micro scale than some of you, perhaps. I'd either forgotten or didn't really think of it as rearranging since some of my instances are all in my head, like darb.
For example, in one of my other manuscripts, I rearranged a couple of key reveals to occur earlier, after betas politely wapped me with a stick for doing alllll the crazy reveals like dominos at the end. Too much and they lost their effect. So I moved a couple, and increased tension in the relationship between the two main characters at the same time. Because of that experience (lesson learned), I've been very carefully debating in my head where and when I should reveal things to the reader in my latest WIP because there are a lot of things going on -- and where secrets and character facets are revealed affects what the reader knows, how characters perceive each other, and drive new conflicts.
That's why I think I really like Harlequin's jigsaw analogy; it resonates quite nicely with what I'm during the drafting and plotsing first stage of this manuscript. I think that's also why it has been slower to write because I'm doing a lot of this as I go in my head. In theory this should save me revision pain later, right? Man, I hope so!
So, mea culpa for not realizing I was doing some of this. Cool.
I move things around a lot. This is the third of a trilogy, and I have run into issues along the way that have sent me back to page one of book one, more than once. It's a frustrating but absorbing way to write. This thing is growing, and evolving, and I feel like I am getting better at least at anticipating or identifying issues.
Oof! This makes me bite my nails, as I am writing the first in a trilogy and I too am finding it a beast as I continue to flesh out what needs to happen in later books based on Book 1 (and thereby learning other things I need to bury in the leaves in book 1 for 'ah-ha! Tricksie writer' moments later). So many details to juggle that matter, no? I feel your pain, darb!
However, I also have multiple plotlines going, and sometimes they converge on a single event, and that means juggling simultaneous scenes from various POVs. Those I have to shuffle around and experiment with the order of reading.
Good to note, Beth! I also deal with multiple POVs, but thus far only 2, and I avoid writing the same scene from different perspectives. I try to pick the best one for each part of a scene and then hand off to the other at the right time for the next bit. Kind of like a relay approach to the scene, perhaps. But I could see where that might be a necessity with more than 2 POVs.
(e.g. moving around an intense fighting scene between two main characters so that it comes after the build-up and then allows for major shifts and changes in character and relationship dynamics, so that a big decision by the characters seems more believable after the big fight).
Thanks, SKara! This gave me the epiphany I mentioned up at the beginning as it was exactly something I'd done in one of my previous manuscripts.
With my latest WIP, I did the same thing as you, I wrote the key scenes I could think of and then went through all of it at random and wrote the details and other scenes as they came into my head. I had never done this before but it worked well, although now I have a lot of messy scenes and details scattered in there and the revision process is a little difficult.
Yeah...I know that feeling. Like when you write this amazing new character in Chapter 20 and you realize you kinda sorta need to write an introduction for them a lot earlier so they don't just pop up out of the blue? *cough* Not that I, uh, did that or anything.
When I move stuff around it's usually just parts of a scene or maybe a line or two of dialogue which I realise would work better elsewhere.
Oh yes, I've done this! Especially when it's a good line, but in a horrid scene that needs to be banished to the "what were you thinking, Winks?" bin. Not that I ever do that either.
I still move things around, because I think of a MS in terms of core conversations. Finding the best order for those conversations to be had isn't always readily apparent. They have to fit wtih the plot, with the characters on screen (and who has them is subject to change, too, sometimes), and build the emotional gradient correctly over time.
Yes. I'm actually mentally testing and rearranging where some of those core final conversations need to occur in the last puzzle pieces I need to write to say FINISHED on my first draft of the latest WIP. It's driving me batty.
A planner here, so I never rearrange chapters, and rarely moves scenes around, BUT I do move paragraphs sometimes.
It's really intriguing because I don't think it's a plotter versus a pantser kind of issue, given the number of folks who have contributed thus far. I wonder, do you find yourself rearranging your chapter ideas at the planning stage, since it sounds like it's almost a draft stage for you in some respects?
But I can't imagine ever getting a plan so perfect that it doesn't get some revision as the novel itself develops.
Ha! Yes, I agree. That's why I'm still only a plotser and not a full on plotter. I like the creative discovery of pantsing and I do NOT write linearly (that way leads to the madness of writer's block for me), but especially as I'm tackling several series and trilogy ideas now, it's crucial to figure out what the puzzle pieces are before I start randomly jamming them together.
My discovery (I've compared it to this before) is more like a jigsaw; I start with the bits I find easier or standout and fill in the rest as I go.
Love this, Harlequin. This is me to a T once I get into the writing stage. And often I discover puzzle pieces I didn't know I was missing as I go along, which is often wonderful/irksome/baffling.
I think it says something about the story you're writing (and how it finds its way to you) as well as your experience in writing.
I certainly agree with the first bit, SKara. Especially the part in bold. Well said.
It's sort of like Cezanne recognizing that the sunflower he painted yesterday really needs to moved a bit to the left, and repaints it.
Lovely analogy, blac.
What is a plot but the careful drip feed of information to the reader?
Yes! And I find myself having to be careful that it doesn't become a firehose at certain junctures.
I love how this is making me think about my own revision process (and approach during the drafting itself).
