I am writing a book, it's not very long (I only started it recently) but that's ok. Obviously everyone has there own writing styles and processes. This book I'm writing is currently being written from start to end; but is it ok to write a paragraph, write events leading up to this scene (or whatever) then writing stuff that happens later and so on? I mean, is there anything wrong with putting my story together like a huge puzzle?
A lot of people say it's better to write your story out of order. That way you won't forget cool details, and it often leaves more room for creativity. Sometimes if you're stuck at a certain point, writing ahead will help you work through the problem.
You do you, sweetheart. First drafts are meant to experiment, anyway. The likelihood of you keeping the majority of what you write in your first draft in later drafts is slim. Don't get caught up in what people say is the right or wrong way to do something. Find what works from you, and build off that.
An important note though: while it's okay to experiment here and there, your story shouldn't confuse the readers. Place yoursef in their shoes, and if you think you can still understand the progression of your novel, then go ahead with it. If not, small tweaks here and there to create connection between your events might be necessary.
"Writing, though, belongs first to the writer, and then to the reader, to the world.
The subject is a catalyst, a character, but our responsibility is, has to be, to the work."
You can copy edit, you can tweak minor things, but you cannot accurately rewrite something without finishing it, first. I got caught in rewrite loop for years with my novel, until I realized I was getting nowhere because I never knew what the end looked like. So I grit my teeth, put all potential major edits in a separate document, and finished it.
I started rewriting after that point, and all of a sudden the novel flowed. I knew how I wanted to frame the beginning to reflect the end. I realized I had been telling a completely wrong story and started from scratch, but starting with certainty, this time. I realized what was wrong about the whole story, not just parts of it.
The saying "hindsight is 20/20" applies to writing. You can't look back and see what you can do differently until you're done.
Keep writing until you're finished.
Then you can rewrite.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo
Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
Just here to quickly add, writing out of order can sometimes be a really good thing. Focusing on the scenes you find the most important for the plot and/or the characters can help you figure out realistic storylines and choices that lead from one of those scenes to the next. A thing to remember, though, is that nothing is set in stone; be ready for new ideas to appear and the original ideas to change, sometimes even taking the story in a whole new direction or making you realise something new about your own characters. In those cases, I suggest you to do make the changes as they come to you, but keep the original ideas saved somewher as well - that way, when you do finish that first draft and move on to the edits as others have suggested, you'll be able to clearly see your own thought process and make the best of it.
Edit: What works for me, by the way, is keeping the main story document in order, and writing the out-of-order scenes in a separate document or even a notebook. That way, I can't confuse myself with what was supposed to go where, and I can refer to different scenes when writing the parts of the story leading to them.
• previously ChildOfNowhere - they/them - literary fantasy with a fairytale flavour
This post is old but people keep writing soooo... I am writing a novel and I wrote it out of order. Chapter 1 then 2,5,15,4... The only real problem that I found was that I would often have to go back change details in previous chapters to match up with what happens later on. Another problem is character development. I needed to understand how that character would be at that part of the story. That is just how I like to write. I actually wrote chapter 3 last haha. But I still love the way it turned out. I probably ended up deleting a good 5,000 words just because of writing out of order though.
I write in order, but when I get an idea that I think I might want to use in a later scene, I make sure to write it in a separate place so that I don't forget about it. I also write down songs that I think could fit the theme of a chapter so that I can help stick to that. Or the opposite. I am extremely disorganized, so I wouldn't exactly take my advice. I know my own way, it seems organized to me, but from the outside it looks like a tornado.
I would like to thank anyone who reads and gives advice about to make my writing better. I will take it all into account and then work on editing. Thank you everyone. You guys are all nice and welcoming.
Teach a man to fish, he eats for a day. Don't teach a man to fish, you eat for a day. He's a grown man. Fishing's not that hard. — Ron Swanson (Parks and Rec)
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