Thursday, March 24, 2011

Jumping Ahead

When you're writing, do you move forward along a pre-determined time line, or do you jump around, writing scenes as they come to mind?

I have been known to do a little of both.  Normally, I write the story in sequence, but occasionally I write out of order.  There's that scene that just pops into mind and you have to get it down on paper/screen before it is gone with the breeze.

For the Nature of Magic Blogfest Saturday, I wasn't at the point of my story to write the scene about the magic in my world.  In fact, I was about four chapters away when I had the idea for the scene I will be sharing.  What amazed me was this scene helped me answer a bunch of questions that were making huge gaping holes in my story.

So, would I write out of order again?  Absolutely!!  Especially if it helps me find the answers I need!

6 comments:

  1. I tend to write in order, though I have had the ending written up in my head from the start. I now just need to get there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's a good problem to have, though. When I started my WIP, I didn't know the end (and am still not certain I am keeping the one from my first draft.) All I knew were may characters and the opening line.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I generally write from beginning to end, but I've found myself moving around during revisions. I'm not sure if I could write our of order. I have known the ending all along though and begin the story with a hint a the end, but that's about it. Great post.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tammy-
    I like to know a basic map for my story-- I have one I actually used a 2 page plot synopsis for (that wrote very fast!), but others, like this one, start with just the characters. This one actually started with a magic item I couldn't figure out what to do with!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Squee! So glad the blogfest helped you out. ;)

    I tend to write from point a to point b, but if a scene is troubling me, I will skip around til it's sorted out.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I hardly ever write out of sequence, but when I do it's usually worth doing it.

    There's an award on my blog for you.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for dropping by. I love reading comments and will respond by e-mail as soon as possible.