This is a problem that’s been on my mind a lot lately. I’ve very much wanted feedback on it, so I thought for my very first blog, I’d write about it and see what happens.
Most novels and stories I’ve written have been straight through. I start at beginning, and other than a few small skips when stuck on a scene, I write in order to the end. This has not been the case with books 2 and three of the Croatia Colony series. I have so much of both visualized that I have found myself skipping around a lot.
Some of it is bad timing. I have very little time to write most days. I write in the mornings before work and I have to write whatever will make progress. So if there’s a day when I really feel see a scene clearly, I write it and I don’t stop until it’s time for work, or the scene runs out. Usually time runs out first and sometimes I can continue easily the next day, sometimes I can’t, but progress is the most important. So, if a scene from book three is what’s burning in my mind, that’s what I write. Sometimes that actually helps. Once that scene is out, written in black and white, I get an idea for a scene in book two that will help lead up to the scene or foreshadow it. Sometimes I just get excited about the story in general. Either way I take what comes.
Strangely, I do not feel like my story is out of sync. I am not scared that the pieces won’t connect. I know enough about the story and where I’m going that I still trust it will come together. Other authors have written this way. And I’m a bit of a pantzer, I tend to just take off with whatever part of the story takes me away anyway. I rarely plot, I hate writing synopsis and character profiles and I only make notes when the worldbuilding starts getting too big to remember things. Maybe I’ve just discovered a new part of my process?
So, thoughts? Who else writes their stories in pieces and assembles later? Who takes notes? Any tips for keeping things straight? I’d love to hear from you.