How has your method changed since you first started writing?

[jongibbs]

A few weeks ago, I started work on the first draft of Barnum’s Revenge (the sequel to Fur-Face). My approach to writing the two novels couldn’t be more different.

Back in 2003, when I began work on Fur-Face, I had no idea what I was doing. Aside from tax returns*, I hadn’t written any fiction since leaving school (with a less than impressive

Comments

[seekerval]

First: I LOVE that you're using that paraphrased line. Well done, Jon!

Next: When I first started Writing-With-Intent, I used my enthusiasm and passion to drive my production with absolutely No Clue as to where the journey was going. Most of the novel was written linearly with only a couple scenes demanding to be written RIGHT NOW, AND I MEAN NOW! I managed to complete a full manuscript which wasn't bad, but is back in its NeverEndingEdit.

Nowadays, I write a bit of the initial idea, then plot &/or outline a general arc with however many sub-arcs that readily present themselves, and go back to writing. I rather dislike the exercise of doing outlines, so they tend to be on the sparse side, allowing my Seat-of-Pants style a loose rein on the pathway.

Of course, I'm one of the as-yet-unpublished-but-still-hopeful many. I'll be interested to see other comments. And thanks, Jon, for the [INSERT SOMETHING HERE] idea. I know I'll be using that trick.

[jongibbs]

If I've been of any help at all, you must have been in worse trouble than you thought ;)

[seekerval]

The story of my life, Jon. But I'm not into the memoir thing, so you'll just have to believe me. ;~}

[jongibbs]

Lol :)

[nathreee]

Outlining and plotting was the only thing I ever wrote when I started out. And it's still one of the most important parts of my writing process. But over the years I have leanred to set the stage and create the right atmosphere. Plot may be intricate, but atmosphere is the thing that will make the readers feel like they're there.

I learned to write snappy dialogue at a young age, and it's still something I'm very proud of. But it wasn't until recently that I have finally begun to understand PoV and internal dialogue. And the many ways to do it wrong.

I learned the best new things from writing a lot and critiqueing the writing of others. Not by just telling which parts I liked or disliked, but over the years I learned to say: When I read this part, I thought... Was that what you inteneded to do?

[jongibbs]

'I learned the best new things from writing a lot and critiqueing the writing of others.

I know what you mean :)

[garyfrank]

My writing method's changed inthat I used to write and now I don't. Just kidding. Sort of.

I've always set out and started writing. The difference now is that I keep track of the details and try to plot a bit ahead, like driving at night; you can only see what's in the light of the headlights. Beyond that, it's all dark.

My question to you (and anyone else who does this) is how do you write scenes out of order without worrying things in earlier scenes will change everything? If you write scene 36 and then go back and write scene 27 and discover something major happens that affects the rest of the story, you then have to rewrite any scene you've written after scene 27. I would think that could get a bit confusing. But I'm naturally confused anyway!

Thanks for another great blogpost!

Cheers, mate!

[msstacy13]

Asimov did it by using three typewriters.

With my WWII bomber novel,
I usually knew what part of the day each scene had to take place,
but I also kept notes on each character;
If he died, when?
Which guys were Jewish? Catholic? Protestant?
All that sort of thing;
I used a spiral notebook and loose-leaf binder with pockets.

I think that if you have a pretty good idea
of where it's going and how it's getting there,
then filling it in out-of-sequence won't change it;
but keep notes and use search phrases to verify that,
and be prepared to make changes if you must.

[jongibbs]

'...how do you write scenes out of order without worrying things in earlier scenes will change everything?'

A fair question. By the time I start on a first draft, major story changes are unlikely - I find it's additional background stories and minor sub-plots which tend to bubble to the surface once I start the actual draft.

I guess an equally fair question for non-outliners is: 'If you write scenes without a detailed outline, aren't you worried you might come up with a great plot idea halfway through the first draft that requires you to rewrite everything from scratch?'

[garyfrank]

Uh...yes. And it's bloody annoying really. This neverending book I had been working on was finished in December 2009 and then I saw a movie that made me want to change the second half of the book. It made the story better, but it meant rewriting more than half the book.

That's why I said I use the headlight method, plotting a bit after what I've written. Not that it works every time, but it works for me well enough.

I tried outlining an entire novel and when I was done outlining, I had no interest in writing the story.

[bogwitch64]

I used to write by the seat of my pants, and while that got 20-something novels completed and taught me a huge amount about writing, none of them ended up as publishable work. Once I started outlining--really outlining and not a smack and a promise, I wrote Finder. :)

Well, there was one before that, but that's another story.

[msstacy13]

I used to write by the seat of my pants,
but I got tired of having a pencil stuck in my butt.
:)

[bogwitch64]

and double "D'oh!"

[jongibbs]

Everyone uses an outline, it's just for some writers, their outline is the entire first draft ;)

[black_faery]

Heh, I do both of those things these days as well. The [Insert exciting escape scene here], and [will this really work? Check this!] appeared in my last chapter, to avoid breaking the flow of what was working. I try to write in order, but only by character - for example, chapter 8 starts off a whole new character's plot line, and I can work on that at work when I don't have the rest of the novel to hand for easy back-referencing.

I also plot these days. Not plotting has given me too many Terminal Editing Cases, and I am sick of doing that!

Writing has also taught me not to worry about word count. By which I mean that if I only get 50 words, or 100 words down in a day, and I can't find any more in my head, that is better than nothing. So I don't stress if I'm not getting 500 words done every day. I just try to get something down. At least it keeps the story fresh in my head!

[jongibbs]

I soon learned to worship at the altar of outlines, though it's taken me a long time to get good at producing them :)

[black_faery]

I discovered that not worrying about chapters first was easiest. I start with each of my main characters, and work through their own story arc: what their main events are, what changes them, what their challenges are, and how they develop over the course of the novel. Then I arrange all of these events into one long list - some of them as flashback scenes if they happen before my opening scene, and others as 'live' scenes. Then finally I arrange these into chapters. I found this worked much better than trying to organise all the characters at once - like herding cats!!

[jongibbs]

Fitting everything (and everyone) around the central character sounds so easy...at first :)