What order do you write your stories in?

[Devor]

Do you write in order?

I dialogue my scenes before I write them. I get a conversation or other big moment stuck in my head, and I'll sketch out maybe a piece of that dialogue, maybe the entire scene worth of dialogue.

I definitely only write one chapter at a time, but that chapter may have two or three scenes that I might work on semi-independently of each other. (I define scene here as separated by a page break and a jump between POVs; strictly, a scene might be two short scenes and a sequel or such). Also, I find that I write a scene like this:

Sitting one: Dialogue.
Sitting two: Opening.
Sitting three: Flesh out the dialogue.
Sitting four: Write the bridge between the opening and the dialogue.
I might do multiple sittings in a writing session.

As you can see, this process involves a little bit of jumping around. But it's not wild or random. It's a serious process.


How do you know when to begin?

For me, it's the characters' dynamic. When the emotions and interactions between the key figures is super compelling, you can start. If it's not, I don't believe you're to going to find it as you go. The dynamic is built out by the plot and the setting and all the different story elements you bring up. Assuming you're a decent writer, a bad dynamic means your story needs to add or subtract different story elements. That can mean massive rewrites and changes to your premise. But if you feel the dynamic between your hero and your villain and the other key figures is solid, you can basically throw anything at it and have it bounce around that dynamic and hold up.

Think of a long-running TV show or one of those big exploration novels. In the Last Airbender, for example, the dynamic between Avatar Aang and his comrades and Prince Zuko and his mission to stop the Firelord before the comet arrives.... that dynamic makes all sorts of random filler events super compelling. It's a dynamic you can sit with, and enjoy the way it plays out.... even over a random thing like a bogus fortune teller or something cool but off topic like a group of goofy freedom fighters. The events themselves don't matter except in the way they let that dynamic play out in kind of a fresh way.

If you have the good dynamic, you can write. The dynamic will carry you through all sorts of spontaneous moments. But a bad dynamic will sink even the coolest of plot points.

 

[oenanthe]

When I'm drafting I start at scene one and write to scene n, in order. I don't skip, but sometimes I go back and fill in a scene.
when I do a revision I start on page one and revise to the last page, in order. I have to do it this way, so if I'm stuck on a scene then we're not moving until I figure it out.

 

[J.W. Golan]

I typically have key scenes clearly in mind before I start writing. Usually the beginning and the end of the novel are very clear to me, as well as a few scenes in between. Often, the key scenes from the novel are just too clear, too compelling for me to leave them as mere images in my mind. I’ll feel compelled to commit them to paper (or into electrons) before the rest of the novel is fully underway. Details might change, but those key scenes will largely stay intact.

Once I have those key scenes down, I’ll begin to outline the rest of the book, chapter by chapter. And writing the connecting elements from beginning to end.

 

[Robert hildenbrand]

Do you write your stories from start to finish in order as one chapter to the next? Or do you jump around?

Most of the time I write in order. But when I get stuck on a chapter I skip to another chapter and work on it until I get ideas for the chapter I am stuck on. I have the chapters pretty much outlined so there is no confusion on where things stand.

Does going out of order throw off your story or does it help when you get stuck on a part?

Whatever keeps you writing is the answer, always whatever keeps you writing. The editing process is when you can subtract that which doesn't work, should not have been added, or simply is misplaced. I have even changed locations of chapters, or condensed chapters during this editing process. The main thing to keep in mind (at least in my writing) is to have a basic skeleton of the plot and story, much like laying the keel of a ship. The start, a middlish, and an ending. It might help if the ending of your first novel (if writing a series) can also be the ending of the story, should your series not sell and your agent want you to drop it for other work. You can always return to that series later once you have developed a following who have revitalized your first novel, or you have republished your first novels with updates that improved their marketability.

 

[iramesoj]

I’m a compass writer so I usually write like this:

First if all, I know I’ll write a fantasy novel, because is the gender I like to write. Then, I start to think about the main character and later about the plot.

for example, I think: I am going to write a novel about an illiterate woman that born and grew up in a tribe that lives in paleolithic conditions. She leaves her tribe and lives adventures in that world.

Then, I should think about the event that causes this story. For example: she is unfairly acused of murder another woman of the tribe, so is banished and start to travel alone.

Once I decided that, I think about the adventures she will live, and then I think about the enemies and their wishes (for example, collect magic objects to dominate the world), and how they will interactuate with the main character...

The rest is pure improvisation, but, of course, I try to keep the coherence.

 

[The Dark One]

> At some point, I am clearly in planning mode; no writing. At some later point, it's pretty much all writing, though I still wind up researching an item or two. The weird transition period is when I'm still in planning mode psychologically, but I find myself writing more and more snippets. Somewhere in there, I just shrug and charge forward. It's very much not rational.

<g>

Pretty much how it works for me. I'm always working vaguely on several ideas (often in different genres) so it's quite exciting to suddenly realise I've made the transition from planning to full on draft generation for a particular story. Mind you, I can still hit the wall and have to stop and think for a while - sometimes months.

My plots tend to be fairly complex so I often get about three quarters through and then have to think about how I'm going to tie all the threads together in a way that not just satisfies but astounds.