Comments on: Writing Out of Order http://beckylevine.com/2009/09/10/writing-out-of-order/ Moving Forward on the Writing Path Sun, 27 May 2012 16:18:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: beckylevine http://beckylevine.com/2009/09/10/writing-out-of-order/#comment-1698 Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:13:38 +0000 http://beckylevine.com/?p=1104#comment-1698 Pete, this is right on. I figure out my MC’s goal and try to write around that. Not always successful, but I’ve got it noted at the beginning of the file for revision!

]]> By: pete http://beckylevine.com/2009/09/10/writing-out-of-order/#comment-1697 Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:20:11 +0000 http://beckylevine.com/?p=1104#comment-1697 My manuscript is told in flashback, and none of the scenes really happen in chronological order, they happen in order of importance to the characters.

What I do is figure out what each specific scene needs to accomplish. If I go into something I know that they’re in Spot A and XYZ needs to be completed by the end of it, I write with that in mind – but I fill it all in as I go for the first time.

I assume if I did up an outline, I would have the main points highlighted with “Some stuff happens here” interspersed throughout, and I’d fill that in when I got there.

]]> By: beckylevine http://beckylevine.com/2009/09/10/writing-out-of-order/#comment-1696 Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:50:27 +0000 http://beckylevine.com/?p=1104#comment-1696 Yay for your daughter! :) That goal can be the most elusive thing.

I tried to figure out that plot first, then just got frustrated and decided to write. Hopefully, it’s “evolving.”

]]> By: debbie duncan http://beckylevine.com/2009/09/10/writing-out-of-order/#comment-1695 Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:48:34 +0000 http://beckylevine.com/?p=1104#comment-1695 I just spit everything out in the MG novel I recently completed – and ended up with 500 pages. And when my YA daughter read it, she wrote in the margin of ~page 250 that she forgot what my MC’s goal was. Oops. Only then did I put together the scenes in a logical sequence, which meant dropping several subplots and characters. The result was a much smoother read and the goal remained in the reader’s mind. (Or so beta readers told me.)

As I approach my next project, I’m going to try to figure out the plot before I begin. It’s in the thinking stage now.

]]> By: beckylevine http://beckylevine.com/2009/09/10/writing-out-of-order/#comment-1694 Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:00:35 +0000 http://beckylevine.com/?p=1104#comment-1694 That’s where I’m going right now. It’s a weird way for me to write, but I’m learning to go with it. Good luck to you, too!

]]> By: P. J. Hoover http://beckylevine.com/2009/09/10/writing-out-of-order/#comment-1693 Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:42:03 +0000 http://beckylevine.com/?p=1104#comment-1693 I’m going to focus on my plot much more in later drafts. I just like to get the first one down and then work to fix it.
Good luck!

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