Writing!

[teaberryblue]

I am just over 45,000 words into the story I am working on now. It's interesting because the last time I wrote a novel-length story, I spent a lot of time and energy fleshing out a detailed outline before I even began, and I would just look at my outline and write the next scene on it.

This time, I'm doing a lot more exploratory writing. I have a rough idea of where the plot needs to go, but a lot of details that didn't resolve, and I just forced myself to write through it anyway. I'm also writing scenes out of order a lot more; I have the scenes organized based on their linear order, but I'll write them and then pop them into their proper place. I have some scenes from the end of the story written. There are good tings and bad things about this.

One thing that happens is that I obviously have to change what happens a little bit in those later scenes as I figure out how the earlier scenes go.

Another thing that has been happening is that I'll be in the middle of a later scene and just come upon a huge realization for something that would make the story better, and have to figure out whether I should just keep writing and finish with a disjointed manuscript that has a lot of continuity problems, and fix it all at once, or if I should fix those scenes first. I realized tonight a few things that will really help the plot in terms of creating higher stakes, and they mean rewriting a lot of early scenes.

I've also got a lot of scenes that I probably just plain will end up not using. That's okay.

Anyway, it's an interesting experience. The stuff I came up with tonight is really just leaving me with more questions and I feel a bit more like I had better outline some more before going any further with this.

Comments

[oseri]

Congratulations on getting so far with it! I love the concept of this story, and am delighted you're pursuing it.

[teaberryblue.livejournal.com]

It's kind of running away from me in parts. I haven't ever had that happen with a story before. But I am getting very dragged this way and that by the different characters' stories and such and it's ballooning.

Also, last night I came to a bunch of epiphanies about the backstory. I would love to run some of this stuff by you at some point.

[oseri]

Yes, I would love that! I will try to catch you on AIM soon.

[batchix.livejournal.com]

that's a lot like how I write... I sketch out the idea, then I just sort of let it go as I write. Then I'll go back and sketch out some more ideas and change it as I need to. Usually when it's done it goes in the trash and i never want to read it again, but this time i'm pushing myself. It's been a year since i've touched the script for R&R and i'm not so far into the comic that i can't re-write big sections of it... and so i am.

In a way it's more exciting that way. It's like the world has it's own life and i'm just receiving mixed signals from somewhere and writing it down. I don't know what's going to happen either and I'm excited about that.

[liret.livejournal.com]

I try to make myself just keep writing as if the previous scenes are already adjusted when I get a better idea halfway through. Mostly because since I don't really outline that happens a lot, and otherwise I could end up having to rewrite after every chapter.