First Draft Order

[Ann]

Do you write first draft from start to finish?

I can NEVER do that. I write the beginning, then the end, then fill in inbetween as it comes to me.

I can't understand linear writing ._.

[Andrew]

The only stuff I write linearly are flash fiction pieces. I'm working on a 2,000 word short at the moment, and even there I wrote one paragraph and then dived into the middle.

[David]

Bisky, I used to be like that, but I find the more I write, the more linear I've become. Writing from beginning to end feels more disciplined to me. Whether it actually is or not is a different question. But it does force me to tackle those tough parts I'd otherwise be inclined to skip until later.

These days the only time I step out of that linear process is if I have a strong idea for a scene and want to get it down before I forget it.

[Brian]

The idea never comes to me in a linear fashion. I outline everything first. The middle of the story keeps everything going, and I don't want to bore people to tears through the gap between the beginning and end. I try to make the journey in between just as interesting as the beginning and the end while fleshing out the world. I will usually start with a basic thought that involves some sort of transition. That becomes the beginning and ending. Then I think of what kind of world I want the characters to live in. I build a basic outline based on events that I see taking place in the world that lead the characters towards the ending. Then I build the characters based on what I want to write and the world they live in. Once I have the outline, I start at the beginning and write. The outline keeps me on track and focused on the goal for each writing session. I sometimes have to adjust the outline as the story evolves. To me the story is already written in my mind, and I'm just putting it in text. It's a lot easier to write in a linear fashion that way. If I wrote it as the story formed in my head then I would have a very difficult time sorting everything out and putting it in any kind of order.

[G.G.]

This question makes me realize how much I don't fit in as a writer. The only thing I ever put down on writing is my book, well my two books, and I've written them from beginning to the end in order. Contrarily to normal writers, I don't have tons of stories laying around on my desk, or drawer. :(
Who knows, maybe my next work will be done differently.

[Ann]

Actually G.G I think it's linear that's most normal :]

I have tons of stuff lying around, but I don't actually have that much of a life offline :P

[G.G.]

Bisky wrote: "Actually G.G I think it's linear that's most normal :]

I have tons of stuff lying around, but I don't actually have that much of a life offline :P"

Oh the 'not' normal was not for the linear, but for the NOT having unfinished stories laying around.

[Ann]

Everyone has their own way of writing though. I don't think there is a right or wrong :3

[Steven]

Since I write mysteries/thrillers, it's imperative that I outline the sequence of events in advance; at the end, all the pieces must fit together perfectly. So, I progress from my "blurb" idea for the book to a chapter-by-chapter outline (some chapter ideas might be only a sentence or two, while others may have whole sections of dialog/action/etc., depending on when during the process I'm struck with a good idea). I then start at the beginning and proceed to write out each chapter.

Having said that, though, I can tell you that I usually write the first and last chapters right away, because I know how I want to introduce the story and the destination at which I want to arrive. I'll also add that along the way, I often discover betters ideas which require a shuffling of events/people/etc. So I suppose my motto is "have a plan, but be flexible."

[Nicole]

I generally write in sequence. When I wrote the first book, I basically had every chapter outlined down to a T, probably because it had been in my head so long, i knew exactly what was going to happen. In later revisions I realized some of those scenes needed to be taken out or something needed to be added (so the tune of editing goes).

When I wrote the second book, I had most of it outlined before writing it, but sometimes realized while I was writing it that extra chapters needed to be incorporated and some later ones I planned could be taken out (this made editing later a lot easier haha).

Writing the third book, I've had a similar dilemma as Bisky, where I knew the beginning and end but had absolutely no body xD The thing with me though, is I can't write out of order (damn OCD); don't get me wrong, I write tons of notes or shorthand the scene in notes real quick, but I don't "officially" write it until I'm at that spot in the book. That's just how I do it and it works for me ^^ But with this book, it's been the most difficult thus far to write and i'm not really sure why. When I tried to outline, all I had was the beg chaps and the ending chaps and I honestly couldn't envision anything in between--it was awful. So, this book has been less outlined, but I've just been taking it one chapter at a time and then think 'okay, this just happened. how does my world/characters react to it?' And that thought alone basically writes my next chapter.

For me, this is not the ideal way of writing this book, but for whatever reason, i'm being forced to stick with it since I can't figure out the middle chaps. I hate not knowing where my story is going (although I kind of do, since I know the ending) but I guess this way of writing (where not every little thing is planned) puts more trust into my characters, which, i suppose, can be seen as a good thing haha.

@David It seems to me the more I write the less linear I become! lol xp

@GG the only place writers DO fit in is with other writers ;) *chants* one of us one of us

[David]

@Nicole:

Lol! Yes, one of us - one of us!

I believe it's a natural thing to change the way we write as we write. @Bisky is right: we all have our own way. And the more we work at it the better we define the best way for us.

I hope things work out with your third book. Sometimes the surprises that pop up from lack of planning are the best parts.

[Nicole]

Thanks David! You're totally right. The best scenes I've written were often spontaneous and unplanned haha :)

[J. David]

For the most part, yes, I write it start to finish. Occasionally, a later scene will pop into my head and if that happens, I may go ahead and set it down and then connect to it as I continue writing front to back.

Amusingly, I even wrote most of my current series this way even though it is entirely non-linear, and jumps around back and forth in its timeline constantly. Some of Vol 2 I wrote in a different way, writing all the scenes in timeframe A then all the scenes in timeframe B, but the majority I have written in sequence even though they are not linear.

[E.A.]

Almost always I start at the beginning and write sequentially until I'm done. In the first manuscript I ever wrote, I had a couple of chapters that I wrote ahead of time and inserted when the story was ready for them. But since then, my next four manuscripts have been page one to page last.

[Rose]

I have an idea how I want the book to end so I will write the ending first and then outline how the characters are going to get there. At that point I will write it to my already written ending,

[Neil]

I try to stay chronological, but will skip if I get stuck. Sometimes I have a great idea for later and thrash it out. Then when it fits in with everything else, there's usually a spot of tidying to make it all coherent.

[James]

I usually write scenes that excite me first and as I write I get ideas for other scenes, I note them down and write them up when I'm ready - gradually a story arc forms and I arrange and re-arrange the scenes to suit that- I find this prevents writers block, keeps it interesting and also doesn't restrict creativity. When I get stuck I polish and repolish what I have and this sparks more ideas.

I used to write screenplays and like a lot of script writers would have cards with scenes on that I would continually ove around, I think I got this way of writing from that.

[Oli]

I always consider the first draft the one I run through in my head. I'm quite in-depth with my ideas, so by the time my fingers are hitting the keys, I've already got the main bulk of the story written. The way I look at it - the idea is the heart, the chapter plotting makes the main organs, the first writing is the bones (to keep it all in), the second is the flesh, and the final makes up the skin.

As for the clothes? Well, that's everyone who points out the mistakes afterwards...

[P.D.]

I used to just start at the beginning and keep writing, no matter where it wandered, until I reached the end or ran out of steam and killed everyone off. Now I start with an idea, mind map and outline, have a general sense of the ending, etc. Then I start with the beginning of the story and work my way through it. I may jump ahead if I get bored or am not sure how to get to the next scene properly, or I may stop to write backstory and then resume, but I work my way beginning to end.

[Denise]

I always write the beginning and know what the end will look like, then I 'write towards it', if that makes any kind of sense.

[Claire]

I jump around to places where I have a clear picture of a scene, but I know where exactly in the book this scene will be. I am a bit of a pantser and a planner.

[Carl]

So far, chronological order.