Should you ever write scenes out of order? Here you are,
ready to start in on a new story, and you have one particular scene just begging to be written. Maybe it’s the scene that inspired the story, or
maybe it’s just as easier scene than the one you’re currently faced with. If
you go ahead and write that scene now, will it harm your overall story? Or, just
maybe, will taking a non-linear storytelling approach offer untold benefits?
 |
| Is a linear storytelling process best for your story? Or would you be better off writing scenes out of order? |
The answers to these questions aren’t absolute. Ultimately,
your personality, writing style, and even each individual story will determine
what works best for you. As a decidedly linear storyteller (and an outliner on
top of it), I’ve only rarely written a scene out of order—and, even then, only
when I’ve realized I needed to go back
and insert a scene into previously written chapters.
Most writers follow that same path. Linear writing just
makes sense. It creates a forward-moving expansion of time, just like our own
lives. But some writers find writing scenes out of order actually frees
their creativity.
So what should you
do? Let’s explore some of the benefits to both linear and non-linear writing,
so you can decide for yourself.
Five Reasons to Write Your Scenes in Order
1. You’ll be able to
maintain natural evolution and continuity. When we write stories in their
natural order, we’re able to organically build their arcs. Each piece fits
together, because each piece builds upon the previous one without any
unnecessary finagling.
2. You won’t waste time on unnecessary scenes. Sometimes
those killer scenes we envision early on end up not working out like we think
they will. We can save ourselves time (and the heartache of killing some
darlings) if we can spot extraneous or incorrect scenes before we write them.
3. You won’t lose steam on the less interesting scenes. If you run ahead of yourself and
write all the juicy scenes, what are you going to have to look forward to as
you slog through the necessary transitions that remain?
4. You’ll be able to better track your overall story. If your scenes are all hither and
yon, you’ll likely have a harder time keeping track of where they fit
within the overall plan. But if you write them in order, you can watch your
story arc build naturally—and better spot areas that aren’t quite working.
5. You can avoid ending
up with a bunch of brilliant pieces that don’t fit together. All those
wonderful scenes you’re in hurry to write may indeed be brilliant in their own
right. But, by the time you’re finished, they may not fit together quite as
seamlessly as you were hoping.
Three Reasons Not to Write Your Scenes in Order
1. You’ll remember scene ideas. Our memories can be slippery little devils.
Sometimes the only way to make certain we’ll remember a scene in all its
white-hot glory is to go ahead and write it down, even if it doesn’t yet fit into
the linear scheme things.
2. You’ll be able to
move past blocks. Sometimes you’re stumped on a particular part of your
story to the point that the whole book has stalled. You’re faced with either
walking away from the story for a while, writing anyway and hoping you’ll
strike gold, or moving on to a different scene. All three are viable options,
but the latter offers the extra benefit of potentially giving you new insight
into your story, which can then help you see around your block.
3. You’ll be able to work
backwards to discover how best to build up to important scenes. In Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success,
I suggest the technique of reverse outlining to help you understand the cause
and effect between important scenes. The same technique can work just as well
(if not quite as tidily) in your first draft. If you know where you need to
go, sometimes it can then be easier to figure out what you need to do to get there.
Although most writers choose storytelling methods that are predominately
linear or non-linear, this doesn’t have to be an either/or decision. No matter
which method works best for you, you may find it worthwhile to occasionally experiment
with different techniques, both to gain a new perspective on your work and to
perhaps find a new tool for your writing workbag.
Tell me your opinion: Do you prefer to write scenes linearly or non-linearly?
Related Posts: How I Learned to Write—and How You Can Too
Benefits of Outlining
Are You Writing Your Novel Too Fast?
_________________
Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Wordplay podcast in iTunes).
Tell me your opinion: Do you prefer to write scenes linearly or non-linearly?
Related Posts: How I Learned to Write—and How You Can Too
Benefits of Outlining
Are You Writing Your Novel Too Fast?
_________________
Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Wordplay podcast in iTunes).
- July 29, 2012
48 Comments
- K.M. Weiland
- Posted in Chronology , Feature , writing process
