Comments on: Stringing a story together

By: S. M. Payne

S. M. Payne — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 23:08:33 +0000

I’m a little of both. The building of the story is as nonlinear as nonlinear can get. I always say I cannot write a character’s story until I get under their skin. And I know huge parts of all of the story before I start. Once I start though, it’s beginning to end.

By: Fanatical Pupil » Writing Linearly from an Outline

Fanatical Pupil » Writing Linearly from an Outline — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:14:11 +0000

[...] and coincidental that I came across this post at SF Novelists just after I was thinking about my own writing style (ed. note: “just” being two months [...]

By: Diana Pharaoh Francis

Diana Pharaoh Francis — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:10:09 +0000

Simon: I tried that. Know what happened? I totally ignored what I wrote down. My uncle was friends with Robert Heinlein. Apparently he used to keep his notebook handy and jot things down (without telling anyone what he was writing, which created a certain amount of paranoia in conversations) and then put all the papers in folders and do exactly what you do–pull them out and see what they turned into. Wish I could be so disciplined.

By: Diana Pharaoh Francis

Diana Pharaoh Francis — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:08:37 +0000

StevenT: I’m obsessive about going back and writing and keeping notes as I go. Gets worse when you commit series or trilogy. Some people write fast enough that they can keep it all in their heads until their done (ahem, Jay Lake! I’m talking to you!). I envy that.

By: Diana Pharaoh Francis

Diana Pharaoh Francis — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:07:27 +0000

Scarlett~

That’s what I fear about splatter writing. That I won’t end up with a story. Just a really interesting puzzle. Stew. Splatter Stew. Can characters eat that?

By: Diana Pharaoh Francis

Diana Pharaoh Francis — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:06:18 +0000

Karen and Josh~

It isn’t the wasting of words. It’s the total uncertainty. I have discovered I don’t like uncertainty. Not that the words will ever fit, but that they will ever get me anywhere. Sigh. I guess I should trust the process. It hasn’t failed me yet. But damn, ever time I start, it feels like it might this time.

Paranoia anyone?

By: Diana Pharaoh Francis

Diana Pharaoh Francis — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:04:51 +0000

Kris~

I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one. And it’s damned unnerving. Like driving in a tulle fog.

By: S.C. Butler

S.C. Butler — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 13:12:55 +0000

I’m a linear writer as well. I gave up thinking I was actually starting at the beginning a long time ago. Now I just plunge in, and worry about where it’s going to start on the second draft.

By: bob charters

bob charters — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 01:15:12 +0000

I’d compare some bits of the first stab at the story as scaffolding. It may be too wordy, or it may be too much telling instead of showing, but it’s there to set the facts in place. Later I go back and replace it with good narrative, or move something out that should be introduced later in the story. Though I’m a linear writer, I’m sure this could be just as easily used for ‘splatter writing’. Sometimes, while in middle of a narrative, I think of a great closing scene. I go ahead and write that, using as much good narrative as possible, but also a lot of scaffolding.

By: Josh Anderson

Josh Anderson — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 13:11:30 +0000

Even if you end up throwing all of your work away, these scenes may give you the boost to find that elsusive beginning. If a few thousand words are all that is sacrificed for a return to your linear style, I say it is time well spent.