Non linear approach: is it normal?

[King_Willie]

I've been struggling with a chapter for a month now.
In my mental map, the story's about 6-8 chapters long but I'm stuck on chapter 4.
I've come to a point where I can't even look at it and I find any excuse not to sit in front of the compute and begin writing it.
So, a couple days ago I did something different.
I skipped chapter 4, went ahead and started working on the other ones.
And it's been a breeze, I'm pumping pages after pages at a dizzying pace.
Of course, I'm still dreading going back to 4.
Is this approach normal?
Others who have done this before, what blindspots, traps and pitfalls did you run into?

 

[LexxRuthless]

What is it that has got you stuck?

I reached a point with a series I was writing where I felt it had become ridiculous. Instead of continuing that series, I just wrote other stuff. At some point, I will go back and finish that series. But I understand what you mean--I don't look forward to it.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I've been struggling with a chapter for a month now.
In my mental map, the story's about 6-8 chapters long but I'm stuck on chapter 4.
I've come to a point where I can't even look at it and I find any excuse not to sit in front of the compute and begin writing it.
So, a couple days ago I did something different.
I skipped chapter 4, went ahead and started working on the other ones.
And it's been a breeze, I'm pumping pages after pages at a dizzying pace.
Of course, I'm still dreading going back to 4.
Is this approach normal?
Others who have done this before, what blindspots, traps and pitfalls did you run into?

I write like that all the time. I think you'll find Chapter 4 easier when you return to it.

You do have to be careful about your continuity, but a careful reread will take care of that.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I've been struggling with a chapter for a month now.
In my mental map, the story's about 6-8 chapters long but I'm stuck on chapter 4.
I've come to a point where I can't even look at it and I find any excuse not to sit in front of the compute and begin writing it.
So, a couple days ago I did something different.
I skipped chapter 4, went ahead and started working on the other ones.
And it's been a breeze, I'm pumping pages after pages at a dizzying pace.
Of course, I'm still dreading going back to 4.
Is this approach normal?
Others who have done this before, what blindspots, traps and pitfalls did you run into?

Actually, that sounds fine - there's been a couple of threads here about this.

I didn't fully realize this until recently, but if you have to bypass a difficult sentence, paragraph, scene, whatever - just do it and go back to it at a later date. It may not be the conventional way of doing things but it works. It seems to be working for you already. Eventually you'll figure out how to do the bypassed chapter.

 

[MagicaPractica]

It's not at all unusual. I have done it in the past. Sometimes your brain needs the time to work out a plot point.

On the other hand, sometimes it's because you're trying to make something happen that doesn't make sense logically, like if you've forgotten a step in how people react to things, or plain doesn't work for the character.

I like the scene/sequel method to help me logic through such sticking points. If you Google the terms, you'll find lots of pages that explain it. Basically, main character wants something specific to the scene, things happen and either they don't get it or they get it but it further complicated things. (There's usually someone working against them but sometimes not.) Character reacts emotionally then thinks through options and chooses a new course of action.

 

[KeithD]

I do this with nonfiction. I don't do it with fiction, but I don't see why someone else wouldn't do it, if it works for them.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Actually, that sounds fine - there's been a couple of threads here about this.

And the responses to those threads suggest most writers here on AH write in a non-linear fashion.

There are exceptions (I'm one of them, KeithD is another) who start at the beginning of a story and proceed through to the end, writing what comes as it arrives; either editing as we go or at the end, but we're the odd ones out, I think.

 

[SimonDoom]

Hell yes, I've done this. I think it's a great idea.

When you write the other chapters, you'll have a new perspective on what you are really trying to achieve with Chapter 4. Maybe some of what you thought you were going to write isn't really essential. Just get rid of it. Maybe eliminate chapter 4 altogether if it's not essential to the story. Shorten it. Add something new.

Scale back your expectations for Chapter 4 and write it bit by bit. Give yourself manageable goals for writing it in small chunks. But always focus on what the point of that section is and concentrate when you write on serving that point, and it may help with the writing.

 

[Bramblethorn]

It's pretty common. I usually write start-to-end but I'm writing non-linear for my current story in progress, because I need to get some of the backstory firm in my head before I write the intro that depends on it, and I'm not yet sure how I'm going to put all the scenes together.

It does create some challenges, making sure the bits fit together at the end and keeping them organised while writing. I'm trying Scrivener to help organise it and it seems to be working so far.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Completely normal

 

[redzinger]

Yep, normal. I've written several books that way. I just insert a '###' wherever I need to go back to.

 

[LoquiSordidaAdMe]

I'll add my name to the list of folks who have had success with this. And not just chapters. If I get stuck, sometimes I'll skip ahead a few paragraphs, and then come back later and fill in the gap. I once wrote a dialogue where I had a clever answer in my head, but I could not figure out how to ask the question. I skipped that line of dialogue and wrote the rest, then came back to it.

Whatever gets the words out of your head and onto the screen is acceptable.

 

[TxRad]

Life is not linear so why should writing be? I've thought several times in the middle of a story, why the fuck do i have to finish this. It ain't really going anywhere anytime soon. Would I keep doing this in real life? Your mileage may vary.

A good reason not to post a chapter until the whole thing is complete.

 

[gordo12]

I also write in a linear fashion beginning to end. Two events here recently. One Night on the Job and One Night in XXX.

The job one I had a story in mind, but couldn't seem to focus enough to write it. I put it aside and started the One night in XXX story and it just flowed. Wrote it two sessions over 3 days.

For whatever reason it wasn't the first story's time yet.

I also use the comment part of Office to make comments about whatever I want to add and just move on so I can come back later.

I'll also use things like "He XXXXXXXXXXX with XXXXXXXXXX and they XXXXXXX" highlighted to come back to later.

I've had those agonizing hours where you type one word and sit staring at it. Delete and start over with another word and sit there for an hour....

Making notes about what you want to see and moving on is a good solution whether it's a sentence, paragraph or chapter.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Life is not linear so why should writing be?.

Life is not linear? Well, Tex, I will acknowledge that you often seem to wake up younger than when you were the night before... We mortals, I’m afraid, have no such luck.

 

[TxRad]

Life is not linear? Well, Tex, I will acknowledge that you often seem to wake up younger than when you were the night before... We mortals, I’m afraid, have no such luck.

Smart ass. I was referring to what you do in life. Anyway, don't be giving any of my secrets away.

 

[CuteSlaveLisa]

Life is not linear? Well, Tex, I will acknowledge that you often seem to wake up younger than when you were the night before... We mortals, I’m afraid, have no such luck.

Life is most decidedly linear. However my, and I suspect everyone else's experience in our mortal life is more like crossing the ripples from a rock cast into still water.

Example: My grandfather bought a farm (the one in my story "Philadelphia, Texas"), he left it to his oldest child, my mother's older brother. Before making his trip to meet Jesus my grandfather's son married and 'begot' my two girl cousins. They lived in the cabin by the pond until grandpa passed and then they moved into "the big house," no not Joliet (blatant Blues Brother's reference), the one mom grew up in.

I came along 40 years after grandpa "Nick" bought that farm. I first recall visiting there when I was maybe 5 (1965ish) I enjoyed playing with them and swimming in the pond. As I grew older I learned more and more about things that happened before my birth.

FSA I was born in '60, by 1969 I knew what happened in 1940ish, by 1975 I knew what happened in 1917.

Maybe I am reading words into posts. But life is both empirically strictly linear and experientially non-linear.


OMG!!! NOW I UNDERSTAND STRING THEORY. ;-)

Love and Kisses

Lisa Ann

 

[PennameWombat]

I have a story here that I had only the first few paragraphs and the last few paragraphs that came to me in a rush. Nothing in between.

But they were, to me, compelling settings and I had in mind the characters that would make the journey from these first to last paragraphs. Would the meeting at the beginning REALLY create the foundation for the ending? What needed to happen?

There were tweaks, but in essence the characters I had in mind and the bookend scenes were there from day 1 and stayed.

It's a long story (~30,000 words) with multiple chapters. In multiple cases I skipped over problematic chapters to write subsequent ones. In some cases writing a subsequent chapter told me how I needed a skipped chapter to flow. I did have to tweak some continuity issues and even went back and eliminated a supporting cast character when their arc just didn't work out. But this happens to me even if I write A-B-C.

If anyone cares, it's this: https://www.literotica.com/s/a-dream-of-age-and-beauty

 

[Hypoxia]

OMG!!! NOW I UNDERSTAND STRING THEORY. ;-)

Don't give it away. Mere mortal minds cannot cope. But I digress.

Time may be linear and un-mirrored. Memory, not so much. Story telling, not at all. I've mentioned the technique of visualizing the final image of a story, then writing the tale to reach that point. Totally ass-backwards, but it works. And you're not stuck with the how2-end-this-shit dilemma.

A similar technique: Create a setting, players, and a few plot points, and set the characters loose to do all the literary work. The plot points are non-linear action anchors -- you know they'll happen without knowing how or when to get there. The only linear storytelling is transcribing a journal, a complete skeleton to be fleshed-out, embellished, all embarrassments edited away. Tell it the way you wish it had happened.

Churning out chapters can continue forever but the future is constrained by the past. Writing a complete series before submitting the first chapter allows you to fix problems early before they manifest later. That's easier than editing published chapters, or making-do with your lack of foresight.