Do you ever write ahead?

Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by Lone Wanderer, Jul 29, 2019.

  1. Checkov

    Checkov New Member

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    I am primarily an experimental or out-of-the-box playwright. The few plays I've written have started or developed in many ways. One began with the title and then finds its way and leads me to the end by the nature of the title. Or I have written scenes that I don't know where they go and they tell me where they should go by the time I'm done. In another piece I understood the drive of the protagonists and I let the words flow. I work both stream of conscious as well as try to think of plot outline as it is moving along. In other words, I think what works for you, works, and go from there. As Godard said (I think it was Godard) a film needs an act 1, an act 2, and an act 3, but not necessarily in that order (as Tarantino beautifully revealed in Pulp Fiction) I think the same with writing, just because you think the plot is chronological doesn't necessarily mean that best for the piece. So you think you might be skipping ahead, but perhaps you are writing the beginning. As far as plot line points, if they feel great to you keep them, but like a road map on a vacation don't be afraid to take any interesting road that appeals or appears. I agree with Yalda, if a scene is bursting or bubbling in your head, by all means write it down! (great forum, just joined, the only other forum I constantly post in is a poker forum and that group cares s### about grammar, lol)
     
  2. StoryForest

    StoryForest Banned

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    Yeah, I do this a lot. I think it has to do with the style of the writer and their thought processes. I often imagine story in "beats" so when I know I have to hit a certain beat, I often write it first and shape the other plot points around it to find the best way to get there.
     
  3. Thorn Cylenchar

    Thorn Cylenchar Senior Member

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    Oh yes, as in I have the ending of book 3 written before book 1 is finished. I will write the major points I want and then fill in all the little connecting pieces. Part of this is that a pet peeve of mine is when writers are not consistent between books set in the same world(X is true in book 1, but in book 8 X is not true) so unless there is a reason for the change, I want a good idea of how the story will progress in later books.

    Though at this point most of what I have for book 2 and 3 is going out the window as one of the main characters decided he liked being an evil, manipulative bastard and tries to kill the other main character so most of the sections that had them teaming up will likely not work(though I don't rule out them pulling an 'Enemy Mine').
     
  4. Dorafjol

    Dorafjol Member

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    If I'm between chapters, or if the one I'm working at is going slow, I sometimes do this. Mostly I just write down a line or two when I get a sudden flash of inspiration. Some of these clearly have a set place in the story. Others can be worked ot later. Most, I suspect, will probably be scrapped. All of them will be revised. Sometimes I'll write a couple paragraphs, and they often give me an idea of where my current chapter is going.
    I'm just on my first draft on my first novel, with a loose plot and only a few chapters in, though, so I don't know if this how it's gonna be. If how I write music is anything to go by, then probably yes.
     
  5. Vellanney

    Vellanney Member

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    I write all over the place. Sometimes I'll just think of something and start writing, and that scene will then be placed off to the side in case I need it in the future. I'm currently working on a series of book, though I don't even have the first one filled in completely. I have names and plots for three books in total, and possibilities for a fourth/spin off. I'm currently working on the first book from start to finish right now, and I've changed a lot of things since I first started writing this one. It's actually a spin off of a spin off too. But it's the one I've invested the most in, and the one I feel the most attached to.

    To me, if you feel an urge to write something that would happen in the future, then it means you should write it. Because it can help with your character development. It can also help your story progression.
     
  6. Some Guy

    Some Guy Manguage Langler Supporter Contributor

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    Yes. I have about a hundred pages or so of some middle stuff and some end stuff. This has yielded some revelations in the whole story-line - as in I have to kill off 2 of my MCs. Other background manifested from this as well.
     
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  7. Malisky

    Malisky Malkatorean Contributor

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    Yes, I sometimes do that when I get a very clear and strong vision upon a scene that really fascinates me. Sometimes, I even write down scenes that don't correspond to any of my W.I.P. I got a few of these. They're like fragments of a story. I don't know why, but they feel so important to be written down that in this instant everything else can wait. It's like an urge. In the past, I've skipped some classes just because of that. I'd go to a cheap cafe near my school, take my notebook out and write until everything I envisioned was captured on paper. When I write down scenes like that it feels like smoothly surfing on a big wave. It's like it's not even my vision or my words or my voice, but by writing them down they become mine. No wonder the Greeks believed in muses. I can relate.
     
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  8. Some Guy

    Some Guy Manguage Langler Supporter Contributor

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    Beautifully put :)
     
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  9. Malisky

    Malisky Malkatorean Contributor

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    Thank you. :supersmile:
     
  10. booksofkae

    booksofkae Member

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    Ooo I feel validated in my writing habits. I write pretty ad hoc. I have an outline going for the book, but I only work on it when I can't think of anything to write, or if it is just a flash of an idea. The stuff I have written and fleshed out I have done out of order, and not always in followed them to completion.
     
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  11. Moon

    Moon Contributor Contributor

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    My writing process goes like this: A random scene plays in my head, grab laptop and write it down, then think/start writing the events that lead up to that scene.

    It's more fun for me that way.
     
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  12. NiallRoach

    NiallRoach Contributor Contributor

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    I write almost religiously in order. If a scene isn't interesting enough for me to get through writing it, it's going to be scrapped or fixed eventually anyway.

    But then I write in very small bursts. 200 words a day, normally only half an hour or so, so I'm always itching to put something new down.
     
  13. Siriusly

    Siriusly Member

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    I 'write ahead' quite a bit; however, I rarely use anything, as is, I have laid out for some future event in my writings. Conversely, these snapshots don't go to waste; I usually draw tremendous inspiration from them, sculpting the original idea or scene into something that better suited for my current piece.

    Thanks for the topic!
     
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  14. SpokenSilence

    SpokenSilence Member

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    I'm constantly writing ahead ... I usually write down a plot structure for a story but I never really stick to it. Whenever I'm in the mood I write down random scenes that end up in one of three folders:
    Inspiration - these don't usually turn up in the story, mostly because they contain some wicked turn of events I couldn't explain in the story. Nevertheless they inspire me.
    Biography - Those Scenes end up as background info about the character(s) involved. I actually use some of them later in the story.
    Useable - here I put scenes I will eventually use in the story. However I seldom ever look inside this folder unless I remember I wrote a scene that might actually fit.

    The others are either laying unsorted on my desktop or go to the trash can really quick.
     
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  15. Vellanney

    Vellanney Member

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    Exactly! I'm glad I'm not the only one ><
     
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  16. Philliggi

    Philliggi Member

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    Certainly not. I'm very much a chronological order sort of guy. I write to where I want to get too, look back, then go back to where I found it started lacking. Delete onwards from there and go again with a different idea, and do the same thing again.
    I know where I want to be in my head but I'd much rather go for an carefree drive cross country than following a sat nav thru rush hour
     
  17. Medazza

    Medazza Active Member

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    This is why I love scrivener, it’s so easy to jump around
     
  18. LazyBear

    LazyBear Banned

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    I never write ahead. I write a fast paced abstract of the story arc and then rewrite multiple times so that major details can be changed without making the characters seem out of place. Cutting and pasting things written out of order gives ugly seams in the story that are hard to identify, because the subconscious made those decisions.
     
  19. Mary Elise

    Mary Elise Senior Member

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    I don't use written plot points at all. I write what is tumbling around the cranium as it's tumbling and go back when it's needed. Is someone going to take my Writer's Certificate away?
     
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  20. naturalhumandisaster

    naturalhumandisaster New Member

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    100% sometimes i have an idea for my novel that just sticks with me and as cheesy as it sounds, i feel like my characters need to say it before i can focus on the chronology of my story
     
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  21. Lone Wanderer

    Lone Wanderer Member

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    Not cheesy as all, I feel like this all the time. I feel like dialogue is the best way for characters to show who they are.
     
  22. Deceangli

    Deceangli New Member

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    If inspiration strikes, I think you have to get it down
     
  23. Geoff1975

    Geoff1975 New Member

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    That’s a benefit of mapping/outlining the story ahead of time. You can then jump around. I would do that and junp to the part I feel inspired to write that day.
     
  24. GirlWriter101

    GirlWriter101 Banned

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    All the time. The first ten or so chapters of my novel don't even included one of the main characters, so I often write ahead so I can write him.
     

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