Do you sometimes write side stories, or scene that haven't happened yet but might come later?

I agree with Stephen King to a point. I wrote out scenes for my story prior to the first draft and planned them -- 1/3 of them didn't get used. Was it a waste? A bit. But since I was friggin stuck and not going very far I learned two things doing it -- how great some of my side characters were and how not to write my story. The second half of the story I had planned was ditched.
I don't agree with him about not writing things down because if they're great you'll remember them. Depends how many ideas you come up with. Besides I like to leave a crumb trail of my creative process lets me know it doesn't happen like magic.

 

I see it as a waste only if it means that the work gets written slower (or worse). If writing an extra half million words gets the work written faster (or better), they're not a waste.

 

That sounds like a pretty difficult way of writing! I've learnt writing myself up to a set scene that has already happened feels very stiff for me, because in the writing leading up to it I'd feel tugged in a different direction and I wouldn't be able to go where my instincts want me. So it's good and fine for me to write towards a scene I know will happen as long as the scene itself hasn't been written yet. Hence doing it out of order would not usually add to the progress of finishing the novel for me - it might help with grasping an idea or character development or just figuring out what I want to do, but not the actual writing and having material to edit.

So have you finished anything before?

 

Nope (edited to add: That is, no novel, and novels are the goal for me. Little short stories, yes.) but the out-of-order writing, along with other elements of my current strategy, is getting me closer than ever before. The first draft of the Highly Flavored Novel is roughly three-quarters done, maybe a little more, and the "I have no clue what to do here" gaps are largely eliminated.

However, that's a problem--I infinitely prefer to write the scene before I know what should happen in the scene. I realize that that sounds quite, quite mad, but so far it's worked very well--and it's still working well when I can tell the conscious planner to shut up and let me write.

 

Wile I don't use an outline, I find taking notes of where each character is in the setting can help put a start to new story threads. I always default to my protagonist, Rose, but sometimes I want to see what is happening with the antagonist, or other characters. Also sometimes I find ways to naturally connect story lines. If you get an idea it's best to write it down in short hand, and see if it will fit within the context of the story. Or just free write a page or two of that idea. If it doesn't connect, no big deal, you can figure out how to fit it in later.

 

I've written one chapter for my WIP that didn't work out in the end, and I'm half way through another chapter that isn't even i tended for this WIP but could be adapted to fit in either of two novels I intend to write after this one.

I dont write scenes or moments though - I could always add them in during editing.

 

If I think a scene will read well I'll write it, even if I end up not using it. I often cut whole scenes because they don't fit the narrative, but I save them so I can study them or edit them for practice. A random scene you write may fit somewhere else, or it may inspire you to think of another way to write another scene.

I spend time planning out the structure and theme and characters of my WIPs, but once I start writing a let my idea of the story flow as naturally as I can. I try to think of what I would want if I was reading a book. If it's dull for me it'll probably be dull for other people.

Kurt Vonnegut: "Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted."

People sometimes misinterpret his advice notebooks. King is speaking specifically on the thought process of following up on a story idea, leaving it for later, or abandoning it.

He's not talking about taking notes on a work you've decided to commit your time to, recording interesting facts you learn from people, writing dialog or scene ideas you think of when at work, putting characterizations or descriptions that stand out because you see them into text to see if they work, or actual creative writing when a computer's not available. If I walk in the woods and smell trees for a description am I supposed to just remember what I did? Bring a laptop? No. Flippin' notebook.

King's right about the danger of immortalizing bad ideas. You have to have to be willing to scrap things that don't work.