Do what works

I spoke recently at the Carolina Games Summit in Goldsboro, NC, about plotting techniques. During the talk, I said, “Every book is different. What works for one book may not work for the next one.”

I’m being reminded now just how true that is! My typical method of writing is to start at the beginning and work all the way through chronologically until I have a complete first draft. Then I go back and add in things I thought of late in the book that need to be in the beginning and fix it all so that it works.

I’m starting a new project that isn’t working that way. I did some plotting and brainstorming and character development on it a couple weeks ago. Then I waited for the inspiration to hit to start writing. I kept seeing scenes in my head. The problem was, these scenes were later in the book. I still didn’t have the right scene for the start of the story. So I waited.

And waited. And waited.

That first scene still hasn’t come. But I wanted to start writing on the book, so I opened up Scrivener and wrote out a scene that comes about halfway through the book. The main character is arguing with her best friend about an event that has just happened. Though I hadn’t written anything else yet, that argument poured out of me onto the page. Once I was done with that, I wrote a little bit of the scene that takes place just before the argument, the one they’re arguing over.

So I’m writing in pieces and at times, writing backwards. But it feels right for this book. I have a few other scenes in mind that I need to get written, but still, none of them are the opening scene. I’ve never written a book this way, so it’s an entirely new experience. Maybe it will work. Maybe it won’t. For now, it’s getting words on the page, so I’m going with it.

As I said at the conference: do what works for the book you’re working on right now. Don’t worry about what worked for a previous book. Don’t think you have to do things the same way every time. Give yourself the freedom to try something new.

P.S. – I also recommend you go check out IndieReCon if you’re interesting in indie publishing. There are lots of great tips and advice being posted there, and it’s all free!