Writing chapters out of order

[The_Warrior]

Have you ever tried to write your chapters in diffrent order? I've her of some writers that wrote thier last chapter first, and even for some, the last chapter of the last book of thier searies that haven't even been compleated yet. I'm thinking of maybe doing, especilly if your going to do chapters that go back and forth from charaters.

[littlemissattitude]

Hey, if it was good enough for Margaret Mitchell (Gone With The Wind), it's good enough for me.

More seriously, aside from having to pay very close attention to continuity, I don't see why it should be any more of a problem than writing in order. Although I've never actually written book-length fiction, so I suppose you should take my thoughts on the matter with a whole shaker of salt.

On the other hand, I almost always write non-fiction longer than a couple of pages out of order, and it never has been a problem...and yes, you do have to pay attention to continuity when writing non-fiction, too.

[Green]

That's true enough - you don't want to reference something in the discussion that you planned to put in the introduction, then forget to put it in the introduction

Same goes for fiction. Nothing wrong with writing out of order, as long as you join up the dots Bear in mind it might make things harder (or at least, more work for you) if you decide to change something, since you've already written what comes after.

So, do what you want This wouldn't work for me - I enjoy driving myself towards those "special" scenes. If the shoe fits, etc.

[The Curious Orange]

I wrote my book out of order only in so far as I wrote all the sections from the one POV character first, then the second POV character, and so on. Every so often I had to stop and switch to another POV character just to establish plot developments before switching back. The benefit of this what that I was "inside the head" of each POV character for a longer time, and got to know each of them that much better.
I'd have found it too confusing to switch back and forth all the time.

[Nik]

Um, I wrote the first couple of chapters of Project Lorraine in a rush. IIRC, I got to #4 or #5, had a wonderful idea for the finale, reckoned it would top-out my 'probable' novelette as Chapter #10. I wrote those two crucial scenes, set them aside ready.

Then the main tale took on a life of its own. Phrases turned into paragraphs, paragraphs into pages, pages into chapters. One 'running gag' became two chapters. I wrote and I wrote and I wrote...

I managed to rein-in the tale before it ran out of steam. Well, yes, I lost my nerve. I could have written another 30k, but I was scared I'd fall off the wave and slump into 'Turgid'. Better to stop while 'gold'. Whatever...

I copy-pasted those two scenes, changed some names and had my finale-- now Chapter #30 !!

And, yes, I'd accidentally written my first novel, never mind the surreal style and the niche subject...

Okay, so I got lucky : In my unhappy experience, writing a good chapter out of sequence can kill the tale...

Sometimes it is a beacon of hope.
Often, it torpedoes my confidence-- Like fog clearing to reveal a vast, trackless Canyon ahead of weary explorers...

[magician2magici]

HELLO,
well , write down the end first then write what's before , that's what i heard about what j.k. did at the seventh book , but to have a full view of it , this is the end book of the series , i guess at the end of yuor series , you have to make it the same in your mind with no changes , so you can write down it at any time..

for me , i see writing chapters has some issues , like there are some which is essential , you decided them even before writing down your first , you can here try and write them if you think you'll write the best ever copy of them , but
i hate this way man , as i feel it prisoned me , really hard work ..

i ho[e you reconsider writing by it , for me , it's kinda hard ..

salam>>
el-saher..

[jenna]

I write everything out of order. That's where my detailed outline comes in handy, I have it printed out, and I just flip through it and decide what I feel like writing on that particular day. I don't think I could write starting at the start and ending at the end, it would seem like too insurmountable a task.

[Moraven]

I have never written more than one or two chapters ahead of where I'm at. If I did, it would force me to write to that point. I'd rather have the plot open. So that it can go anywhere--I'd feel constrained knowing I had to get to a certain point.

[Marky Lazer]

Not quite what you state in the question, but I'm writing a screenplay at the moment, and though I started with chapter one, onto chapter two, etc. it's nothing like that. It definately looks like I've got a time machine. I'm giving a new meaning to a "non-chronological story." So, in the end. Yes, I'm pretty much writing my chapters in a different "order."

That said, I think it's pretty silly so write the final chapter first. It means your complete story is set in stone. Only the road to get there is open, not the end itself. I find that a boring way to write, because you know what's coming, and to me that takes out lots of the pleasure of writing.

[KSeriphyn]

I've never written a chapter out of linear order. Although, I tend to edit chapters this way as if they were short stories then pile them together and do a sweeping overview edit at the end.

[Ursa major]

I often write things out of order (in both senses of the word).

This can happen for two different reasons:

1. I want to get something right, i.e. I want to be sure that it will truly work, before writing the narrative that leads up to it.

2. I tend to write parallel threads. (Okay, being honest here, I write (it's more than a tendency) too many parallel threads.) Some can be discarded as being diversionary (), but others are required by the story. For this reason. I've had to chop the text into sections so that now my original first chapter (rather, its distant descendant,) is now to be found nearly half-way into the book.

[Giovanna Clairval]

Originally Posted by littlemissattitude

so I suppose you should take my thoughts on the matter with a whole shaker of salt.

I like your salt. Can I borrow the shaker?

So far, I’ve written five novels (in a series), respecting a five-act structure consisting in ten chapters each, of similar length.

As I am a character-driven writer, and I hear in my head those characters talking, talking, and taking the story where the hell they want, I find it practical to keep them at bay within a structure. This helps me with the plot, as I go on, by giving me the position of the famous turning point, middle and so on. I guess this method would work better with a three-act narrative, but this is how I began, and I like symmetry, poor me.
But there are three different storylines in my novels, and, even if I always write in a linear way, I often move these secondary chapters around, trying to find the best spots for placing them.
I usually complete the principal thread, and write the other two afterwards. The main story is jotted down in a few weeks, and then I spend a lot of time re-writing, of course.

And I always start a story knowing what the ending is. I don’t actually write the final chapter, but I know, more or less exactly, what it will be.

[The Pelagic Argosy]

Sometimes when I'm feeling blocked or frustrated with the scene I'm working on, I'll force myself to work on it for another half hour or so, and then jump ahead to scene that seems more interesting to me. Perhaps this is another of my patented procrastination techniques. But at least I'm working on the project, and not chucking it out of frustration or watching reruns instead.

[Götterdämmerung]

Originally Posted by The_Warrior

Have you ever tried to write your chapters in diffrent order? I've her of some writers that wrote thier last chapter first, and even for some, the last chapter of the last book of thier searies that haven't even been compleated yet. I'm thinking of maybe doing, especilly if your going to do chapters that go back and forth from charaters.

Actually, I believe it's a pretty common practice for writers to come up with an ending and work their way back. I think this is the way most writers work.

[Birol]

Originally Posted by The_Warrior

Have you ever tried to write your chapters in diffrent order?

Yes. I have. Not only did I write 90% of one POV, then 90% of another, I'd sometimes insert a place holder if I was having trouble with a scene in a POV and continue on, coming back to it later. Personally, my mind doesn't seem to like the placeholders, so I come back to them quicker.

On the other hand, I tend to write short stories out of order. I write the beginning, then the end, then connect the two.

Originally Posted by littlemissattitude

More seriously, aside from having to pay very close attention to continuity, I don't see why it should be any more of a problem than writing in order.

This is what rewrites are for. Correcting the ripples and rough spots.