Re: Chunk Writing

I've been writing my tail off the past few days and have managed 15K on BTPM. I'm getting so close, I can taste it. By the end of this week, I should be within 5-8K of my final goal wordcount. *Yay* As I draw closer to the end, I've been thinking about taking some time to order the scenes in my book - see how that puppy reads.

I write in chunks. I write randomly, without an outline. It's quite an adventure not knowing what to write each time I pull up my wip. When I first start writing a book, I usually have a general idea of what I think the story will be -- whether it's specific scenes I see playing out in my mind, or more of an emotional arc I feel. But as I move forward, it usually mutates into something else, which is much better than what I imagined. BTPM is getting to the point where I can see the layout and will be able to spot what is missing to flesh out the story. So, yeah, it's probably time to sequence that sucker.

So, my process for this? Oh, man. I'm a disaster. I hear people talk about their intricate filing systems on their harddrives... how they develop spreadsheets to track what they have... I ENVY them for their organization. Such things DO NOT work for me. LOL. If I tried doing things that way, I'd inevitably screw something up and spend more time trying to organize my files than actually writing. So, I use my tried and true method -- despite the complete insanity of it all.

I write in one document the entire time, simply tacking on the new stuff at the end each time. So, I basically have this big ole' document (right now it's running about 105 pages, single spaced) with everything in the order I wrote it -- all kinds of willy nilly happening there. With Narc, I printed the sucker out and took a pair of scissors to it...chopping it up, matching up the scenes I thought went together -- putting the whole thing in the correct sequence. When I didn't know for sure where something went in the storyline, I pulled it aside until I could figure it out. Nutty, eh? But, it worked for me, so I ain't gonna fix what isn't broken. Perhaps someday I'll come up with something better. LOL. But for now -- tried and true.

So, my point? Well, I don't really have one. (g) I just thought I would share my completely random methods for anyone who cares to listen. I guess I'm a testament to NOT needing an intricate program or software to write. Pen and paper, baby. It works. You just have to find the method that works for you.