a question for writers

[cellio]

This question is directed toward two groups: people who have completed fiction works, and people doing NaNoWriMo (national novel-writing month).

How do you structure your writing? Do you write your story linearly from beginning to end (not counting editing passes)? Or do you jump around, leaving place-holders for things you'll fill in later?

My impression, based on only a few data points, is that people doing NaNoWriMo tend to start at the beginning and write the story in order. (NaNoWriMo is all about cranking out the initial draft in a short period of time, so editing is discouraged.) I write fiction rarely and as a hobby only, but I've found that I tend to jump around somewhat -- I may start out writing linearly, but then I'll insert something like "[wild night in bar goes here]" so I can write the next part, because I'm not feeling inspired to write about wild nights right now but I do have inspiration for the aftermath. Do people who write fiction more seriously do that, or am I just quirky?

I find myself wondering whether NaNoWriMo builds productive habits, encourages destructive habits, or is just plain orthogonal to conventional writing.

Comments

Or Harlan's window story.

[patsmor.livejournal.com]

If I do write an outline, I don't dare show it to anyone (my mother shredded one about 30 years ago and the scars are still too deep).

It's coming to me in chunks. I waited after the last chunk for the next act to hit my head, which it did (of course) in the middle of writing my final report for an audit I'm doing. I've been trying to not let it escape until I get it written down.

Today I wrote 1000 words, still holding the rest of the chunk in my head, because Duncan needed the computer for an essay. Tonight I plan to sit down and let it flow if possible.

I have real trouble with straight-line plots, and the sub-plots drive me crazy. So I just chunk it out until the characters are done with this part. Mostly, it's like watching what my friends unroll in my head -- the characters do what they're going to do. (For example, I didn't realize one character was going to show up in this current section until she started talking.)

Is that too stupid to say?