Saturday 24 November 2012

How to Move Forward by Going Backwards



An interesting thought occurred to me recently whilst pushing on with getting a first draft of my new novel down. The thought was that whilst I was trying to get my first draft down as quickly as possible new ideas and plot points kept occurring to me. Although I write with a kind of outline – especially for the first half of the book, so I do not get stuck - I also like to leave myself open to new directions as I write. And writing as fast as possible for first draft seems to be best for me.
Some of the ideas that occurred to me were good ones that seemed to have come up epiphany-like from the ‘girls in the basement’, but should I stop and incorporate them? I wanted to do just that but it meant going back and introducing something much earlier in the draft in order for it to make sense. Which, in turn, meant that I wasn’t actually moving the story forward. But the extra material did add more depth (or a subplot) to the story. Great you might say…
But doing this kind of toing and froing took time (when I was trying to write fast) and it also risked me becoming confused as to where I actually was in the story.  Plus, although I had a fair idea of where the plot would eventually end up, I had no clear idea of the ending so introducing more story lines could potentially jeopardise my entire plot if I wasn’t careful. So, what to do?
I read somewhere that a good idea was to keep a revision sheet alongside you as you write so that you can jot down the idea as it occurs to you. Also to make a note of where the material needed to be introduced (approx.) and then continue to write the draft as if the plot point was already incorporated. Lately I have been trying this method with my present book and it is surprisingly easy. I know I will have much more work to do in second draft but once I have the main story down I don’t feel the pressure to rush through that. In fact I like to take my time and re-consider everything that has gone into the story.
Anyway this is my best tip of the year!
Do you have any good tips to pass on to others to try?

11 comments:

  1. I do that. If a new element comes into play as I write, I just not that I will have to weave it in earlier and keep writing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a good tip, I'll certainly be trying it for my next WIP :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is a very good tip, Pat. I shall give that a go because once I go back and start tinkering, it seems to be the end for me! :-) x

    ReplyDelete
  4. I write like this. Incorporating it into the beginning is what revision is for. If you're on a roll, then it doesn't interrupt the flow.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have done this. Sometimes I do go back and make the changes, if I feel that it's important for my thought process to do so. But there have been lots of other times I did what you did -- made notes in another document of where I would need to change things and then proceeded as if the changes were already made.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is what I do, too - a note and keep going. For me second draft is always a time of putting the pieces together in the right order and making things fit together, so it works well.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I keep a composition book next to the computer when I'm writing and make any notes pertaining to upcoming plot, revisions I've thought of, details I'll need to add in (say, if I've just realized whodunnit and need to plant those clues), and I keep track of word count and time, just for me, because it helps me feel like I've accomplished something and is like punching a clock. I think if I went back to edit as I was writing, I would get bogged down and not keep moving forward.

    Shannon at The Warrior Muse

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like the idea of a revision sheet...I'll give it a go next time I'm writing first draft.

    My best tip (I'm in 2nd draft) has got to be splitting the scenes up, since doing so, I've found everything more manageable and its easier to see any glaring plot holes as well.

    Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  9. That's a great tip! I try to keep it all sorted in my head... which doesn't always work!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I tend to just go with the flow, write everything that comes to mind, then print it out. Seeing it all in front of me, and reading straight through gives a good idea of the bits that are in the wrong place/not needed at all/can be adapted to fit a different scene. The second draft is where I really get into my stride.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I like this idea. Anything that makes writing easier and organised is useful.To keep going and not have editing stops is important to me, so having a side note for new ideas is a good idea. Thankls, Sean

    ReplyDelete