Bounce House

Being sick is such a drag. I've spent the past week or so curled up in bed with a stack of books, napping off-and-on and hoping the constant supply of cough drops and cold medicine will be enough to exorcise the snot demon in my chest.

I'm feeling loads better today, though, so that's good.

In the writing-o-sphere, between enjoying well-crafted tales from others, my brain's been doing a lot of thinking about the final third of my own WiP. I'm still mired in the beginning of chapter four, but I've been itching to bounce around out of order, which is something I've never done before. Yesterday I sat down and churned out over a thousand words for a scene that I haven't even gotten set up yet in the main document. It's toward the end. It's not anything I have many notes about. It just...happened.

And I have to say, it was a lot of fun.

I've always been the type of writer who keeps copious notes, reference images, scribbles, and timelines. It's how I keep my thoughts organized long enough to get them down in what sometimes resembles a cohesive story format. I've never, however, used those notes to write my scenes out of their proper order. It's always been a possibility, since I'm usually so organized with my writing thoughts, but not anything I've ever played around with. I've actually gone out of my way to avoid bouncing around, because the thought of going out of order has always made me feel awkward. Stories go in order, and writing them out of order is weird, or so my brain has always insisted.

Thing is, now that I've written some scenes out of order, I can't say I'm so against it anymore. I've got the notes to keep everything straight, and forcing myself into writing the next scene in chapter four hasn't panned out very well thus far. Playing around with the later political intrigue, arranged marriage, and bloody battles has been more entertaining and productive than plowing through the task of getting my main characters from the safety of their home and into the strange new place.

Slowly but surely, I'm letting myself write what feels natural and fun rather than forcing myself to stick to the rigidity of the linear timeline. It's getting me writing more often than one a week or so, and that can only be a good thing, yeah?

'Til next time,
J.