Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Jump to the Middle

I'm trying something new(!).

After some discussions with Jenny and Siobhan about the progress I am and am not making with my WIP, they both suggested I stop writing sequentially and just pick a scene in the middle that I'm excited about it and write it.

WHAT? I said. How do I write a scene without knowing how my characters got there?

JUST TRY IT, they said. It frees you up. It shows you where you're going, and helps you figure out how to get there. And it keeps you from writing boring little scenes that only serve to get your characters from point A to point B.

So I'm trying it. I'm sitting here now writing a scene that's going to happen about 70% of the way through the book and, unbelievably, it's going okay. The writing feels fun and loose, like it does when you start a completely new project and aren't hampered by the hows and whys yet.

Anyone else write this way? I'm diggin' it!

*caroline hickey