Drunk on Writing

I managed to work my way from Point A to Point B (re: my last post) and now I'm working on getting from B to C. In the meantime, I decided to revisit some scenes that occur much later in the story and try to piece those together.

When most of us put together a puzzle, we don't simply start at the top and work along row by row. No, we usually establish the border, sort by similar colours, and put together what we have. Then, after we have pieced together chunks of the puzzle, we put it all together to complete the activity.



This is a splendid metaphor to describe how I write and I want to explain why this method is effective. While discussing writing techniques with someone I know, she scoffed at my idea of writing bits of the story here and there. She only writes from beginning to end. Which makes sense, since that is how the story is read. Personally, if I subjected myself to such a strict method of writing I'd get absolutely nothing done.

I find when I write things that happen later on in the story, it creates an opportunity to fill in those Point A to Point B gaps with information that will set up what is about to happen. If I know X, Y and Z are going to occur, I can provide information early on and alleviate those moments where I stare blankly at the screen going: "Uhhhhhhhhhhh......"

"But what if the story changes and those scenes are irrelevant?"

Oh well. Change it, get rid of it, move it around. It doesn't matter. It's my experience that it's best to just write something, anything, than to write nothing at all.

In other aspects of my life I tend to be an all or nothing person. Why bother putting all my clothes away in my bedroom if I'm not going to vacuum and change the bedding? Why clean the toilet if I don't have time to also scrub the sink and bathtub? I try not to be so rigid in my writing, taking delight in having written something instead of expecting to write everything.